Social Sciences

A Genealogy of the Translation, Reception, and Understanding of Habermas’s Thought in Iran

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

ali yaghoobi

Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Guilan, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran.

10.22054/qjss.2026.93152.2989
Abstract
Ideas are reinterpreted as they move across societies, taking on new meanings within different historical and discursive contexts. Accordingly, this article aims to provide a genealogy of the translation, reception, and understanding of Habermas’s thought in Iran. The methodological framework of this study is grounded in Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach. The findings indicate that the understanding of Habermas in Iran has consistently been shaped in relation to configurations of power. Prior to the 1990s , Habermas occupied a marginal position within Iran’s discursive field. Following the domestic and international transformations of the 1990s, engagement with Habermas’s thought became possible and subsequently intensified. His ideas gained support from academic and intellectual circles, and this discursive attention was further reinforced by his visit to Iran. From the 2000s onward, due to fluctuations between reformist and conservative discourses, the institutionalization of Habermasian discourse was marked by recurrent advances and setbacks. With the formation of the moderate government, the publication of works on Western thinkers, particularly Habermas, increased. In the 2020s, following the events of October 7 and Habermas’s public stance in support of Israel, he came under criticism in Iran’s political and media spheres from both conservative and reformist factions.

Keywords

Genealogy
Sociology of Iran
Historical Rupture
Frankfurt School
Jü
rgen Habermas
Subjects
Social Sciences

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 October 2026

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