Nikki Keddie

Nikki Keddie

Nikki Keddie

Professor Emeritus

Email: keddie@history.ucla.edu

Office: 5385 Bunche Hall

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Field of Study

Near Eastern history, especially Iran; Social history; Women’s History; Comparative and World History; Photography

Publications

Books and Special Issue of Journals

  • Iran and the Muslim World: Resistance and Revolution. London: MacMillan, 1995.
  • Ed. Debating Gender, Debating Sexuality. New York: N.Y.U. Press, 1995, authored introduction.
  • Qajar Iran and the Rise of Reza Khan: 1796-1925. Costa Mesa: Mazda, 1999.
  • Co-ed with Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi. “Women in Twentieth Century Religious Politics.” Special issue of Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 10, No. 4. (Winter 1999). Authored first article.
  • Co-ed with Rudi Matthee. Iran and the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture and Cultural Politics.
    Seattle: University of Washington Press, June 2002.
  • Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.
  • Women in the Middle East: Past and Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.

Articles and Chapters (excluding short encyclopedia articles and journal book reviews)

  • “Secularism and the State: Towards Clarity and Global Comparison.” New Left Review. Vol. 226 (November/December 1997): 21-40.
  • “The New Religious Politics: Where, When, and Why Do ‘Fundamentalisms’ Appear?” Comparative Studies in Society and History. Vol. 40, No. 4 (Oct. 1998): 696-723.
  • “Iran: Understanding the Enigma,” Middle East Review of International Affairs 2:3 (Sept. 1998),http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/meria/meria98_keddie.html.
  • “The New Religious Politics and Women Worldwide: A Comparative Study.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter, 1999): 11-34.
  • “Women and Religious Politics in the Contemporary World.” ISIM Newsletter. 3/99 (July 1999).
  • “Women in Iran since 1979.” Social Research. Vol. 67, No. 2 (Summer, 2000); special issue: “Iran: Since the Revolution.” 405-438.
  • “The Study of Muslim Women in the Middle East: Achievements and Problems.” Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review. Vol. 6 (2000-2001): 26-52.
  • Co-ed with Azita Karimkhany. “Women in Iran: An Online Discussion.” Middle East Policy. Vol. 8, No. 4 (December, 2001): 128-143.
  • “Shi’ism and Change: Secularism and Myth,” in Shi’ite Heritage: Essays on Classical and Modern Traditions, ed. L. Clarke (Binghamton, NY: Global Publications, 2001).
  • “Women in the Limelight: Some Recent Books on Middle Eastern Women’s History since 1800.” International Journal of Middle East Studies. Vol. XXXIV, No. 3 (August, 2002).
  • “Secularism and its Discontents.” Daedalus. (Summer 2003).
  • “L’Iran evolverà, ma da solo.” Aspenia:. No. 22. America Black and White. Aspen Institute: Italia, Rome. (October 2003):185-192.
    English version, “Iran: change will come from within.” Aspenia International. No. 21/22. Economy & Security. Aspen Institute: Italia, Rome. (December 2003): 150-157.
  • “A Woman’s Place: Democratization in the Middle East.” Current History. Vol. 103, No. 669 (January 2004).
  • “Trajectories of Secularism in the West and the Middle East.” Global DialogueVol. 6, No.1-2 (Winter-Spring 2004).
  • “Women in the Middle East since the Rise of Islam.” Women’s History in Global Perspective, Vol. 3, ed. Bonnie G. Smith. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2005, 68-110.
  • “Revolutionary Iran: National Culture and Transnational Impact,” in Robert W. Hefner, ed., The New Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 6, Muslims and Modernity: Society and Culture since 1800.

Opinion Pieces and Newspaper Reviews

  • “Divine Inspiration.” New York Times. (December 16, 2001): Op-ed.
  • “Why Reward Iran’s Zealots?” Los Angeles Times. (Feb.17, 2002): Sunday Opinion, Section M.
  • “Don’t judge a woman by her cover: life is
    not all bad in Iran,” The Times (London) (February 9. 2004), http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-994763,00.html.
  • “War without End Brings Endless Dangers.” History News Service syndication to several newspapers and online services. Published online by History News Network, (Feb. 2002), as “Endless Enemies,” and by the Gulf/2000 Project: http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/.
  • “Taking History on Faith,” Review of Reza Aslan, No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam,” Washington Post, April 7, 2005, C2.
  • “On History in the Twentieth Century,” Daedalus, Summer 2006 (Letter to the Editor).

