A thermidor of "Islamic Yuppies"? Conflict and compromise in Iran's politics

Abstract

Muhammad Khatami's election as president of Iran in May 1997 marked two important turning points in the Islamic Revolution: it inaugurated the overdue Thermidor of the Iranian Revolution by turning the politics of revolutionary Iran into politics as usual, with its own peculiar conflict and compromise; and it marked the emergence of a new generation in the Islamic movement in Iran who are here referred to as "Islamic Yuppies." This article examines these two trends in context. It examines the encounter of modernity and tradition within Iran's Revolution, and maps various voices within the Islamic movement in Iran and their contribution to the complicated politics of post-revolutionary Iran