Book Launch / Denis Hermann & Erdal Kaynar: Constitutionalism Unbound: Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands

DATE / TARİH

janvier 28, 2026

19:00 - 21:00

LIEU / VENUE / MEKÂN

Orient-Institut
Şahkulu, Galip Dede Caddesi, 65, Istanbul, Beyoğlu, 34421

Orient-Institut Istanbul
Language: English

Discussant: Anja Pistor-Hatam, Ahmet Kuyaş

VENUE
Orient-Institut Istanbul
Galip Dede Cad. 65, Şahkulu Mah., Beyoğlu, TR – 34421 Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 293 60 67
oiist@oiist.org | oiist.org

REGISTRATION
To attend in person, please register here: https://oiist.org/en/event/denis-hermann-erdal-kaynar-constitutionalism-unbound-constitutional-dynamics-and-political-transformation-in-the-ottoman-and-qajar-lands/

To join ONLINE please use this Zoom Link. No registration necessary:
https://maxweberstiftung.zoom-x.de/j/62809683834?pwd=WFxo36xDGmbl4wuGn55Cg05wXBzrxd.1
ID: 628 0968 3834
Password: 606979

Marking the 150^th anniversary of the Kanun-i Esasi of 1876, this edited volume invites a reassessment of the history of constitutionalism in Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire. Moving beyond interpretations that frame the Persian and Ottoman revolutions of 1906 and 1908 as failed attempts at modernisation in a region where democratic values presumably cannot strike root, the book casts constitutionalism as a social and intellectual movement that radically altered the political landscape across a trans-imperial geography spanning the (post-) Ottoman and Persian lands. Through examinations of new ideas, visual rhetoric, practices of public deliberation, labor activism, and cross-communal engagement, the book’s different chapters demonstrate how constitutionalism fostered shifts in values and everyday practices finally opening entirely new arenas for political action. The authors illustrate how the circulation of ideas, the development of a new political language, and diverse forms of mobilisation established constitutionalism as a shared historical experience, whose core debates over legitimacy and democracy continue to resonate today.

Erdal Kaynar, Ph.D. (2012), is associate professor in modern history at the University of Strasbourg. He works on the intellectual and political history of the late Ottoman Empire. Among his publications is L ’héroïsme de la vie moderne. Ahmed Rıza (1858-1930) en son temps (Peeters, 2021).

Denis Hermann, Ph.D. (2007), is a historian and researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and the current director of the CeRMI (Research Center on the Iranian World). Specializing in the history of Modern Iran and Shi’ism, his publications include, among others, Le shaykhisme à la période qajare. Histoire doctrinale et sociale d’une École chiite (Brepols, 2017). He is currently particularly interested in the political-philosophical literature produced by the ulama during the Qajar period. He recently completed his habilitation à diriger des recherches with a manuscript entitled Production littéraire et culture politique des oulémas en Iran qajar: du miroir des princes au constitutionnalisme, which he is now adapting into a book.

The book presentation takes place in cooperation of the Institut français d’études anatoliennes (IFEA) and the Orient-Institut Istanbul.
The language of the event is English. Participation is free of charge.
Photos and videos will be taken during the event. By attending, you consent to their use on the OII’s website, newsletter, and social media channels. The event will not be recorded.