[R-G] Open letter of support to the demonstrators in Iran

[Sid Shniad]

Limes - Heartland 

Elections in Iran 
Open letter of support to the demonstrators in Iran 

This open letter (dated 24/06/09), signed by a number of international academics amongst whom Noam Chomsky and Juan Cole, is a letter in support of the demonstrations that are taking place in Iran following the controversial presidential elections. 

This morning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded an end to the massive and forceful demonstrations protesting the controversial result of last week’s election. He argued that to make concessions to popular demands and ‘illegal’ pressure would amount to a form of ‘dictatorship’, and he warned the protestors that they, rather than the police, would be held responsible for any further violence. 

Khamenei’s argument sounds familiar to anyone interested in the politics of collective action, since it appears to draw on the logic used by state authorities to oppose most of the great popular mobilisations of modern times, from 1789 in France to 1979 in Iran itself. These mobilisations took shape through a struggle to assert the principle that sovereignty rests with the people themselves, rather than with the state or its representatives. ‘No government can justly claim authority’, as South Africa’s ANC militants put it in their Freedom Charter of 1955, ‘unless it is based on the will of all the people.’ 

Needless to say it is up to the people of Iran to determine their own political course. Foreign observers inspired by the courage of those demonstrating in Iran this past week are nevertheless entitled to point out that a government which claims to represent the will of its people can only do so if it respects the most basic preconditions for the determination of such a will: the freedom of the people to assemble, unhindered, as an inclusive collective force; the capacity of the people, without restrictions on debate or access to information, to deliberate, decide and implement a shared course of action. 

Years of foreign-sponsored ‘democracy promotion’ in various parts of the world have helped to spread a well-founded scepticism about civic movements which claim some sort of direct democratic legitimacy. But the principle itself remains as clear as ever: only the people themselves can determine the value of such claims. We the undersigned call on the government of Iran to take no action that might discourage such determination. 

Signed by: 

