ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns growth in mass communications has enabled people to be local despite being part of a more globalized world. It presents what is to be understood by the notion of 'discourse of national identity'. The cause for contestation with regard to how Iranian national identity should be constructed is what is considered to be authentic and legitimate, also contested, and how it is justified. Throughout the twentieth century, Iran has been through a series of dramatic political events that have been instrumental in the articulation, and continuous process of construction and re-construction of its national identity. The book illustrates that there is a trend towards a discourse of Iranian civic national identity as articulated during Muhammad Khatami's presidency as well as among the Green Movement leading up to and following the tenth presidential election.
