Foucault, Islam, and Political Spirituality

Foucault’s 1978-79 interventions into the movements that coalesced into the Iranian revolution, his conversations with Iranian and regional intellectuals and figures, and the theoretical claims that both informed this work and emerged from it – perhaps especially the vexed notion of “political spirituality – are among the most misunderstood and controversial aspects of Foucault’s career. However, new scholarship in Foucault’s late project and the revolution itself, including richer understandings of the context and conditions of its emergence, have deeply complicated this picture. This panel will re-approach Foucault on Iran and Islam more broadly, in order to more clearly wrestle with his engagements with Islam and the Islamic world. Further, we will investigate the ways that Islamic traditions, contemporary movements, and intellectual currents challenge and complicate Foucault’s work within and beyond these specific interventions. Finally, we will ask how these particular conversations intersect with historic and emerging scholarship within all of these areas.