Women, Power and Politics in 21st Century Iran

Tara Povey, Elaheh Rostami-Povey

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781409402046
• eBook ISBN: 9781134779963
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

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.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Elaheh Rostami-Povey

This book is about how women in Iran struggle for their rights and challenge stereotypes. It focuses on how Iranian women fight to change patriarchal gender relations which traditionally recognise only men as breadwinners, heads of households and decision-makers. Specific chapters will investigate issues impacting on Iranian women and the history of the women’s movement from the early twentieth century until today. These include socio-economic and political developments, the role of religion, education, employment, the media, art, politics, law, the environment, the regional and international context and the struggle for democracy. We aim to go beyond existing erroneous and simplistic perceptions of women in Iran and present a vibrant and diverse picture of women’s lives. Thus the book is intended to counter the often inaccurate and misleading impressions put forward by the media, politicians and some academics in the West when they talk about Iran and Iranian women in particular.

Edward Said (1978) and Leila Ahmed (1992) among others have famously and critically discussed Orientalism as a means of domination. Since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, Western notions of the ‘threat of Islamic fundamentalism’ have intensified, regenerating Islamophobia, or fear of Islam. This racist ideology and the rhetoric of ‘saving Muslim women’ have conveniently served the West and in particular the USA’s project of imperial domination in the Middle East and North Africa region (Abu-Lughod 2002; Afshar 2005; Afshar, Aitkin and Franks 2005; Bahramitash 2005; Hassan 2002¹; Honarbin-Holliday 2008; Mernissi 2002; Rostami-Povey 2007, 2010a and 2010b). The Muslim world in general and Iran in particular have been portrayed as archaic, pre-modern, rigidly dogmatic and violent, while Western societies are presented as being modern, progressive and secular. The idea that the ‘West’ and the Islamic world can be said to form distinct and oppositional ‘civilisations’ is problematic and fundamentally ahistorical. It ignores both the rich history of contact and exchange between cultures and the diversity present within them. In this book we utilise the terms ‘West’ and ‘Middle East’ while acknowledging that neither is ahistorical, timeless or unproblematic. The term ‘Middle East’ is a remnant of British colonialism and Empire while the term ‘West’ is similarly a historically constituted geopolitical standpoint in which we argue a mainstream political discourse pertaining to Muslim and Iranian women has been developed and utilised in both a historical and contemporary context.

The at best simplistic and at worst racist dichotomising of ‘East’ and ‘West’ is expressed by the discourse of the ‘clash of civilisations’ (Lewis 2003; Huntington 1998) which suggests a clash between an ‘anti-modern’ Islam and Western modernity (Bayat 2009a: 225; Bayat 2009b; Dabashi 2007: 1–11; Gunning 2007: 1–24). It ignores the fact that modernity is a process which occurs at different levels and is experienced unevenly (Appadurai 1996: 3–4). It also disregards notions of the plurality of modernity and multiple modernities. The existence of commonalities and differences among the variety of paths to modernity challenge the assumptions that modernity is exclusive to the West and has an entirely Western origin (Sadria 2009; Salvatore 2009; Narayan 1997; Miller 1994 and 1995; Abu-Lughod 1998; Al-Ali 2000; Deeb 2006). It also ignores the fact that modernity implies the following: capitalist development; the formation of different classes and patriarchal relations; the formation of the modern state and other institutions such as the army, education, health, employment, the media, constitutional laws and monopoly of power over people within the framework of the nation-state, all of which have occurred in all Muslim-majority societies including Iran.

We argue that male dominance and female subordination in Iran can be traced back to pre-Islamic civilisations. Thus the roots of patriarchal oppression go far deeper than the Islamisation of state and society since the 1979 revolution. Western discourses which state that women’s liberation will come with liberation from Islam and from Muslim men is, therefore, simplistic and damaging. It is in this context that this book analyses gender relations in Iran.

Gender inequality is rooted in unequal power relations at national and international levels. The unequal power relations are derived from strict gender divisions of labour. Barriers to the progress of women are to do with the ways in which male-dominated structures are reproduced and reconstructed and the reluctance of patriarchal institutions to include women in positions of power (Mies 1986).

