Our House Was a Small Islamic Republic

Social Policing and Resilient Resistance in Contemporary Iran

Bibliographic Data

ID5934229
AuthorsAlireza Delpazir (University College London, corresponding author), Fatemeh Sadeghi (0000-0002-0347-9382, University College London)
Year2024
Volume13
Issue8
Pages382
Publication date2024-07-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci13080382
OpenAlexW4400905403
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited24

In this article, we address a question that has been frequently asked: Why is the Iranian government unable to defeat the struggle by women against the compulsory hijab? What distinguishes women's resistance from other forms of freedom and justice movements? We address these questions by highlighting women's "resilient resistance" within the family domain as both flexible and sustainable. The article examines how the domestication of politics and the politicization of family have interconnected dynamics in Iran, as illustrated by the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. It shows how women have shifted the Iranian family from a collaborator of oppressive patriarchal power to a more egalitarian structure to accommodate their protests against the compulsory hijab. As the catalysts for this change, they succeeded in discrediting the Islamic Republic's moral discourse based on the compulsory hijab as a manifestation of modesty for women. They also validated their own morality based on personal choice. Using ethnographic fieldwork, including participatory observation and in-depth interviews with movement participants, this paper shows how women's invisible yet significant resistance within the family has transformed this institution and profoundly affected the broader political landscape of Iran. It examines a unique case where social transformation drives larger political change

Archaeology · Biology · Geography · Islam · Islamic republic · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Global Security and Public Health · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence · Ecology

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