Hossein Seifzadeh

Hossein Seifzadeh (born May 26, 1950) (Persian: سید حسین سیف زاده‎) is an Iranian-American political scientist and author. Seifzadeh was a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Tehran, before he was forced to resign from his full-time academic position, due to his opposition to fundamentalism and belief in human dignity-rights, democratic process, the sanctity of human individuality Ilet's call anarchism (not at all chaotic, but the capacity not to need but favor values, such as) moral cosmopolitan perspectives. 22 of his written books received permission to be published and be used as textbook in various universities in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Six other books he wrote were recognized as politically "inappropriate", hence failed to receive permit for publish. He has also written 235 English and Persian academic papers, published in different academic journals. A few dozens of these articles were presented in seminars, conferences and symposiums around the world.

Having been under increasing pressure by fundamentalists, due to his criticism of fundamentalism, he was forced to resign from his academic job from University of Tehran first and then from Islamic Azad University. As a result, he opted to emigrate to the United States. Unlike Iran, he was offered an adjunct position to teach at Montgomery College-Rockville, Maryland (2012-2018). In February 2018, he received an offer to teach at New York State University (SUNY)-Geneseo from Fall 2018. Hence, he moved to Rochester to start his teaching there. ِDespite the fact that SUNY was a very good educational place to teach, Sifzadeh had to return to Maryland once again.

Hossein Seifzadeh is the younger brother of Mohammad Seifzadeh, yet differentiating in their approaches to politics and human rights. Mohammad Seifzadeh is a well-known Iranian lawyer, defending human rights' activists. Due to this, he had to serve many years of his life as political inmate. Both involved proactively in public sphere of civil life, to curb the incursion of human rights by either government or other oligarchs in society.

Notwithstanding this proactive approach in expediting democratization in Iran, due to the ideological and situational differences, Hossein Seifzadeh avoids being involved with activists or even political parties. Instead, as a professor of politics in the University of Tehran and as an adjunct professor in the U.S., he favors developmental approach and education to empower citizens and alert them to their human rights in one hand and the ways to protect it, in the other. Of course, thanks to both open political system (not only regime) and the independence and freedom of public sphere (academics, the Bar, and media) in liberal America, the situation is more in favor of developmental approach in the U.S. than in fundamentalist Iran, with the subordinated public sphere and restricted civil society.