Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Intersectional Experiences of Iranian Feminists from Minoritized Ethno-National Backgrounds

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3597259
AutoresDonya Ahmadi (0000-0003-2476-2838, University of Groningen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen15
Número5
Páginas533
Fecha de publicación2024-04-25
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15050533
OpenAlexW4395668907
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas18

Over the past decades, Iran has been witnessing the growth of a burgeoning feminist movement. With its origins deeply rooted in the early 20th century, the Iranian feminist movement, as such, is not a uniform body: it embodies various, opposing even, political ideologies under the umbrella of feminism, reflecting the divergent social locations of its protagonists. While the movement has been criticized for its centralist, middle-class and at times apolitical tendencies, academic scholarship has yet to offer intersectional analyses that problematize historically rooted and daily materialized relations of power within the movement, particularly in relation to axes such as ethnicity (and race), religion, gender identity, sexuality, and (dis)ability. In light of this gap, the present article aims towards documenting and theorizing the intersectionality of the challenges facing Iranian feminist activists belonging to various ethnic nations and religious beliefs. Drawing on ethnographic research, it argues that minority feminists find themselves between a rock and a hard place: the rock being masculinist politics within their minoritized communities, which prioritize ethno-nationalist demands over gendered ones; the hard place being a centralist liberal feminist movement that fails to reflect the intersectionality of their experiences as non-Persian non-Shia women, thereby reproducing hierarchies of power in relation to ethnicity, religion, and class

Intersectionality · Political science · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Turkey's Politics and Society