Articles and Book Chapters Before 1995

  • “Labor,” in The Economy of India; “Labor,” in The Economy of Pakistan; “Labor,” in The Economy of Nepal; “Labor Force,” in A Survey of Nepal Social Life; “Agrarian Reform,” in The Economy of Pakistan; Human Relations Area Files, new Haven, 1956.
  • “Labor Problems of Pakistan.” Journal of Asian Studies (May 1957): 575-589.
  • “Western Rule Versus Western Values: Suggestions for a Comparative Study of Asian Intellectual History.” Diogenes 26 (1959): 71-96. Also published in French and Arabic versions of Diogenes.
  • Sayyed Hasan Taqizadeh, “The Background of the Constitutional Movement in Azerbaijan.” Translated with notes by Nikki Keddie. Middle East Journal XIV, no. 4 (1960): 456-465. Reprinted in Iran.
  • Historical Obstacles to Agrarian Change in Iran. Claremont, California, 1960. Parts reprinted in C. Issawi, Economic History of Iran. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
  • “Religion and Irreligion in Early Iranian Nationalism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History IV, no. 3 (April 1962): 265-295
  • “Symbol and Sincerity in Islam.” Studia Islamica XIX (1963): 27-63.
  • With A. H. Zarrinkoub. “Fida’iyyan-i Islam.” In Encyclopedia of Islam, 1964.
  • “Afghani in Afghanistan.” Middle Eastern Studies I, no. 4 (1965): 322-349.
  • “The Origins of the Religious-Radical Alliance in Iran.” Past and Present 34 (July 1966): 70-80.
  • “The Pan-Islamic Appeal: Afghani and Abdulhamid II.” Middle Eastern Studies II (October I966); 46-67.
  • “Sayyid Jamal ad-Din’s First 27 years: The Darkest period.” Middle East Journal XX, no. 4 (autumn 1966): 517-533.
  • “British Policy and the Iranian Opposition, 1901-1907.” Journal of Modern History XXXIX, no. 3(1967): 266-282.
  • “Islamic Philosophy and Islamic Modernism.” Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies VI (1968): 53-56.
  • “The Iranian Village before and after Land Reform.” Journal of Contemporary History III, 3 (1968): 69-91. Reprinted in Development and Underdevelopment, edited by H. Bernstein. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1974.
  • “La rivoluzione constituzionale iraniana del 1905-1911.” Rivista Storica Italiana LXX, I (1968): 61-70. English version in “The Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911: A Brief Assessment.” Iran Society: Silver Jubilee Volume. Calcutta, 1970.
  • “Iranian Politics 1900-1905: Background to Revolution.” Middle Eastern Studies, 5, no. I: 3-31; no. 2: 151-167; no. 3: 234-250 (1969).
  • “Pan-Islam as Proto-Nationalism.” Journal of Modern History 41 (March 1969): 17-28.
  • “The Roots of the Ulama’s Power in Modern Iran.” Studia Islamica, XXIX (1969): 31-53. Reprinted in Scholars, Saints, and Sufis.
  • “Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani: A Case of Posthumous Charisma?” In Philosophers and Kings edited by D. Rustow, 148-179. New York: Braziller, 1970.
  • “Iran.” in Der Islam Vol. II, edited by G. E. von Grunebaum, 160-217. Frankfurt: Fisher Weltgeschichte, 1971. Also available in Italian and Spanish translations. “The Assassination of the Amin as-Sultan (Atabak-i A’zam).” In Iran and Islam edited by C. E. Bosworth, 315-329. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1971.
  • “The Iranian Power Structure and Social Change 1800-1969: An Overview.” International Journal of Middle East Studies IV (1973): 3-20.
  • “The Persian Land Reform 1962-1966 by A. K. S. Lambton.” Middle Eastern Studies VII, no. 3 (1971): 373-378.
  • “Capitalism, Social Control, and Stratification in Iranian Villages before and after Land Reform.” In Rural Politics and Social Change in the Middle East edited by R. Antoun and I. Harik, 364-431. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press, 1972.
  • “The Economic History of Iran 1800-1914 and its Political Impact.” Iranian Studies VI, nos 2-3 (1972): 58-78.
  • “Intellectuals in the Middle East: A Brief Historical Consideration.” Daedalus (summer 1972): 39-57.
  • “An Assessment of American, British, and French Works since 1940 on Modern Iranian History.” Iranian Studies VI, nos 2-3 (1972): 255-271.
  • “Is There a Middle East?” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies IV (1973): 255-271.
  • Four articles, with my photographs: “New Life for Old Monuments.” “Preserving Persepolis.” “The Masjed-e Jom’eh of Isfahan.” “Delving under Old Paint.” Kayhan International Tehran, 26-27 February; 4-5 March 1974.
  • Four articles, with my photographs: “Carpets as Handicrafts.” “Making Carpets at Home.” “The Crafts Renaissance.” “The Handicrafts Future.” Kayhan International, Tehran, 20 May; 22 May; 23 May; 28 May 1974.
  • “History and Economic Development.” In The Social Sciences and Economic Development edited by K. Farmanfarmanian, 40-57. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.
  • With J. Dhamija. “Namads.” A Survey of Persian Handicraft, edited by J. and S. Gluck, 277-288. Tehran: Bank Melli, 1977.
  • “Culture Traits, Fantasy, and Reality in the Life of Sayyid Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani.” Iranian Studies IX, nos 2-3 (1976): 89-120.
