Life and Thought
Kazem Alamdari is an author, sociologist, and professor emeritus at California State University. His main research areas are the sociology of development, political economy, the relationship between religion and development, social movements, and the problem of backwardness in Iran and the Middle East. His book Why Iran Lagged Behind and the West Moved Forward? is one of his well-known works among Persian-speaking readers.
Kazem Alamdari was born in the city of Damavand and pursued his university education in Iran and the United States. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Tehran in 1972 and then went to the United States to continue his studies. After earning a master's degree in educational administration, he received his Ph.D. in the sociology of development from the University of Illinois in 1981.
Alamdari has been teaching and conducting research in the Department of Sociology at California State University since 1988, publishing numerous articles and books on topics such as terrorism, political economy, the role of religion in societal development, social movements, and civil society. His writings typically focus on the relationship between historical, economic, and cultural structures and the development and backwardness of societies.
His Persian works include Why Iran Lagged Behind and the West Moved Forward?, Why Did the Middle East Lag Behind?, On Democracy and Development in Iran, Why Did Reforms Fail?, New Social Movements and Civil Society, Civil Society: Discourses, Contexts, and Experiences, and Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? In these works, he has sought to analyze the issues of development, democracy, religion, the state, and civil society within the context of Iran and the Middle East.