The Market for Ayatollahs: Competition, Collusion, and Religious Authority in Shiʿi Islam
Tuesday, March 5th, 202412:30 PM - 01:45 PM Oak Hall
What explains the resiliency of transnational religious authority in an age of nation states? Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran – the two preeminent centers of Twelver Shi‘ite legal education and learning in the world – are typically described as being in competition with one another for ideological influence and to host the most widely followed ayatollahs. This talk offers a different interpretation of Shi‘ite religious authority. The relationship between Najaf and Qom is analyzed as a duopoly, a market structure in which two interdependent firms dominate.
These seminaries compete to prevent either from monopolizing Shi‘ite religious authority, but also collude to
Protect their market share by preventing the emergence of rival centers
Preserve Shi‘ite clerics’ exclusive authority to extract religious rents from believers by suppressing doctrinal and popular movements that might challenge the Usuli school that dominates Twelver Shi‘ism today.
This collusive behavior in the religious marketplace stifles innovation and explains why no Shi‘ite version of salafism has developed.
Unconquered: Goražde - Documenting Resistance in the Bosnian War
Thursday, March 7th, 202404:00 PM - 05:30 PM The Dodd Center for Human Rights
Unconquered: Goražde, City of Heroesis the story of the unquenchable power of the human spirit, offering crucial lessons and hope. It tells the story of how ordinary townspeople withstood a three-and-a-half-year siege during the Bosnian War, threatening to destabilize the international world order.
This exclusive work-in-progress screening is followed by a conversation with author/filmmaker Fiona Lloyd-Davies and producer Nick Stuart about the significance of the siege of Goražde.
Please register to join us below.
Reception
Following the event, we welcome you to join us for a catered reception in the lobby of The Dodd Center for Human Rights.
Award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist Fiona Lloyd-Davies has been making films about human rights issues in areas of conflict since 1992, including in Bosnia, Iraq, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lloyd-Davies’ work combines journalism with a strong visual style that she learned as a graduate of the Royal College of Art. She films much of her own work, drawing out intensely personal and difficult stories from people often at their most vulnerable and bringing the viewer into the subject’s life to render a deeply drawn portrait, while preserving the dignity and integrity of their story.
Nick Stuart is a producer of “Unconquered: Gorazde, City of Heroes” and has spent over 30 years presenting, directing, and producing programming in the UK and in the U.S,, winning The Human Rights Award at the Venice International Film Festival and a Peabody Award among others. Dedicated to human rights and social justice programming he also specializes in impact campaigns to help documentaries be more effective in bringing positive change to our world.
This event is a collaboration between the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the Department of Digital Media & Design, Studio 9 Films and Nick Stuart Films.
Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed - Film Screening and discussion
Wednesday, March 27th, 202406:00 PM Women’s Center
Shunned by the political establishment and the media, this longtime champion of marginalized Americans asked for support from people of color, women, gays, and young people newly empowered to vote at the age of 18. Chisholm’s bid for an equal place on the presidential dais generated strong, even racist opposition. Yet her challenge to the status quo and her message about exercising the right to vote struck many as progressive and positive.
The Market for Ayatollahs: Competition, Collusion, and Religious Authority in Shiʿi Islam
Tuesday, March 5th, 202412:30 PM - 01:45 PM Oak Hall
What explains the resiliency of transnational religious authority in an age of nation states? Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran – the two preeminent centers of Twelver Shi‘ite legal education and learning in the world – are typically described as being in competition with one another for ideological influence and to host the most widely followed ayatollahs. This talk offers a different interpretation of Shi‘ite religious authority. The relationship between Najaf and Qom is analyzed as a duopoly, a market structure in which two interdependent firms dominate.
These seminaries compete to prevent either from monopolizing Shi‘ite religious authority, but also collude to
Protect their market share by preventing the emergence of rival centers
Preserve Shi‘ite clerics’ exclusive authority to extract religious rents from believers by suppressing doctrinal and popular movements that might challenge the Usuli school that dominates Twelver Shi‘ism today.
This collusive behavior in the religious marketplace stifles innovation and explains why no Shi‘ite version of salafism has developed.
Unconquered: Goražde - Documenting Resistance in the Bosnian War
Thursday, March 7th, 202404:00 PM - 05:30 PM The Dodd Center for Human Rights
Unconquered: Goražde, City of Heroesis the story of the unquenchable power of the human spirit, offering crucial lessons and hope. It tells the story of how ordinary townspeople withstood a three-and-a-half-year siege during the Bosnian War, threatening to destabilize the international world order.
This exclusive work-in-progress screening is followed by a conversation with author/filmmaker Fiona Lloyd-Davies and producer Nick Stuart about the significance of the siege of Goražde.
Please register to join us below.
Reception
Following the event, we welcome you to join us for a catered reception in the lobby of The Dodd Center for Human Rights.
Award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist Fiona Lloyd-Davies has been making films about human rights issues in areas of conflict since 1992, including in Bosnia, Iraq, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lloyd-Davies’ work combines journalism with a strong visual style that she learned as a graduate of the Royal College of Art. She films much of her own work, drawing out intensely personal and difficult stories from people often at their most vulnerable and bringing the viewer into the subject’s life to render a deeply drawn portrait, while preserving the dignity and integrity of their story.
Nick Stuart is a producer of “Unconquered: Gorazde, City of Heroes” and has spent over 30 years presenting, directing, and producing programming in the UK and in the U.S,, winning The Human Rights Award at the Venice International Film Festival and a Peabody Award among others. Dedicated to human rights and social justice programming he also specializes in impact campaigns to help documentaries be more effective in bringing positive change to our world.
This event is a collaboration between the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the Department of Digital Media & Design, Studio 9 Films and Nick Stuart Films.
Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed - Film Screening and discussion
Wednesday, March 27th, 202406:00 PM Women’s Center
Shunned by the political establishment and the media, this longtime champion of marginalized Americans asked for support from people of color, women, gays, and young people newly empowered to vote at the age of 18. Chisholm’s bid for an equal place on the presidential dais generated strong, even racist opposition. Yet her challenge to the status quo and her message about exercising the right to vote struck many as progressive and positive.
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