Islam and Gender Politics in Iran

This study explores the links between religion, gender, and nation in the context of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Contrary to popular perception, state, gender, and religion-particularly in Islam-are not monolithic categories; the relationship among them is one of dynamic interactive processes without any fixed pattern. Author Jyotika Teckchandani shows how gender, religion, class, and ideologies interplay for negotiating the privileges and rights of women within the existing polity and power structure of Iran. Contrary to the dominant Western narrative about the perpetual marginalization of women in Iran, the present work claims that contraction or expansion of women's rights and privileges depend upon the nature of the political regime, the strength of the women's movement, and socio-economic dynamics of Iranian society. [Subject: Middle East Studies, Islamic Studies, Gender Studies, Iranian Studies]