Constitutionalism Unbound - (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East an) (Hardcover)

About the Book

This volume explores the development of constitutionalism in the long nineteenth century across the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran as a multifaceted and transformative force that durably reshaped conceptions of state and governance, society and community, and politics and sovereignty.

Book Synopsis

Is democracy a foreign concept to the political culture of the Near East? This perennially debated question often overlooks a crucial historical factor: the rise of Ottoman and Qajar constitutionalism during the long nineteenth century. This volume is the first study to emphasize constitutionalism as a transformative force across Ottoman and Iranian lands. It investigates how new political ideas and social dynamics across the century shaped constitutionalism into a multifaceted and potent movement, culminating in the revolutions of 1906 and 1908. It traces how constitutionalism durably altered conceptions of state and society, leaving a significant legacy in both Iranian and (post-)Ottoman contexts.

Contributors are Houri Berberian, Yaşar Tolga Cora, Anne-Laure Dupont, Fujinami Nobuyoshi, Zaur Gasimov, Peter Hill, Denis Hermann, Erdal Kaynar, Varak Ketsemanian, Mira Xenia Schwerda, Alisa Schablovskaia, Nader Sohrabi and Barış Zeren.

About the Author

Denis Hermann, Ph.D. (2007), is a historian and researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research). Specializing in the history of Modern Iran and Shi'ism, his publications include Le shaykhisme à la période qajare: Histoire doctrinale et sociale d'une École chiite (Brepols, 2017).

Erdal Kaynar, Ph.D. (2012), is associate professor in modern history at the University of Strasbourg. He works on the intellectual and political history of the late Ottoman Empire. His publications include L'héroïsme de la vie moderne. Ahmed Rıza en son temps (Peeters, 2021).