Review Session of Fukuyama's Book Identity

The Center for Middle East Strategic Studies hosted a review session for the book Identity by Francis Fukuyama, the 65-year-old Japanese-American theorist. The book, recently translated in Iran by Rahman Ghahremanpour and published by Rowzaneh Publications, comprises 14 chapters.

Politics and Dignity, The Third Part of the Soul, Inside and Outside, From Dignity to Democracy, Revolutions of Dignity, Expressive Individualism, Nationalism and Religion, The Wrong Address, Invisible Man, The Democratization of Dignity, From Identity to Identities, We the People, Stories of Peoplehood, and What Is to Be Done are the chapters of Fukuyama’s Identity.

In this book, the author studies the formation of the idea of identity from Plato to Locke and Rousseau, and on to feminism and the politics of new sexuality, journeying into the depths of said history to issue a stern warning: “Unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we are condemned to endure perpetual conflict.”

Rahman Ghahremanpour, the translator of Identity, writes in a note at the beginning of the book: “Liberals have always believed that identity is not an important issue in politics; rather, the main issue in politics is the welfare and well-being of citizens, specifically their economic welfare.” Elsewhere in the note, he writes: “Nevertheless, this liberal approach to identity has been subject to serious critiques and challenges for years.”

However, at the session held at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies to critique the said book, in addition to Dr. Rahman Ghahremanpour, the book’s translator, Dr. Ali Ashraf Nazari, a faculty member at the University of Tehran, Dr. Mokhtar Nouri, director of the Strategic Trends Group at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, and Dr. Sajjad Atashbar, a researcher at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, also presented their views and critiques of Fukuyama’s newly published book.

At this session, Mokhtar Nouri, while welcoming the attendees, addressed the importance of Fukuyama’s Identity and cited the book’s most significant feature as its pragmatic character, its engagement with theoretical, objective, and concrete issues in international politics such as the Arab Spring and so on.

Ghahremanpour: The Book Identity Continues the Diagnosis of Liberal Democracy’s Weaknesses

Rahman Ghahremanpour, the translator of Identity, described the book as an important work by Fukuyama. According to Ghahremanpour, this book has created a transformation in the discussion of development, and in it, Fukuyama raises issues related to the importance of identity.

According to Ghahremanpour, the book Identity continues Fukuyama’s intellectual project of understanding the weakness of the liberal order, because liberals fundamentally do not view the issue of identity positively and believe that identity leads to division and discord; hence, liberals refuse to recognize the issue of identity, although, in contrast, the topic of identity was mainly championed by the left.

Ghahremanpour further added: Identity politics, however, was not pursued only by the left, and liberals believe that this discussion of identity has continued in environmental movements and so on, and Fukuyama also believes that liberalism views identity as a weak point. Fukuyama presents the discussion of identity in various expressions and is, in fact, seeking to correct liberal democracy.

Ali Ashraf Nazari: Fukuyama’s New Book Lacks the Necessary Theoretical Foundations

The next speaker at the review session for Identity was Ali Ashraf Nazari, a faculty member at the University of Tehran.

According to Ashraf Nazari, the original version of Fukuyama’s Identity was published in 2018, and fortunately, its Persian version became available to us very quickly.

Ali Ashraf Nazari continued: Dr. Ghahremanpour’s precise translation is very noteworthy, although some brief explanatory notes could have been included in the said translation.

Regarding the issues of identity, Ashraf Nazari stated: The emergence of ethnic, racial, gender, and other identities has become prominent since 2010 onwards. In Tunisia, Libya, and elsewhere, this search for identity has become prominent under the title of the search for dignity, and the recent developments in these countries can be explained in terms of this search for dignity. Identity politics is also important because new social movements and revolutions are in search of identity, and identity politics has become very, very serious. It is seen both in the form of Islamic revolutions and other revolutions and movements, and in today's protests, attention is paid to deep structural changes.

In connection with the critique of the book, Ashraf Nazari stated: This work is presented in a descriptive manner. The reasons for the importance of identity are not explained by Fukuyama in this book, and the book lacks the necessary theoretical basis. Therefore, this book takes a review approach to the issues, and it is one of Fukuyama's limited works that lacks significant theoretical aspects.

Ashraf Nazari also said: In this book, the basic concepts are not explained much. In discussing identity, Fukuyama only pays attention to differences and neglects similarity. For example, the book does not explain what dignity is, although dignity is discussed extensively. In the seventh chapter of the book, the discussion of religion and nationalism is not clarified, and for instance, has nationalism led to religious interpretations or vice versa? Therefore, this issue is not clear and explicit in the book.

The faculty member of the University of Tehran, continuing his critique of Fukuyama's new book, added: In the thirteenth chapter of the book, an ahistorical view of national identity is seen, and only a modern interpretation of national identity is presented, which is a weakness of the book, and this prevents the reader from gaining a comprehensive understanding of the issues of national identity. In the final parts of the book's translation, endnotes and supplementary explanations are also absent, and it was necessary for the translator to pay attention to these sections.

Atashbar: Fukuyama tries to explain the complexity of today's political developments

Sajjad Atashbar, a member of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, presented his critique of Fukuyama's book with three fundamental questions, which included: What is the main argument of the book? Which parts does the critic agree with? Which parts of the book does the critic not accept?

According to Atashbar, the main argument of the book rests on three parts: analysis, judgment, and prescription. In the analysis section, Fukuyama believes that our politics today is shaped by identity and dignity, and he considers identity to be the engine of today's political developments. Like the Black movement in North America or Trump's victory, the emergence of ISIS, and Brexit, these events, according to Fukuyama, are the result of politics based on identity, and he says that the driver of today's developments is identity.

