In Ali Shariati and the Future of Social Theory: Religion, Revolution and the Role of the Intellectual, Dustin J. Byrd and Seyed Javad Miri bring together a collections of essays by a variety of scholars who explore the lasting influence of the Iranian sociologist and revolutionary, Ali Shariati. Thought to be the most important intellectual behind the Iranian Revolution of 1979, these essays engage in a future-oriented remembrance of Shariati’s life and praxis, with the practical attempt to clarify, expand, and apply his liberational Islamic thought to modern conditions. Making use of Shariati’s writings on Shi’a Islam and western philosophy, this text is especially important for those who want to understand the role that intellectuals, both religious and secular, can have in the liberation of mankind. Contributors are: Mahdi Ahouie, Bader Mousa al-Saif, Sophia Rose Arjana, M. Kürad Atalar, Dustin J. Byrd, Eric Goodfield, Teo Lee Ken, Georg Leube, Seyed Javad Miri, Carimo Mohomed, Chandra Muzaffar, Khosrow Bagheri Noaparast, Fatemeh Shayan, and Esmaeil Zeiny.
Dustin J. Byrd, Ph.D (2016), Michigan State University, is an Associate Professor of Religion, Philosophy and Arabic at Olivet College. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and manuscripts, including Islam in a Post-Secular Society: Religion, Secularity, and the Antagonism of Recalcitrant Faith (Brill, 2016). Seyed Javad Miri, Ph.D (2000), Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, is Professor of Sociology and History of Religions at that Institute in Tehran. He has published more than 50 books and 100 articles on various issues related to philosophy, religion, sociology and Social Theory. His latest book is entitled Reimagining Malcolm X: Street Thinker Versus Homo Academicus (University Press of America, 2016).