Hamartia: Foucault and Iran 1978–1979 (2: Scholarship and significance)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the introduction and analysis of Foucault’s Iran writings in the first of two articles, this second article attempts to contribute to an understanding of Foucault’s involvement in the revolution in Iran (1978–1979) by 1) employing the concluding suggestions in the first article as premises for 2) an analysis of three explicit contributions (Janet Afary and Kevin Anderson, Ian Almond, and Danny Postel) that have been made recently on this traditionally neglected issue in Foucault scholarship, 3) and, via the notion of an ‘ethics of Self-discomfort’, arguing for an acknowledgement of the philosophical significance of Foucault’s involvement in Iran and his writings from that period.