New affiliated researcher

The Hannah-Arendt-Institute for Totalitarianism Studies at the TU Dresden (HAIT) is pleased to welcome the Iranian political scientist Dr. Arash Beidollahkhani. Thanks to the successfully acquired research grant from the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Dr. Beidollahkhani will conduct his research project "The Erosion of Context: Exploring the Decontextualization of Political Science in Non-Democratic Regimes and its Instrumentalization for Authoritarian Legitimation" as an affiliated researcher of HAIT at TU Dresden over the next two years (2024-2026).

The goal of the project is to investigate the nature and structure of political science in authoritarian regimes, particularly in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Dr. Beidollahkhani is investigating the institutional framework, curricula and research priorities of political science faculties in these regimes. Using primary and secondary sources, including academic literature, research content analysis, official documents and interviews, the study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the functioning and limitations of political science in these contexts. The results will enrich interdisciplinary scholarship and deepen our understanding of the role of academic disciplines in authoritarian regimes. With the affiliation, HAIT strengthens its profile in "Comparative research of extremism and autocracy".