The concept of the ‘patriarchal bargain’ (Kandiyoti 1998 and Agarwal 1997) is useful.² However, it is important to extend this discussion to women’s struggle for change beyond the household and marriage and into the sphere of the economy and society. In this context, we see women who have access to the formal economy and the political system as having a greater degree of bargaining power, which means that they are able to directly challenge gender relations by engaging in active agency at different levels of economic, social, political and cultural life. Gender relations are not static; patriarchy is vigorously adaptable to changes in women’s position and feminists activisms (Walby 1990) while the dynamic nature of women’s struggle constantly challenges male-dominated institutions.

Women in Iran face many challenges. Nevertheless, a breakthrough in societal attitudes towards women is visible in Iran and has positive implications for the future of the country. As is discussed by Tara Povey in this book, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the ongoing political changes in Iran and throughout the Middle East and North Africa are creating opportunities for women to gain greater economic and political power and secure a stronger voice in the socio-economic and socio-political processes in these societies. Women’s presence in these struggles is crucial: in Iran their presence is clearly visible, in other countries women’s presence varies. Nevertheless their multiple struggles can lead to gender justice, economic justice and democracy.

Our focus is on gender and the political history of Iran since the 1979 revolution. Iran today is a modern religio-political state and society with an authoritarian, patriarchal and ideologically exclusive system which exerts power through modern state institutions. What is significant is that the more this authoritarian state denies women’s rights and democracy, the more women and men challenge the status quo and conservative ideologies.

As is discussed by Jamileh Kadivar, Elaheh Koolaee and Massoumeh Ebtekar in this book, through much of the history of Islamic Iran, the Islamic concept of ijtihad (the application of human reason and rationality) has allowed the constant reinterpretation of socio-economic and socio-political matters which can take both a democratic form and a conservative form. However, Talibanism and Saudi-style conservatism have never existed in Iran. The Islamic Republic from its inception has been engaged in a battle between conservative Islam (those who wish to preserve traditional conservative Islamic values) and reformist Islam (those who wish to embrace democratic modern Islam). The high number of votes cast in favour of reformist candidates in elections since the 1990s shows that the majority of the people believe in Fiqh Poya (dynamic jurisprudence) and the idea that Islam is compatible with democracy and modernism.

The views of conservatives in Iran are diverse. Pragmatic conservatives and hard-line conservatives differ on questions of the economy, foreign policy and the role of the state. However, since the revolution a conservative faction in Iranian politics has argued for the application of a specific and in many cases ahistorical interpretation of Islamic law in legal, political and socio-cultural arenas that is patriarchal, anti-democratic and exclusivist. The modernists or reformists are also diverse. Iran, like many Islamic countries, has a long history of Islamic modernism, reformism and secularism. Today Iranian reformists also differ on questions of the economy, the role of the state and foreign policy. They range from those who identify with anti-colonial/anti-imperialist nationalism to social democracy, liberalism and neo-liberalism. In more recent years some reformists have swung radically away from Islam as an organising principle in public life; some have embraced secularism, which has a history of over a century in Iran (Abrahamian 1982, 2008; Ansari 2003; Katouzian 2009); others remain committed to religious frameworks of emancipation; many are somewhere in between. Conservatives and reformers are thus part of a complex political scene in Iran. As such, they also have diverse approaches to women and gender issues: some conservatives are more pragmatic than others; some reformers are more progressive than others.

Since the 1990s those reformers or Islamist modernists, known as Roshanfekrane Dini (Religious New Thinkers), have played an important role in struggling against the monopoly of religious power by conservative leaders. They have argued strongly for modernism, tolerance and democracy, from within the context of their indigenous culture, including their Islamic heritage, and in doing so have won the support of many secular people.

The conservatism of the state and other institutions is based on the promotion of patriarchal attitudes and the limiting of the democratic rights of individuals and groups and citizens’ access to public spaces. However, as we discuss in this volume, women’s struggle for change since the 1990s has put women’s issues on the national political agenda, and thus the status of women in the family and society has remained a battleground between the conservatives and the reformers.

