Women, Power and Politics in 21st Century Iran by
This book examines the women's movement in Iran and its role in contesting gender relations since the 1979 revolution. Looking at examples from politics, law, employment, environment, media and religion and the struggle for democracy, this book demonstrates how material conditions have important social and political consequences for the lives of women in Iran and exposes the need to challenge the dominant theoretical perspectives on gender and Islam. A truly fascinating insider's look at the experiences of Iranian women as academics, political and civil society activists, this book counters the often inaccurate and misleading stereotyping of Iranian women to present a vibrant and diverse picture of these women's lives. A welcome and unique addition to the vibrant and growing literature on women, Islam, development, democracy and feminisms.
The Making of the Modern Iranian Woman
The Women's Awakening Project in late 1930s Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi is the focus of this historical look at the emergence of the modern concept of womanhood in Iran. Amin's extensive research confirms that Reza Shah's controversial attempt to forcibly westernize Iranian women, and not the pre-revolutionary 1970's, marked the turning point for ""the woman question"" in Iran. Drawing on a combination of archival data, oral history, diplomatic sources, and contemporary press reports, Amin's is the first book to explore the Women's Awakening Project in such detail. By illustrating Reza Shah's efforts both to emancipate and to control Iranian women, the book raises new questions about the relationship between the Iranian state and its female citizens. Amin breaks new ground in the study of Iranian history by examining the links between state policy, popular culture, and individual memory. This highly readable book also provides crucial background for understanding the current debate between ""hardliners"" and ""reformers"" in Iran.
Ghosts of Revolution by
In this first-person memoir, Shahla Talebi remembers her years as a political prisoner in Iran.
Access to Justice in Iran: Women, Perceptions, and Reality by
This book offers a critical and in-depth analysis of access to justice from international and Islamic perspectives. Existing Western models have highlighted the mechanisms by which individuals can access justice; however, access to justice incorporates various conceptions of justice and of its users. This book evaluates the historical development of the justice sector in Iran and discusses issues including the performance of the justice sector, judicial independence, efficiency and accessibility, and normative protection, together with an analysis of barriers. It explores the legal empowerment of users, with a specific focus on women, and presents the findings of a survey study on the perceptions of Iranian women. This study is designed to focus on women's basic legal knowledge, their familiarity with legal procedure, perceptions of cultural barriers, issues that influence their preference for mechanisms of formal or alternative dispute solutions, and their level of satisfaction with their chosen courses of action.
Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling by
Why were urban women veiled in the early 1900s, unveiled from 1936 to 1979, and reveiled after the 1979 revolution? This question forms the basis of Hamideh Sedghi's original and unprecedented contribution to politics and Middle Eastern studies. Using primary and secondary sources, Sedghi offers new knowledge on women's agency in relation to state power. In this rigorous analysis she places contention over women at the centre of the political struggle between secular and religious forces and demonstrates that control over women's identities, sexuality, and labor has been central to the consolidation of state power. Sedghi links politics and culture with economics to present an integrated analysis of the private and public lives of different classes of women and their modes of resistance to state power.
Rethinking Global Sisterhood by
Western women's involvement in Persia dates from the mid-nineteenth century, when female adventurers and missionaries first encountered their veiled Muslim "sisters." Twentieth-century Western and state-sponsored Iranian feminists continued to use the image of the veiled woman as the embodiment of backwardness. Yet, following the 1979 revolution, indigenous Iranian feminists became more vocal in their resistance to this characterization. In Rethinking Global Sisterhood, Nima Naghibi makes powerful connections among feminism, imperialism, and the discourses of global sisterhood. Naghibi investigates topics including the state-sponsored Women's Organization of Iran and the involvement of feminists such as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem in the Iranian feminism movement before and during the 1979 revolution. With a potent analysis of cinema, she examines the veiled woman in the films of Tahmineh Milani, Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Kim Longinotto, and Mahnaz Afzali. At a time when Western relations with the Muslim world are in crisis, Rethinking Global Sisterhood provides much-needed insights and explores the limitations and possibilities of cross-cultural feminist social and political interventions. Nima Naghibi is assistant professor of English at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Family Law in Contemporary Iran: Women's Rights Activism and Shari'a by
Passed into law over a decade before the Revolution, the Family Protection Law quickly drew the ire of the conservative clergy and the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. In fact, it was one of the first laws to be rescinded following the revolution. The law was hardly a surprising target, however, since women's status in Iran was then - and continues now to be - a central concern of Iranian political leaders, media commentators, and international observers alike. Taking up the issue of women's status in a modern context, Marianne Boe offers a nuanced view of how women's rights activists assert their rights within an Islamic context by weaving together religious and historical texts and narratives. Through Her substantial fieldwork and novel analysis, Boe undermines both the traditional view of 'Islamic Feminism' as monolithic and clears a path to a new understanding of the role of women's rights activists in shaping and synthesizing debates on the shari'a, women's rights and family law. As such, this book is essential for anyone studying family law and the role of women in contemporary Iran.
Axis of Hope: Iranian Women's Rights Activism across Borders by
Political tensions between Iran and the United States in the post-9/11 period and the Global War on Terror have set the stage for Iranian women?s rights activists inside and outside Iran as they seek full legal equality under the Islamic Republic. Axis of Hope recounts activists? struggles through critical analysis of their narratives, including the One Million Signatures Campaign to End Discriminatory Law, the memoirs of human rights lawyer and Nobel Prize?winner Shirin Ebadi, and the life story of feminist Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh and her activist project ZananTV. Catherine Sameh examines how Iranian women?s rights activists have cultivated ways of thinking of and being with each other that rupture the relentless difference-making and violence of coloniality through local and transnational networks along axes of feminist solidarity, friendship, and love. Crucial to countering despair and cynicism about Iran as well as the dangerous interventions by Western powers ?on behalf of? Iranians, activists? experiences speak to the possibilities and challenges of transnational alliances in confronting oppressive regimes. These stories are particularly germane in such precarious times, marked by war, isolation, sanctions, and the intense demonization of Iranians and Muslims, as well as authoritarianism, militarism, and patriarchal nationalisms around the world. Situating postreform women?s rights activism within the unfolding, decades-long project to democratize Iran from within, Axis of Hope makes a timely contribution to studies of feminist movements, women?s human rights in Muslim contexts, activism and new media, and the relationship between activism, civil society, and the state.