AGAMBEN, Giorgio, Università IUAV di Venezia, Venice 
ALAMDARI, Kazem, California State University, Los Angeles 
ALLIEZ, Eric, Middlesex Universtiy, UK 
AMSLER, Sarah S, Language and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham 
ANDERSON, Kevin B, Professor of Sociology and Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara 
ASAD, Talal, Graduate Center, City University of New York 
BADIOU, Alain, École Normale Supérieure, Paris 
BALKAN, Nesecan, Hamilton College 
BANUAZIZI, Ali, Professor of Political Science and Director, Program in Islamic Civilization and Societies, Boston College 
BAYAT, Asef, Professor of Sociology and Middle East Studies, Leiden University 
BEHROOZ, Maziar, Associate Professor of Middle East History, San Francisco State University 
BENHABIB, Seyla, Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Yale University, New Haven 
BEYER, Vera, Kunsthistorisches Institut der Freien Universität Berlin 
BIENIEK, Adam, Jagiellonian University, Chair of Arab Studies, Institute of Oriental Philology , Cracow, Poland 
BLIBAR, Etienne, Paris X, Nanterre, and University of California, Irvine 
BOCHENSKA, Joanna, Dept. of Kurdish Studies, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland 
BOGDAN, Jolan, Dept. of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths College, UK 
BOSTEELS, Bruno Bosteels, Cornell University 
BRAULT, Pascale-Anne, Professor of French, Dept. of Modern Languages, DePaul University 
BRUNO, Michael, Dept. of Philosophy, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR 
BRUSTAD, Kristen, Associate Chair, Dept. Of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin 
BURGE, Tyler, University of California, Los Angeles 
BURGERS, Jan-Willem, Australian National University 
BUTLER, Judith, University of California, Berkeley 
BUTT, Gavin, Senior Lecturer & Programme Leader in MPhil / PhD, 
CARDIN, Maryam, IUT of the University of Marne-la-vallée 
CHOMSKY, Noam, MIT, Cambridge MA USA 
COHEN, Joshua, Stanford University 
COLE, Juan R. I., Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan 
DABASHI, Hamid, Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York 
DE CARO, Mario, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Rome 
DI LUCIA COLLETI, Laura, Conseillor Province of Venice 
DOGRAMACI, Sinan, University of Texas at Austin 
DOLEZALEK, Isabelle, Freie Universität Berlin 
DOMINIAK, Piotr, Chairman of ASK Association in Raciborz, Poland 
DORFMAN, Vladimiro Ariel, Duke Universtiy, Durham, North Carolina 
DÜTTMANN, Alexander Garcia, Goldsmiths College 
EHSANI, Kaveh, Assistant Professor of International Studies, DePaul University 
EISENSTEIN, Zillah, Professor of Politics, Ithaca College 
ENGELMANN, Stephen, University of Illinois at Chicago 
EPSTEIN, Barbara, History of Consciousness Dept., University of California, Santa Cruz 
FALK, Richard, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University 
FARHI, Farideh, Dept. of Political Science, University of Hawai’i at Manoa 
FARNOODY-ZAHIRI, Nelly, UCLA 
FASY, Thomas M., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City 
FATIMA KHAN, Mahruq, Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 
FIELD, Hartry, Professor of Philosophy, New York University 
FORAN, John, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara 
FRIEDLAND, Roger, Professor of Religiou Studies and Sociology, UCSB 
GAJEWSKA, Katarzyna, University of Poland 
GANDJBAKHSH, Amirhosseing, Research Director, National Health Institute, Washington DC 
GANZ, David, Universität Konstanz, Germany 
GARRETT, Don, Dept. of Philosophy, New York University 
GASIOROWSKI, Mark, Political Science and International Studies, Louisiana State University 
GLOGOWSKI, Aleksander, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland 
GODMILOW, Jill, University of Notre Dame 
GOLE, Nilufer, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris 
HÁJEK, Alan, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University 
HALLWARD, Peter, Middlesex University, UK 
HASHEMI, Nader, Assistant Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics 
HEGASY, Sonja, Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin 
HERRERA, Linda, Institute of Social Studies (The Hague) 
HIBBARD, Scott, DePaul University, Chicago 
HOEFERT, Almut, University of Basel 
IVEKOVIC, Rada, Collège international de philosophie, Paris, Université Jean-Monnet, Saint-Etienne 
JIMENEZ, Maria, Université Paris Sorbonne, Paris IV 
KAPLINSKY, Raphael, Professor of International Development, The Open University, UK 
KESHAVARZIAN, Arang, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University 
KHOSROVANI, Sahar, University of Maastricht 
KORBEL, Josef, School of International Studies, University of Denver 
KOWALIK, Tadeusz, professor of economics and humanities, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw 
KOWALSKA, Beata, Jagiellonian University, Poland 
KOZLOWSKI, Pawel, Professor of economics, Polish Academy of Sciences 
KUMAR, Victor, University of Arizona 
LARRIVÉE, Pierre, Aston University, Birmingham 
LEMISCH, Jesse, Professor Emeritus, History, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, USA 
MARTINON, Jean-Paul, Dept. of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths College, UK 
MASROUR, Farid, Dept. Of Philosophy, New York University 
MCFARLAND, Andrew, Political Science Dept., University of Illinois, Chicago 
MCINTYRE, Michael, International Studies, DePaul University, Chicago 
MEHDIZADEH, Hamidreza, Illinois Institute of Technology 
MEMMI, Paul, Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense 
MORUZZI, Norma Claire, University of Illinois at Chicago, Political Science, History, Gender and Women’s Studies 
MOSES, Claire G., Dept. of Women’s Studies, University of Maryland 
MOSHTAGHI, Nazgol, University of South Florida 
NAST, Heidi, DePaul University, Chicago 
NATCHKEBIA, Irina, Tbilisi University 
NOYAU, Colette, Dépt des Sciences du langage, CNRS, Université Paris-Ouest 
OBDRZALEK, Suzanne, Dept of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College 
PATTERSON, Ian, Director of Studies in English, Queens’ College Cambridge 
PETTIT, Philip, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University 
PHELPS, Christopher, Dept. of History, The Ohio State University 
PIRVELI, Marika, Szczecin University, Poland 
POTTER, Robert, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA 
PRÉVOST, Sophie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 
PRINZ, Jesse, Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York 
PROUST, Joëlle, Director of Research, Institut Jean-Nicod, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ecole Normale Supérieure 
PSTRUSIŃSKA, Jadwiga, Head of Dept. of Interdisciplinary Eurasiatic Research, Institute of Oriental Philology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow 
RAKOWIECKI, Jacek, Collegium Civitas, Poland 
RANCIÈRE, Jacques, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris (St. Denis) 
REZAEI ,Ali, Dept. of Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada 
RIGGLE, Nicholas Alden, Philosophy, New York University 
ROMAN, Richard, University of Toronto 
ROSENTHAL, David M., Professor of Philosophy, Cognitive Science Concentration Graduate Center, City University of New York 
ROSS, Eric B., Visiting Professor of Anthropology and International Development Studies, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 
SAHNI, Varun, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Ganeshkhind, Pune 
SANBONMATSU, John, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dept. Of Humanities and Arts, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, MA 
SCHAEFER, Karin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany 
SCHELLENBERG, Susanna, Professor of Philosophy, Research School of the Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra 
SCHIBECI, Lynn, (retired) Dept. of History, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 
SCHIELKE, Samuli, Centre of Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin 
SCHRECKER, Ellen, Professor of American History at Yeshiva University, New York 
SCHWABSKY, Barry, Senior Critic in Sculpture (retired), Yale University 
SEDGWICK, Sally, University of Illinois, Chicago 
SHAHSAVARI, Anousha, Persian Lecturer, University of Texas at Austin 
SHEIKHZADEGAN, Amir, University of Freiburg 
SIEGEL, Susanna C., Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University, Cambridge 
SIMPSON, Dick, Head of the Political Science Dept., University of Illinois, Chicago 
SINGPURWALLA, Rachel, University of Maryland, College Park 
SOSA, Ernest, Rutgers University Philosophy Department 
SPERBER, Dan, Institut Jean Nicod, CRNS, Paris 
STEINSEIFER, Martin, Universität Giessen 
STUART, Jack, Minneapolis, MN 
Tabb, William K., City University of New York 
TAVAKOLI-BORAZJANI, Farifteh, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Iranistik 
TAVAKOLI-TARGHI, Mohamad, Professor of History and Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto 
TISSBERGER, Martina, Freie Universität Berlin, Dept. of Educational Sciences and Psychology 
TOHIDI, Nayereh, Professor and Chair, Gender and Women’s Studies Dept., California State University, Northridge 
TOSCANO, Alberto, Goldsmiths College, UK 
UNGER, Peter, Professor of Philosophy, New York University 
VAHDAT, Farzin, Vassar College, New York 
VAN BLUEMEL, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, MA 
VAN BRUINESSEN, Martin, Chair of Comparative Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies, Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies, Utrecht University 
VICTORRI, Bernard, Directeur de recherché CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 
WATZL, Sebastian, Dept. of Philosophy, Columbia University 
WHITE, Stephen, Dept. of Philosophy, Tufts University 
WINANT, Howard, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara 
ZIAI, Hossein, Director of Iranian Studies, UCLA Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Los Angeles, CA 
ŽIŽEK, Slavoj, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and the European Graduate School 
ZUK, Agnieszka, University of Nancy 
ZUPANCIC, Alenka, Institute of Philosophy of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts