ACU (Australian Catholic University)

Naser Ghobadzadeh is currently a senior lecture at the National School of Arts, ACU. Researching at the intersection of religion and politics, Naser's interests lie in the study of Islamic political theology, secularism, and Middle East politics. His current book project involves conceptualising the political practices of the traditional Sh??? orthodoxy through an investigation of its theological foundations and history prior to the emergence of political Islam. Naser holds a Ph.D. (University of Sydney, 2012) and an M.A. in Political Science (Shahid Beheshti University, Iran 2001). He has also worked as communication officer with the UNDP and head of the Information Resource Centre, UNICEF office in Tehran.

Naser has authored three books including Religious secularity: a theological challenge to the Islamic state (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), Caspian Sea: legal regime, neighbouring countries and US policies (Tehran: Farhang-e Gofteman, 2005 - in Farsi) and A study of people's divergence from ruling system (Tehran: Farhang-e Gofteman, 2002-in Farsi). He is also co-editor of a recently published collection of essays, i.e., The Politics of Islamism: Diverging Visions and Trajectories (New York: Palgrave 2018). Naser is the author of numerous articles in journals such Third World Quarterly, Democratization, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Contemporary Politics, and Discourse, and chapters in edited collections including the Oxford Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation (forthcoming - 2018), Muslim Secular Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan 2013).

Books

Religious Secularity: A Theological Challenge to the Islamic State, New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. (Paperback printed in 2017)

Caspian Sea: Legal regime, neighbor countries positions and American role, Tehran: Farhang-e Gofteman, 2005 (In Persian).

A Study of people&rsquos divergence from ruling system in the second decade of the Islamic revolution, Tehran: Farhang-e Gofteman, 2002 (In Persian).

Co-Edited Book

John Esposito, Lily Rahim & Naser Ghobadzadeh (ed.), The Politics of Islamism: Diverging Visions and Trajectories', (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

Book Chapters

'Re-thinking Sh?&rsquo? political theology', in Routledge Handbook on the Politics of the Middle East, Larbi Sadiki (ed.), New York: Routledge (with press).

'Islamist Transformations: From Utopian Vision to Dystopian Reality', in Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation, Wolfgang Merkel, Raj Kollmorgen, Hans-Jürgen Wagener, (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press 2019).

'Democratization of Islamic political theology', in The Politics of Islamism: Divergent Trajectories and Contested Visions. John Esposito, Lily Rahim & Naser Ghobadzadeh (ed.), (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

"Introduction: theological contestation and political coalition-building&rdquo, in The Politics of Islamism: Divergent Trajectories and Contested Visions. John Esposito, Lily Rahim & Naser Ghobadzadeh (ed.), (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) [co-authored with John Esposito, Rahim].

"Islamic Reformation Discourses: Popular Sovereignty and Religious Secularisation in Iran", in Religion and Political Change in the Modern World (Democratization Special Issues), Jeffrey Haynes (ed.), London: Routledge, 2014, Chapter 8 (re-printed article) [co-authored with Lily Rahim].

'Implications of Leadership Change in Middle East', in Middle Eastern Future Security Environment, Tehran: Pajoheshkade Motaleate Rahbordi, 2005, [Translation from English to Persian]

Journal Articles

'Nested Game of Elections in Iran', Middle East Policy, XXVI, No.3 (2019): 92-106.

'Elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A source of democratic learning and moderation', Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 11, no.2 (2018): 157&ndash77.

"Electoral Theocracy and Hybrid Sovereignty in Iran." Contemporary Politics. 22, no.4 (2016): 450-468 [co-authored with Lily Z. Rahim].

"Sectarianism and the prevalence of &lsquoothering&rsquo in Islamic thought", Third World Quarterly, 36, no.4 (2015): 691-704 [co-authored with Shahram Akbarzadeh].

"Religious Secularity: A Vision for Revisionist Political Islam", Philosophy and Social Criticism, 39, no.10 (2013): 1002-1024.

"Islamic Reformation Discourses: Popular Sovereignty and Religious Secularisation in Iran", Democratization, 19, no.2 (2012): 334-351 [co-authored with Lily Rahim].

"A multiculturalism&ndashfeminism dispute: Muslim women and the Sharia debate in Canada and Australia", Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 48, no.3 (2010):301-319.

"Value Changes in Iran: Second decade of the Islamic Revolution", Discourse, 6, no.2 (2004): 77-108.

"Radicalism Basis among Iranian Reformists", Bardasht-e-Avval, 3, no. 15 (2004): 48-60. [In Persian].

"Evolution of Rational Legitimacy in I.R. Iran", Bardasht-e-Dovvom, 2, no.3 (2003):73-102. [In Persian].

"The politics of the Hegemony: The U.S. and Iran", Studies on Israel and US, 12, no.10 (2002):105-122. [Translation from English to Persian].

"The Geopolitical Game of Caspian Sea: A Prospective to New Millennium", Middle East Studies, 6, no. 4 (2002):195-211. [Translation from English to Persian].

Op-Eds

The Iranian Revolution of 1979: How Islamic Was It?, ABC Religion and Ethics, 18 May 2018 (re-printed op-ed). Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2018/05/18/4845217.htm

Religious backlash loosens clerics' grip on legacy of 1979 Iranian Revolution, The Conversation, 10 may 2018. Available at: https://theconversation.com/religious-backlash-loosens-clerics-grip-on-legacy-of-1979-iranian-revolution-90013

Iran: how a troubling actor could transform into a stabilising force, The Conversation, 17 September 2015. Available at:  https://theconversation.com/iran-how-a-troubling-actor-could-transform-into-a-stabilising-force-46878

Iranian elections: true legitimacy, or the country&rsquos Achilles heel?, The Conversation,&zwnj13 June 2013.  co-authored with Omid Tofighian. available at:  http://theconversation.com/profiles/naser-ghobadzadeh-22164/articles

Syria: from fight for justice to sectarian stalemate, The Conversation, 25 March 2013. available at: http://theconversation.com/syria-from-fight-for-justice-to-sectarian-stalemate-12792

Argo and the Iranian-US saga: old cuts remain fresh wounds, On Line Opinion, 28 February 2013, co-authored with Omid Tofighian, available at: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=14731&page=0

Arab Spring: an end to the myth of an Islamic state, On Line Opinion, 29 September 2011. Available at: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=12674

Is Iran following Egypt's path?, On Line Opinion, 9 March 2011. Co-authored with Omid Tofighian. Available at: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11723

Iran: theocracy versus democracy, On Line Opinion, 7 August 2009. Available at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=9263

Up in arms against a theocracy, the Australian Higher Education, 5 August 2009. Available at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25882317-25192,00.html

President Khatami and Anti-Holiness of the Authorities. Iran Newspaper, (No. 3066), 7. (In Persian)

 

Islamic Political Theology

Secularisation thesis 

State-Religion-Society Relations

Democracy and democratization in Iran 

Middle East Politics

Radical Islamism