Recent Publications

EGYPT

Egypt’s Revolutions: Politics, Religion, and Social Movements, edited by Bernard Rougier and Stéphane Lacroix. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. 277 pages. $105. This collection of essays investigates the political, religious, and social dimensions of Egypt’s latest uprisings and posits how the nation may achieve greater stability in the future. Editors Bernard Rougier and Stéphane Lacroix identify five constituent groups within Egypt: liberals, revolutionaries, military personnel and sympathizers, Islamists, and trade unionists. The shifting alliances and divisions between these different constituents, which depended on Egypt’s unsteady political environment, greatly influenced the outcomes of each revolution. For example, Mohamed Morsi ascended to power largely because he was able to garner support from revolutionaries outside of his Muslim Brotherhood base, whose political desires he then ignored after his election. Rougier and Lacroix also argue that, in order for President ‘Abd al-Fattah Sisi to remain in power, he must institute sweeping governmental reforms quickly before he loses key support from the military and liberals. (CS)

Gramsci on Tahrir: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt, by Brecht De Smet. London: Pluto Press, 2016. 264 pages. $34. Author Brecht De Smet applies the theories of Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci to the Egyptian uprisings of 2011 and 2013. De Smet devotes the first part of his work to a review of Gramsci’s most pertinent theories on passive revolution, hegemony, and Caesarism. Gramsci on Tahrir then uses these theories to understand Egypt, tracing the themes of passive revolution (i.e., crisis, revolution, and transformation) through the country’s history. De Smet seeks to not only use Gramsci to help explain events in Egypt, but also to expand upon the few studies that exist regarding Gramsci’s theory of Caesarism. Ultimately, De Smet argues that Egypt will eventually collapse into terror unless the organized workers’ movement can preserve the nation. (CS)

IRAN

Charand-o Parand: Revolutionary Satire from Iran, 1907–1909, by Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda, translated by Janet Afary and John R. Perry. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016. 335 pages. $85. In this volume, Janet Afary and John Perry present the first English translation of 20^th century Iranian satirist ‘Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda’s newspaper column entitled “Charand o Parand,” or “Stuff and Nonsense.” The translators also provide an introduction that contextualizes the collection, highlighting the revolutionary nature of Dekhoda’s writings, both in content and in style. Dehkhoda began writing for the liberal newspaper Sur-e Esrafil during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906. Not only did his work use humor to challenge political and social hierarchies, its colloquial nature also deviated from traditional Persian-language literature. (SH)

The Iranian Political Language: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present, by Yadullah Shahibzadeh. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 246 pages. $105. In this book, the author argues that modern Iranian political language encourages individual and collective emancipation via democratic discourse. Shahibzadeh tracks the changes in the Iranian concept of democracy since the 19^th century, framing democracy as a condition of politics, rather than a type of government or a way of life. The author contends that political language has impacted Iranian political events and that these events in turn go on to shape the country’s future politics. The Iranian Political Language also explores the underestimated role of ordinary Iranians in defining and using political discourse. For example, Shahibzadeh devotes a chapter to the analysis of a laborer who employs Iranian political language to achieve a small amount of influence within the public sphere. (CS)

IRAQ

Packed for the Wrong Trip: A New Look inside Abu Ghraib and the Citizen-Soldiers who Redeemed America’s Honor, by W. Zach Griffith. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2016. 233 pages. $24.99. Packed for the Wrong Trip centers on the Maine National Guard’s 152^nd Field Artillery Battalion, a unit assigned to oversee Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shortly after photos exposed the human rights abuses that detainees underwent there. Author and former combat correspondent in the United States Marine Corps W. Zach Griffith describes the unit’s diverse backgrounds and the insufficient training that the “Mainers” received. Griffith chronicles how...