STUDENT NOTES 3

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STUDENT NOTES 3

• CH. 7 THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE CLEAVAGES

• Religion
• Almost 90 Shia, 10 Sunni, around 1 either
  Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, or BahaI
• Constitution of 1979 recognizes and respects the
  rights of religious minorities, though Jews,
  Christians, and Bahai are often persecuted
• Constitution does not mention Sunnis

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE

• Importance of Shiism
• Invaded by Arabs regularly from 7th through 16th
  centuries, bringing Islam to the region
• Religion became the glue holding Persians
  together
• Shia/Sunni Divide (7th Century)
• Muhammad died without designating an heir
• Sunnis wanted the caliph to succeed (Caliphs were
  heads of the designated leadership, called the
  Sunni)
• Shiites wanted a hereditary heir of Muhammad to
  succeed (Muhammads son-in-law, Ali)
• Ali was killed, Shia became a minority, believing
  heirs of Ali (imams) were the true carriers of
  Islam
• 12th Decendent disappeared as a child, leading to
  the legend of a Hidden Imam will return to
  establish Islamic rule again

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Bahai Persecution

• Bahais have been persecuted because Shiites
  believe it to be an unholy offshoot of Islam
• Leaders have been killed, imprisoned, tortured,
  schools have closed and property taken by state
• Many have immigrated to Canada along with large
  groups of Jews and Armenian Christians
• Sunni Muslims are in a similar situation and
  rights are unclear

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE CLEAVAGES
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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE

• Cleavages
• Ethnicity
• 51 Persian, speaking Persian (Farsi)
• 24 Azeri, concentrated in the Northwest
• Shiia, but dont speak Farsi (Khamenei is Azeri)
• Fear of Iranian government that they may want to
  unite with Azerbaijan
• 7 Kurdish, 3 Arab (both Sunnis)
• Ethnic minorities are regularly sentenced to
  death by hanging
• Kurds and Arabs tend to be Sunni Muslim, so the
  religious cleavage is reinforced by ethnicity

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

• Driven from above by state and below by social
  practices
• Above education, media, military
• Seek to limit pluralism, promote nationalism,
  demonize the west, denounce dynasty/revere
  revolution, gender roles, Basij monitor activity
• Official Friday congregational prayers
• Social practice family, neighborhood, social
  groups
• Tell THEIR version of Iranian history
• Tehran University center of secular opposition
• Trumping state efforts at obedience and conformity

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE POLITICAL CULTURE

• Intense national pride
• Intense distrust of the West
• Do not trust government
• Highly conflictual protest
• Pre-Revolution people were dissatisfied with
  governments intrusion into private lives in civil
  society
• Post-Revolution hasnt changed much!
• Legitimacy issues God, religious texts, Supreme
  Leader, elected institutions, people, revolution,
  elections

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GREEN MOVEMENT

• The 200910 Iranian election protests were a
  series of protests following the 2009 Iranian
  presidential election against the disputed
  victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
  and in support of opposition candidates
  Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi which
  occurred in major cities in Iran and around the
  world starting June 13th 2009.

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2009 ELECTION

• The Green Movement
• 3 million peaceful demonstrators turned out on
  Tehran streets to protest official claims that
  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 2009 presidential
  election
• Their simple slogan was Where is my vote?
• widely seen as a new non-violent, non-utopian and
  populist paradigm of revolution that infused
  twenty-first century Internet technology with
  people street power

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE

• The Basij, or mobilization of the oppressed,
  is a quasi-volunteer paramilitary organization
  with branches in most mosques, universities,
  government offices, and public institutions

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE

• Iran has a VERY young population!
• Regime encouraged large families in its first
  years
• Goods were rationed per capita, making it better
  to have more children
• Over 60 percent under 30 years old.
• represent one of the greatest long-term threats
  to the current form of theocratic rule.
• Many professionals leave the country
• biggest bloc involved in the regions first
  sustained people power movement for democratic
  change, creating a new political dynamic in the
  Middle East.

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE

• Unemployment Even with a university degree, it
  takes about three years to find a job. And vast
  numbers of young people end up chronically
  underemployed, which has produced a widespread
  sense that their future prospects are bleak.
  Employment issues have contributed to other
  problems, including alcohol and drug abuse,
  prostitution and runaways, escape into marriages
  that end in early divorce, social unrest, and the
  flight of the educated class. Iran has one of the
  worlds highest rates of brain drain

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE LABOR MOVEMENT

• Concerns
• High unemployment
• Low wages
• Lack of decent housing
• Unsatisfactory labor law - denies the right to
  call strikes and organize unions
• Workers House (1979)
• Islamic Labor Party (1999)
• May Day Rally is their main protest

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE WOMENS MOVEMENT

• Gained momentum after 1963
• White Revolution
• Won the right to vote
• Hold public office
• Family Protection Law (1975) allowed for more
  rights concerning divorce, custody, and reduced
  polygamy
• Modern Issues
• Job security
• Pay scales
• Promotions
• Maternity leave
• Higher-level professions
• The One Million Signatures Movement

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE WOMENS MOVEMENT

• Women and the Political System
• The Veil required in public by regime,
  symbolizes oppression to westerners, but not so
  much to Iranian women
• 20th century Iranian women have had better access
  to education than other Mid-East countries
• About half of university students are women
• Law towards women is equality with difference
• sharia is interpreted to favor males in divorce
  and custody disputes
• cannot leave the country without the consent of
  male relatives
• Women are about 33 of the labor force
• Women rarely get elected to the Majles (4.1)

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CITIZENS, SOCIETY STATE WOMENS MOVEMENT

• Gender Relations
• Legal restrictions on womens rights
• Discriminations instituted by Islamic Republic
• Fields of study closed to women
• Sports restricted, attire incompatible with
  veiling
• Compete in sports, at locations men not admitted
• Women increasing participation in public life
• Many working outside home
• Universities restrictions on studies being
  lifted
• Mal-veiling
• Islamic feminism