Editing Sociology of Shiite Islam (section)

=== Part 2: Shiʿite Religion and the Structure of Domination in Iran ===
This part of the book, which contains four essays, examines the long-term changes in the structure of domination that resulted from the establishment of Twelver Shiʿism in Iran by the Safavids (1501–1722). Twelver Shi‘i Islam under the Safavids gradually transformed from a sectarian minority religion into the national religion of the majority of Iranians. This process required a redefinition of clerical authority as impersonal authority of office that was a kind of return to the “Caesaropapism” of Safavids, in the form of theocratic monarchy.