English

May Day Without Crowds

A Historian Reflecting on May Day and the Pandemic Published by Bare Life Review Long before I decided to become a historian, taking part in May Day always made me think historically. The commemoration of the workers’ rally in Chicago on May 4, 1886, the “holiday of the proletariat,” has long had that historic ring. …

Why sanctions on Iran should be lifted now

Published by the New Arab What do Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US Senators Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the New York Times editorial board and Human Rights Watch have in common? They have all called for easing of the US sanctions on Iran which have hampered the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and thus endangered the …

How Did Iran Become an Islamic Republic? [interview with Darioush Bayandor]

Published by IranWire Iranians marked the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution in 2019. Many an academic conference around the world marked the occasion (including a workshop jointly held by my own New York University and Columbia University), but grand narratives or conclusive accounts of the revolution have been conspicuous in their absence. This is …