Driving Culture in Iran

Abstract

Driving Culture in Iran creatively explores the relationship between legalculture and citizenry formation in post-revolutionary Iran. Banakar focusseson driving customs and explanations for citizens’ disregard of trafficlaws, demonstrating that the exceptionally high rates of road accidents andlack of law abidance is due to the complex cultural and political climate. Themonograph argues that the state’s propaganda machine promotes revolutionaryzeal but in a context where people are penalized if they dissent (3).
 Consequently, dissension becomes a tool for control, setting into motionmultiple forms of internal conflict which are reflected in the way Iraniansrelate to one another as well as in increasing rates of road traffic accidents(4). The originality of the study rests in its exploration of political life atthe juncture of law and culture. Through his analysis of the unintendedcultural outcomes of the legal structure in Iran, Banakar contributes to ourunderstanding of citizenship formation in hybrid and religiously chargedregimes. In particular, the book illustrates how citizens’ distrust of the statecan have deadly consequences on Iran’s roads. The monograph will be ofinterest to academics and other professionals working on the Middle East,Islam, and from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives ...