Post-Islamist Trends in Postrevolutionary Iran

Today's Iran under the Islamic state represents the most complex forms of post-Islamism in the Muslim world. The unintended consequences of the Islamic Republic have empowered and enlightened the public, transformed the people from subjects to citizens, and in effect have undermined the intellectual, political, and social foundations of the Islamic state. Post-Islamism in postrevolutionary Iran signifies the paradoxes of the Islamic state. This article examines the nature and the diversity of post-Islamist trends in today's Iran symbolized by the current Green Movement. It conceptualizes and contextualizes post-Islamist discourses in Iran and then analyzes the sociopolitical origins of three intellectual trends of post-Islamism in postrevolutionary Iran: quasi/semi-post-Islamism, liberal post-Islamism, and neo-Shariati's post-Islamist discourse. The conclusion problematizes the potential future of post-Islamism in the country.