foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary

108 Foucault's Writings on the Iranian Revolution
Here again, Foucault showed an extraordinarily keen insight into Islamism's
global reach. During the coming years Islamist movements would stage uprisings
and/or gain wide followings in a number of key countries in the Muslim
world. Additionally, Foucault argued that its global impact would surpass
that of Marxism,. which was not as deeply rooted in society, extolling "the dynamism
of an Islamic movement, something much stronger than the effect
of giving it a Marxist, Leninist, or Maoist character" (ibid., 241). But, as in his
previous writings on Iran, there was no note of criticism, or even hesitation.
Instead, the tone was almost laudatory.
By mid-February, Iran had reached the center stage of world politics. This
prompted a torrent of commentaries by French intellectuals in the next couple
of months. 2 The debate reached a crescendo in March and April, in the
wake of the feminist protests in Iran and abroad against Khomeini's order
that women re-veil. While Foucault remained silent about Iran during these
feminist protests, his earlier writings on Iran were now attacked by feminist,
leftist, and liberal intellectuals.
With Khomeini now beginning to consolidate his rule, Rodinson followed
up his earlier critique of Foucault on Iran with an article in the February
19 issue of Le Nouvel Observateur entitled "Khomeini and the 'Primacy of
the Spiritual.'" Although Rodinson stated that he was responding to Jacques
Julliard's article, discussed in the previous chapter, which had ended with a
notion similar to that of Foucault, "the primacy of the spiritual," his real but
still unacknowledged target was Foucault. 3 As in his December Le Monde series,
Rodinson warned of the dangers ofIslamist rule. Using Marx's concept of
ideology and Weber's notion of the mobilizing power of religious charisma,
he also pointed to the "credulity" of West em intellectuals concerning the Iranian
Revolution:
There is neither improbability nor scandal in revolutionary mobilizations
that take place· in the name of religion. They can succeed better than oth-
ers. However, it is necessary to be vigilant toward their victories. It is also
necessary to maintain a critical attitude toward both the propaganda of the
intellectuals within these movements and the credulity of those outside them.
A revolutionary tendency can easily continue to be put forward under the
banner of Islam. But what superior facilities re.ligion has for those who want
to smother society with conservative and reactionary options! Religions are
not dangerous because they preach belief in God, but rather because the only
remedy they have at their disposal concerning the inherent evils of society
is moral exhortation. The more they seem to have such remedies at their