From Resistance to Social Movement: the Women’s Movement in Iran

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore how women’s activism in Iran has been depicted and represented by scholars and activists in advance of, during, and after, the Iranian revolution in 1979. It investigates the arguments, strategies and tactics that Iranian women have adopted to change and update the civil codes and laws, and the way they sought to modify cultural institutions (including the family and educational system) that have supported patriarchal dominance of society. The paradoxical dimension that is related to the status of women in Iran has puzzled many Iranian scholars and researchers. This is due to the co-existing rise of the women’s presence in the public sphere, and the increase in the political and economic power of various extremist groups. These two factors have led to an increase in the scholarly interest in this area, and many researchers have concluded that it is not possible to identify an active women’s movement in Iran. This study challenges this position through an alternative reading of what constitutes a social movement. Western definitions tend to include the requirement for strong organizations, clear leadership, an ideological base, and the mobilization of both citizens and public opinion. This study will argue that although Iranian women’s activism does not necessarily resemble women’s movements in Western countries, many of the political contestations that have emerged in Iran after the revolution can be understood as a form of women’s movement activism.