politics
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Introduction Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan (1651) amid the tumultuous English Civil War (1642-1651), a period that profoundly shaped his political philosophy. Having witnessed Parliament’s rebellion against Charles I, the king’s execution in 1649, and the collapse of traditional authority, Hobbes experienced firsthand the chaos that ensues when sovereign power disintegrates. The war claimed an estimated…
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Abstract This essay examines political culture through Deleuze and Guattari’s schizoanalytic theory as presented in Anti-Oedipus. It challenges conventional understandings of political socialization found in political science literature. The analysis argues that political culture operates as an Oedipal apparatus reproducing dominant power structures, with the family serving as capitalism’s delegated agent of psychic repression. By…
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How an exiled playwright diagnosed the persistence of gendered violence across Iran’s revolutionary divide Introduction: The Physician Who Diagnosed Violence Through Drama When I first encountered the plays of Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi, I was struck by how this physician-turned-playwright used his clinical gaze to diagnose something more profound than physical ailments—the way violence inscribes itself on…
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Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi and the Politics of Imagination In December 2024, a provocative act—the desecration of Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi’s grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery by pro-monarchist factions—provoked widespread condemnation across Iran’s fragmented political spectrum. From state-run media to diaspora cultural forums, the response was swift and unexpectedly unified. Though quickly removed from social media platforms, the incident…