The authors in this book offer a particular analysis of Iranian women’s struggle for change. Their analysis demonstrates a critical consciousness of the politics of local male domination and a form of indigenous feminist contestation of the cultural practices which sanction injustices to women. They criticise the conservative and patriarchal traditions in Islam which have taken away women’s rights and continue to subject women to unequal treatment. At the same time they challenge the perception of Muslim women in the West as passive victims of men and religion. As is discussed by Mehri Honarbin-Holliday, our aim is not to wholly negate the history of Western thought, but to problematise its absolutist convictions in promoting the centrality and universality of Western traditions. Therefore we argue that simplistic views of the place of women in Islam are part of narratives of inferiority and Otherness, and that to advance this discourse the West has conveniently ignored the achievements of women in Islamic societies.

This is an important discussion because, despite extensive critiques, Western ahistorical ethnocentric depictions of Muslim societies, in which women in Iran appear as the ultimate manifestation of women’s oppression, frequently prevail. For decades women’s rights issues in Islam generally and the politics of the veil in particular have been debated. Despite a wealth of literature and scholarly writings on the debate over women’s rights in Islam and in Iran (Abou-Bakr 2011; Ahmed 1999; Haeri 2009; Hoodfar 2000; Kian 2005; Mernissi 1994, 1997 and 2001; Mir-Hosseini 2002; Moalem 2005; Moghadam 2000; Moghissi 1999; Mojab 2001; Najmabadi 1991, 2005; Osanloo 2009; Paidar 1997; Rostami-Povey 2001, 2004 and 2005; Sedghi 2007; Tohidi 2002), the dominant view considers Islamic culture and religion to be the primary agent determining the identities of women in Muslim-majority societies. Studies have highlighted that for many women in these societies, the hijab represents many things including modernity and a liberating invention but not the source of women’s oppression (Abu-Lughod 1986 and 1998; Ahmed 2011; Haeri 2009; Mernissi 1987; Papanek 1982; Rostami-Povey 2010a). Nevertheless, the hijab is still used to demonstrate that Muslim women are backward, oppressed and subservient, hence positing them as the devalued Other. In contrast, the unveiled Western woman is portrayed as an enlightened and autonomous being, the embodiment of modernity and progress (Abu-Lughod 1986 and 2001; Ahmed 1992 and 2011; Naghibi 2007).

This book is a contribution to this debate. The book is original in a number of ways. Most chapters are written by women academics and activists who live in Iran. As is indicated in the biographical data at the beginning of the book, they are well-known academics, journalists and activists. These chapters are based on their political and personal experiences in Iran. Others are well-known academics who have written extensively on women’s issues in Iran, based on many years of field research in Iran.

Iran’s population is two-thirds Persian and Farsi-speaking (the official language); the remaining third comprises other ethnic groups (Azeri, Kurd, Arab, Baluch, Turkmen, Gilaki, Qashqai, Bakhtiari, Shahsevan, Lur). The official religion is Shi’a Islam, but there are other religious minorities – Sunni Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldians, Zoroastrians and Bahais as well as diverse communities within Shi’ism including Sufi religious groups (Sanasarian 2000; Abrahamian 1982: 12). The analysis of women and gender relations in minority ethno-linguistic and religious communities in Iran is beyond this book and in many cases requires further research. However, there are common concerns that women in minority ethnic, linguistic and religious communities share with other communities which are reflected by the authors in this book. Iran is a highly urbanised society with over 70 per cent of the population living in cities in which there is a large educated urban working class and middle class. As is discussed by Khadijeh Aryan and Mehri Honarbin-Holliday in this book, urban centres in Iran are spaces in which millions of students belonging to diverse religious, ethnic, class and cultural practices criss-cross the country to access education and come together to exchange ideas and experiences.

The focus of the authors of different chapters is on the experiences of women in Iran since the 1979 revolution and in particular their experiences of the reform period from the mid...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• A Note on Transliteration
• Glossary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Women’s Movement in its Historical Context
• 3 The Boom in Women’s Education
• 4 Autonomous Minds and Bodies in Theory and Practice: Women Constructing Cultural Identities and Becoming Visible through Art
• 5 Women and Employment
• 6 Women, Gender Roles, Media and Journalism
• 7 Women Working as Judges and Making Judicial Decisions
• 8 Women and Executive Power
• 9 Women in the Parliament
• 10 Women and the Environment: A Politico-Environmental Experience
• 11 The Iranian Women’s Movement in its Regional and International Context
• 12 Conclusion: Women’s Movements and Democracy Movements in Iran
• Index