  • “Development in the Middle East – A Comparison between Turkey, Iran and Egypt.” Communications and Development Tehran, I, nos 2-3, 1977. “Islam et Politique en Iran.” Le Monde Diplomatique. Paris, August 1977.
  • “The Midas Touch: Black Gold, Economics, and Politics in Iran Today.” Iranian Studies X, no. 4 (1977-de facto 1979): 243-266. German translation in Revolution in Iran and Afghanistan. Frankfurt: Syndikat, 1980.
  • “Iran, 1797-1941.” In Commoners, Climbers, and Notables, edited by C. A. O. van Nieuwenhujze, 122-139. Leiden: Brill, 1977.
  • “Class Structure and Political Power in Iran since 1796.” In State and Society in Iran, edited by A. Banani, 305-330. Iranian Studies, Boston, 1979.
  • “Problems in the Study of Middle Eastern Women.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies X, no. 2 (1979): 225-240.
  • “Oil, Economic Policy, and Social Conflict in Iran.” Race and Class XXI, 1 (1979): 13-29.
  • “Iran: The Roots of Revolution.” Gazelle Review 6 (1979): 26-33.
  • “Iran: Is `Modernization’ the Message?” Middle East Review XI, no. 3 (1979): 55-56.
  • “Islam and Politics: New Factors in the Equation.” Los Angeles Times, Opinion lead, Dec. 2, 1979 (2 pages, 7 pages typescript). “Khomeini’s Fundamentalism is as Revolutionary as His politics,” Los Angeles Times, Opinion first page, Jan. 13, 1980 (2 pages, 7 pages typescript). (The newspaper articles’ titles are not mine.)
  • “Socioeconomic Change in the Middle East since 1800: A Comparative Analysis.” In The Islamic Middle East, 700-1900, edited by A. L. Udovitch. Princeton: Darwin Press, 1981.
  • “The History of the Muslim Middle East.” In The Past Before Us: Contemporary Historical Writing in the United States, edited for the American Historical Association by Michael Kammen. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1980.
  • “Pre-Capitalist Structures in the Middle East.” Journal of Arab Affairs I, no. 2 (April 1982): 189-208. French version, “Structures precapitalistes dans le Moyen-Orient.” In Structures et cultures precapitalistes, edited by Rene Gallissot. Paris, 1981.
  • “Iran: Change in Islam; Islam and Change.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (1980): 527-542. German translation in Religion and Politik im Iran, edited by K. Greussing. Frankfurt, 1981.
  • “Iran: Islam and Revolution.” In Iran in der Krise. Bonn: under the auspices of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 1980.
  • “L’ayatollah est-il un integriste?” Le Monde 22 August 1980.
  • “Understanding the Iranian Revolution.” The Center Magazine (May-June 1980): 38-46.
  • “The Iranian Revolution and U.S. Policy.” SAIS Review (winter 1981-82): 13-26. With Lois Beck, The Qashqa’i People of /ran. Los Angeles: UCLA Museum of Cultural History, 1981. Includes color and black and white photographs by Nikki Keddie.
  • “Revolution of Terror.” Los Angeles Times 17 January 1982. Reprinted in the International Herald Tribune and the London Guardian.
  • “Money and Ethics in Middle East Studies.” Middle East Studies Association Bulletin XVI, 1 (July 1982): 1-8.
  • “Comments on Skocpol.” Theory and Society 11 (1982): 285-292. [Commenting on Theda Skocpol, “Rentier State and Shi’a Islam in the Iranian Revolution,” pages 265-283 of same issue, at request of editors.] Co-signed with others, Obituaries of G. E. von Grunebaum in the American Historical Review 1962. And University of California In Memoriurn.
  • “Khomeini’s Opponents See Success for Their Crusade.” Los Angeles Times 4 October 1981.
  • “Will Iran’s Bloody Factional Fighting Escalate Into Civil War?” Los Angeles Times 5 July 1981.
  • “Iran: Religious Orthodoxy and Heresy in Political Culture.” In Religion and Society: Asia and the Middle East, edited by C. Caldarola. The Hague, 1982.
  • “Islamic Revival as Third Worldism.” In Le Cuisinier et le Philosophe: Honunage a Maxime Rodinson, edited by J.-P. Digard, 275-28I. Paris: Masonneuve et Larose, 1982.
  • “The Minorities Question in Iran.” The Iran-Iraq War: Old Weapons, New Conflicts, edited by Shaheen Ayubi and Shirin Tahir-Kheli, 85-108. New York: Praeger, 1983.
  • “Iran’s Revolutionaries Flirt with Moderation.” Los Angeles Times 13 February 1983.
  • “Iranian Revolutions in Comparative Perspective.” American Historical Review 88, no. 3 (June 1983): 579-598.
  • “Afgani, Jamal-al Din.” In Encyclopedia Iranica, edited by E. Yarshater, 481-486. “Must the Cold War Keep Growing Colder?” Los Angeles Times, 27 December 1983.
  • “Material Culture and Geography: Toward a Holistic History of the Middle East.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 26 (October 1984): 709-735. Reprinted and revised in Comparing Muslim Societies, edited by Juan R. I. Cole. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.
  • “Islamic Revival in the Middle East: A Comparison of Iran and Egypt.” In Arab Society, edited by Samih K. Farsoun, 65-83. London: Croom Helm, 1985.
  • “Islamic Revival in Comparative Perspective.” In Iran Since Revolution, edited by Barry Rosen. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
  • “Khomeini’s Rule.” London Review of Books 7, 4, 7, (March 1985): 7-8.
