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Engaging Iran in Narratives of Democracy, Rule of Law and Shari'a
04/03/2006 By Roxane Farmanfarmaian
Even as negotiations regarding the nuclear issue command public attention, the need to continue a constructive dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning questions of human rights and the rule of law remains a critical aspect of engagement.
Legitimating change in the eyes of Iranian society can only take place within the structure of its existing legal system, and through recognised actors as wielders of official power.
Furthering any agenda that includes notions of human rights and democracy-building remains constrained, therefore, within that segment of Iranian jurisprudence in which the meaning and scope of Shari’a and Constitutional law are actively being debated.
In Iran, that segment, despite the religiously conservative leanings of the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, remains unexpectedly vibrant, and the elasticity of interpretation broader than might be expected.
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Keywords
Civil society Democracy Iran IslamRelated publications
Bio author: Roxane Farmanfarmaian
BA in Middle East Studies from Princeton University and MPhil from Cambridge University, Roxane Farmanfarmaian will be submitting her PhD within the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge, this spring. Her areas of research currently focus on Anglo-American discourses of democracy and Islamic threat, as well the retheorising of Iran's economic, political and security historiography in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
