'Through a caring and courageous ethnographical endeavor, The promise of violence offers an intricate analysis of a revolutionary temporality that unfolds and finds meaning simultaneously in the past, present, and future. In that very sense, the book advances an anthropology of history through which it situates revolutionaries in perpetual yearning for the realization of messianic futures and global justice. Saramifar has produced a remarkable piece of scholarship that is going to be the subject of conversation for many years to come in anthropology, memory, and Iranian studies.'
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Princeton, the author of The Long War on Iran: New Events, Old Questions 'Younes Saramifar delivers a dazzling and intellectually fearless book. With a uniquely empathetic touch, this study traverses multiple disciplines to uncover the paradoxes of revolution through a close reading of one of the greatest examples: Iran. Both conceptually bold and deeply personal, this work of rare erudition will leave a lasting imprint on debates about the politics of memory, revolutions, and the Iranian experience in particular.' Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS, the author of What is Iran? and Psycho-nationalism: Global Thought, Iranian Imaginations The promise of violence is a captivating read. Younes Saramifar's profoundly researched book adds much needed nuance to our understanding of transnational Shi'i militants, their motivations, goals, worldviews, and cultural production. The study's portrayal of fighters and their allies, spanning the Iran-Iraq War to the Iranian intervention in Syrian, is neither apologetic nor clichéd. Rather, it is historically informed, sophisticated, and ethical. It gives voice to a range of Shi'i revolutionaries, crossing generations and including those based far from Tehran, ethnic minorities, and Afghans, whose perspectives are rarely given such careful attention.
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