  • “The Islamic Opposition.” The Middle East (August 1985): 42-43.
  • “West Sumatra’s Minangkabau.” The World and I no. 7 (1986): 148-157.
  • “Senegal: The Islam of Sufi Orders.” The World and I no. 8 (1986): 182-187.
  • “The Qashga’i of Southern Iran.” The World and I no. 1 1 (1986): 474-497.
  • “Ideologie et institutions dans les societes musulmanes post-coloniales.” Politique etrangere 51, no. 2 (summer 1986): 447-464.
  • “Religion, Ethnic Minorities, and the State in Iran.” In The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, edited by Ali Banuazizi and Myron Weiner, 157-166. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1986.
  • “Shi’ism and Revolution.” In Religion, Rebellion, Revolution, edited by Bruce Lincoln, 157-182. London: Macmillan, 1985.
  • “Islam and Society in Minangkabau and in the Middle East: Comparative Reflections.” Sojourn 2, no. 1 (1987): 1-23.
  • “The Islamist Movement in Tunisia.” The Maghreb Review II, no. I (January-February 1986): 26-39.
  • “Ideology, Society and the State in Post-Colonial Muslim Societies.” In State and Ideology in the Middle East and Pakistan, edited by Fred Halliday and Hamza Alavi, 9-30. London: Macmillan, 1988.
  • “Iranian Imbroglios: Who’s Irrational?” World Policy Journal I (winter 1987-88): 29- 54.
  • “The Rights of Women in Contemporary Islam.” In Human Rights and the World’s Religions, edited by Leroy S. Rouner, 76-93. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988.
  • “The Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen): History and Society.” In Sojourners and Settlers: The Yemeni Immigrant Experience, edited by Jonathan Friedlander. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1988. With several photographs by the author from the related exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution and seven other museums.
  • “The Iranian Revolution in Comparative Perspective.” In Islam, Politics and Social Movements, edited by Ira Lapidus and Edmund Burke III. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
  • “The Past and Present of Women in the Muslim World.” Journal of World History I, no. 1 (1990): 77-108.
  • Wi” ‘ M. Amanat, “Iranian Politics 1852-1922.” In Cambridge History of Iran, vol. VII, edited by Peter Avery and Gavin Hambly. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
  • “The Revolt of Islam and its Roots.” In Political Dynamics: Global Research Perceptives, edited by Dankwart Rustow and K. Erickson. New York: Harper, 1991.
  • “Reflections on the Influence of the Iranian Revolution.” In Iran, the Middle East, and the Decade of the 1990s, 33-37. New Jersey: Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, 1991.
  • “Obstacles to Early Industrialization in the Middle East.” In Between Development and Underdevelopment, edited by Jean Batou, 143-156. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1991.
  • “Can Revolutions be Predicted: Can Their Causes be Understood?” CONTENTION I, no. 2 (1992): 159-182. Two responses by author on this subject published in issues I, no. 3 (1992) and II, no. 2 (1993).
  • “Why Has Iran Been Revolutionary?” In Reconstruction and Regional Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf, edited by H. Amirahmadi and N. Entessar, 19-32. London and New York: Routledge, 1992.
  • “The End of the Cold War and the Middle East.” Diplomatic History 16, no. 1 (winter 1992): 95-103. Reprinted in The End of the Cold War: Its Meaning and Implications, edited by Michael J. Hogan. New York: Cambridge University press, 1992.
  • With Farah Monian, “Militancy and Religion in Contemporary Iran.” In Fundamentalisms and the State, edited by Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
  • “The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Start of the New Middle East.” Working Papers no. 22. Los Angeles: Von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA, 1992.
  • “The Shi’a of Pakistan: Reflections and Problems for Further Research.” Working Papers no. 23. Los Angeles: Von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA, 1993.
  • “The French Revolution and the Middle East.” In The Global Ramifications of the French Revolution, edited Joseph Klatis and Michael Haltzel. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1994.
  • “The Revolt of Islam 1700-1993: Comparative Considerations and Relations to Imperialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 36, no. 3 (1994).
  • Several encyclopedia articles, in Colliers Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Iranica and Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World.
  • Many book reviews in Times Literary Supplement, New York Times, London Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, the American Historical Review, Middle Eastern Studies, Iranian Studies, The Journal of Economic History, Political Science Quarterly, Current History, Journal of Asian Studies, Far Eastern Quarterly, Journal of the American Oriental Society (review article from a conference paper, “The Contributions of Vladimir Gordlevsky to the History of the Seljuk Turks”), The Historian, MERIP Reports, etc.

