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The Perspectives of Iranian Feminists and Women Activists on their Political Identity and Priorities Pardis Asadi Zeidabadi A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Geography, Politics and Sociology Newcastle University August 2019 Abstract This thesis seeks to explore the perspectives of women involved in feminist and women’s activism in Iran on important aspects of their political identity and priorities. This study draws on forty seven one to one semi-structured interviews with Iranian feminists and women activists, through an explanatory approach. It engages with the participants’ perspectives on key concepts and issues such as feminism, women’s rights, gender equality and democracy. Participants of this study include a spectrum of women with different beliefs and strategies: secular feminists, religious reformists and religious conservative women. As Iran is a country that has a difficult context for gender politics, Iranian feminists and women activists apply different approaches to seek to improve the status of women. Key findings include: (1) Approaches to being a feminist and supporting feminism relate both to participants’ beliefs, but also the strategies they apply to advocate women’s rights. (2) There were important differences and similarities in what participants understood by gender equality and what aspects of equality they prioritised. (3) Working towards greater democracy was important to all participants, but there were important differences in their views over whether democracy should be secular or Islamic and how far Iran was from being a ‘full’ democracy. This research contributes to the existing literature by considering a variety of feminists’ and women activists’ views about the terms feminist and feminism, their approaches to gain gender equality and also their views about democracy and its possibilities in Iran. i Acknowledgements I would like to firstly begin to express my acknowledgement and deep gratitude to my supervisors Professor Janice McLaughlin and Professor Diane Richardson for their valuable, unwavering, and patient guidance throughout my research. I would not have been able to be successful if it was not for their great support and the infinite help they given me. I would like to express my thanks also to Professor Esteban Castro and Dr Monica Moreno Figueroa for their guidance and support during the early stages of this project. I wish to also thank my wonderful husband, he is the love of my life and has been an anchor and encouragement for me throughout my studies. I also thank my son who always lifted me up at the hardest times. My PhD journey has been more enjoyable with their love and company. I would also like to extend my gratitude and unequivocal praise to my parents who have been my heroes and role models in life and who enabled me to push the boundaries and explore the world since my childhood, from being a young woman to the present. They have always been there for me and I thank them deeply for believing in me. And last but not least, a big thank you to my brilliant friends James Cummings, Yang Li, Jelveh Javaheri and Firoozeh Mohajer for supporting me throughout. ii List of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………...i Acknowledgement……………………………………………………..ii Glossary………………………………………………………………viii CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Research context ........................................................................................................ 1 Research questions, aims and objectives.................................................................... 7 Chapter structure ........................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER TWO: Understanding Feminists and Women Activists in Iran ................ 10 Gender politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran ....................................................... 10 Feminists/feminism and Iranian gender politics ................................................... 18 Iranian feminists and women activists: strategies, characteristics, seeking change and gender equality .................................................................................................. 21 Islamic and secular feminists and women activists in Iran .................................. 23 Affiliations between secular and Islamic feminists and women activists ............ 32 Feminists and women activists in Iran and seeking change ................................. 39 The debate of gender equality and gender justice ................................................ 41 Women, religion and democracy in Iran .................................................................. 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER THREE: Studying Feminists and Women Activists in Iran ..................... 48 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 48 Researcher Positionality ........................................................................................... 48 Participant sampling ................................................................................................. 52 Research interview schedule .................................................................................... 61 Information Form, Debriefing Sheet, and Consent Form ........................................ 63 Ethical issues ............................................................................................................ 65 Risk Assessment Form and Approval for Outside Study ......................................... 67 Fieldwork ................................................................................................................. 68 First phase: Getting settled in Iran and meeting the research advisors ................ 68 Back to the UK, second phase recruitment........................................................... 70 Third phase ........................................................................................................... 70 Conducting interviews .......................................................................................... 72 Fieldwork supervision .......................................................................................... 77 Transcribing and translating ..................................................................................... 77 Data analysis ............................................................................................................ 79 iii Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 82 CHAPTER FOUR: Political Identity and a More Egalitarian Society ........................ 83 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 83 Positioning women activists in Iran ......................................................................... 86 Criticising feminists and feminism ....................................................................... 86 Avoiding being labelled as feminist ..................................................................... 91 Defining oneself as a feminist ............................................................................ 100 Change linked to moving into a more egalitarian society ...................................... 108 Secular women and calling for a secular state .................................................... 109 Reformist women and more egalitarian interpretation of religion ..................... 110 The interpretations of religion and secular feminists ......................................... 118 Conservative women and the Islamic state without reinterpretation of the Quran ............................................................................................................................ 119 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 123 CHAPTER FIVE: Differing Priorities for Women’s Rights in Iran.......................... 125 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 125 Gender equality and gender justice ........................................................................ 126 Secular and religious reformist women and prioritising women rights ................. 130 Gender justice, women’s rights and religious reformist women ........................ 136 Secular feminists and religious reformist women: calling for cultural change .. 141 Secular and religious reformist women: assigning priorities in the Iranian context ............................................................................................................................ 143 Prioritising women’s rights according to the Quran from the conservatives’ view ................................................................................................................................ 147 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 156 CHAPTER SIX: Concepts of Democracy and its Possibilities ................................. 158 Introduction ...........................................................................................................
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