Aftershocks of an Event

An unavoidable question when it comes to producing political theory in a reflective way is what it means to think politically. Any answer to this question that is open to a post-colonial sensibility and to the contingency of history should take into account the fact that comparative political theory recognises a multiplicity of canons other than that of the “Westˮ, as well as the connection between the production of political thought and historical events, pointed out by thinkers such as Arendt or Badiou. One of these events with global repercussions, namely the Iranian Revolution of 1979, provides a very propitious occasion to think politically in this framework and to ask, for example, what the basis of authority is, what democracy is, or what is meant by criticism. The seven essays compiled in this work, written by Iranian, German and Latin American authors inspired by the ideas and theories of Khomeini, Habermas or Foucault, revolve around these themes and are examples of contemporary exercises in political theory motivated by this singular event.