Naser Ghobadzadeh

Naser Ghobadzadeh’s research explores political theology, secularism, and the evolving relationship between religious authority and state power, with a particular focus on the Middle East and Shiʿi political thought. His scholarship blends close textual analysis with fieldwork, challenging assumptions about theocratic governance and linking Islamic thought to broader debates in political theory and comparative politics.
He is the author of two monographs with Oxford University Press, Religious Secularity: A Theological Challenge to the Islamic State (2015) and Theocratic Secularism: Religion and Government in Shiʿi Thought (2023). His publications also include articles in Third World Quarterly, Democratization, Middle Eastern Studies, Comparative Politics, Critical Research on Religion, and Religions. He has contributed to edited volumes such as the Oxford Handbook of Political, Social, and Economic Transformation (2019) and Muslim Secular Democracy (2013) , and co-edited The Politics of Islamism (Palgrave, 2018) and Political Secularism and Religion (MDPI, 2023).

Before joining Ashoka, he held academic appointments at the University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University, teaching subjects ranging from religion and world politics to postcolonial and non-western politics and Middle Eastern politics. His teaching is informed by an inclusive, dialogic pedagogy that foregrounds Global South perspectives and encourages critical engagement with contemporary political challenges. Alongside his academic career, he has worked with UNICEF, UNDP, and UNHCR on public communication, refugee resettlement, and post-disaster recovery, and formerly led the Foreign Policy Service at the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).