…title of an intriguing book on a little-known topic by Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson from the University of Chicago Press.

It tells of how, in the late 1970s, as the protests against the Shah of Iran escalated, philosopher Michel Foucault traveled to Iran as a journalist, meeting with leaders like Ayatollah Khomeini and writing articles on the revolution. Along with commentaries on the articles are withering responses from such contemporaneous critics as Middle East scholar Maxime Rodinson and remarks on the revolution by feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.

The book (which I have not as yet read) appears to bear relevance to our present struggle with Iran and Islamism. The authors

illuminate Foucault’s support of the Islamist movement. They also show how Foucault’s experiences in Iran contributed to a turning point in his thought, influencing his ideas on the Enlightenment, homosexuality, and his search for political spirituality. Foucault and the Iranian Revolution informs current discussion on the divisions that have reemerged among Western intellectuals over the response to radical Islamism after September 11. Foucault’s provocative writings are thus essential for understanding the history and the future of the West’s relationship with Iran and, more generally, to political Islam.