Atashbar further added: Fukuyama moves from the issues of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, etc., in the 20th century to the New Left in the discussion of identity, and ultimately considers dignity based on collective identity as one of the most determining elements in the formation of political events.

According to Atashbar, after this analysis, we arrive at judgment, and in Fukuyama's belief, the dominance of identity, despite some advantages, has also had disadvantages, and the political future of liberal democracy is being threatened by the prominence of identity.

The member of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies continued: Fukuyama criticizes the left and believes that the radical left, by highlighting micro-identities, questioned the macro-identities in countries, and the radical left, by delegitimizing the macro-identity, created a vacuum and highlighted micro-identities, and these conditions created polarization and fragmentation in society, and these conditions are a threat to liberal democracy because liberal democracy is formed based on compromise, and these conditions are detrimental to liberal democracy.

Atashbar also said: Fukuyama recommends that the right provide a comprehensive and inclusive definition of a country's national identity so that minorities and immigrants can define themselves in a liberal democratic society, and in fact, Fukuyama recommends the absorption of minorities in Western societies.

Sajjad Atashbar also spoke about his views on the parts of the book he agreed with: Regarding the second question, which parts the critic agrees with, it must be said that Fukuyama revives the position of political science and political thought. In fact, political science in the current world, with the emergence of Trump, ISIS, and Brexit, is facing a kind of complexity, and Fukuyama attempts to explain this complexity, and Fukuyama has paid his debt to political thought.

Atashbar considered the advantage of Fukuyama's book to be that it questions the modern, rational choice theory as a liberal democrat and believes that classical theories are incapable of understanding the current developments in the international system.

According to Atashbar, the third issue is that Fukuyama sets aside the classical definition of the relationship between object and subject and positions himself in the middle of these debates, and this is the advantage of this book. Also, this book uses data from other disciplines, including psychology, and shows that the book's data is strong.

Regarding his disagreements with Fukuyama's arguments, Atashbar said: At the same time, regarding my disagreement with the book's arguments, I must say that Fukuyama's proposals for solving the problems of liberal democracies are very limited, and Fukuyama's tangible solution regarding the absorption of immigrants and minorities into social institutions like the army, etc., is not a very comprehensive solution and cannot be a practical and fundamental remedy for solving the problems of Western societies.

Atashbar's other critique of Fukuyama's new book was as follows: in parts of the book, there are a series of simplifications of concepts, and the thoughts of thinkers such as Nietzsche and Rousseau have been explained under the general and blanket discussion of identity, although the arguments of each of these thinkers are themselves very extensive and highly complex. Finally, the concluding critique is that Fukuyama, in the initial discussions and intellectual framework, has made a passing reference to Plato's arguments, but this framework is incapable of explaining and elucidating today's conditions.

Nouri: Fukuyama's Arguments in the Book "Identity" Suffer from a Historical Delay

"Mokhtar Nouri," a researcher at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, was another speaker at the review session for the book "Identity."

According to Nouri, the most important part of the book "Identity" states that politics must be based on identity, and Fukuyama advances his arguments on two levels: the level of political philosophy from Plato to Hegel, and on a practical level from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring as dignity revolutions.

Nouri then addressed the functions of national identity from Fukuyama's perspective and said in this regard: Fukuyama considers national identity to lead to physical security, and its absence to cause civil war, citing the examples of the wars in Iraq and Syria. The second function is that national identity leads to an increase in the quality of governments, and this good governance leads to reduced corruption and better efficiency for citizens. The third function of national identity is economic development, including in Southeast Asia, where they achieved development based on national identity. The fourth function of national identity is increasing the radius of trust, leading to the increased importance of trust and self-actualization in society. The fifth function is that national identity reduces economic inequality in society, because a sense of universal belonging is formed in society, and finally, the last function of national identity is making liberalism and democracy possible, because this national identity leads to a social contract between citizens and society, from which democracy emerges.

According to Nouri, Fukuyama sees national identity as a powerful idea that needs to be recognized.

Nouri described the most important critique of Fukuyama's book as a three-decade historical delay and said Fukuyama's claim suffers from a historical delay.

Regarding the historical belatedness of Fukuyama's discussions in the book "Identity," Mokhtar Nouri said: Before Fukuyama, "John Rawls" in his book on the theory of justice sought to demonstrate a just mechanism for the distribution of resources, and on this basis, injects ethics into his discussions, believing that if liberal democracy carries out a just distribution of resources, there will be no threat against this system.

Nouri continued: It is necessary to assess Fukuyama's book within the tradition of liberal democracy. So, if in the 1970s John Rawls was an advocate of social justice, in the following decades the model of the politics of recognition took shape and granting validity to collective identity gained attention. Although in the 1990s, due to the hegemony of Fukuyama's "end of history" theory, other theories were marginalized, until finally, over the past three decades, political developments shifted in such a way that we returned from the politics of redistribution to the politics of recognition, and this very conceptual transformation led to new discussions regarding collective identities. Therefore, Fukuyama's discussions are not new discussions, although the data and information are up-to-date and new, the claim of assessing politics based on identity is not a new subject and was previously addressed by figures such as "Taylor." Hence, Fukuyama's book suffers from a historical delay.

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Audio file of Dr. Rahman Ghahremanpour's lecture

Audio file of Dr. Ali Ashraf Nazari's lecture

Audio file of Mr. Sajjad Atashbar's lecture

Audio file of Dr. Mokhtar Nouri's lecture

Audio file of Q&A

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Review session of Fukuyama's book Identity

Source of the report text: Mehr reporter

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