Awards & Grants

  • 1994 elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2001 mentoring award of Middle East Studies Association, which also made me an
    honorary fellow in 2003.
  • 2001 award for scholarly distinction from the American Historical Association
  • 2002 Persian History award from the Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation
  • In 2004 I won the generous prize of the International Balzan Foundation, half of which is devoted to others’ research and has enabled me to bring six post-doctoral fellows in women’s studies to UCLA in the course of four years.
  • The fellows for 2005-06 were Holly Shissler, who taught two courses in History, and Nayereh Tohidi, who taught in Women’s Studies. 2006-07 fellows were Masserat Amir-Ebrahimi in Geography and Sociology and Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi in History. The 2007-2008 fellow was Houri Berberian in History and the 2008-2009 fellow is Janet Afary in History.
  • I have had these major fellowships, in addition to several summer and
    UCLA grants: AAUW (1954-55): Guggenheim (1963-64), SSRC (1959-60, 1966),
    Rockefeller (1980, 1982; Bellagio, 1992); I was visiting scholar for
    four months at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., in 1982,
    and was associate professor, Harvard summer school, 1967 and visiting
    professor, University of Rochester (1970), and University of Paris,
    III (1976-78). I have spent a total of three years in Iran and have
    done extensive research travel in Europe, the Middle East, East and
    Southeast Asia, and Africa.