MESA Banner
Women and Party Politics in Iran: Re-Mapping the Political Landscape
Abstract
The images of hundreds of thousands of Iranian women, in protest rallies after June 2009 election, wearing green scarves, astonished and fascinated the world. It was reminiscent of the 1979 revolution when women’s black veil emerged as a public symbol of the revolution. The lack of information about the politics of elections in Iran, particularly the role of women therein, has left a sense of obscurity and non-comprehension about Iranian politics. Given the role that gender ideology and gender politics plays in Iran’s national policies and in various political camps/factions, this lack of attention is even more striking. This paper reviews party politics, particularly since 1997, examining the extent to which Iranian political parties consider women as actual or potential political constituencies that should be courted and mobilized in support of their platforms. It outlines the extent to which the mobilization and outreach strategies of the various religious conservative, reformist and neo-Islamist parties differ, by analyzing the programs and policies directed to women on the part of political parties, and the degree to which they regard women as their base. While the conservatives have largely focused on extending women’s economic opportunities within conventional feminine professions, the reformists have addressed the demands of urban middle class women, focusing on expanding women’s rights and their public participation, reforming family law, and nurturing a civil rights movement with gender rights and freedom of expression issues at its core. Neo-Islamists, on the other hand, have focused on courting young, low-income women and attending to their aspirations by opening more avenues for their public participation through institutionalized volunteering and social and economic advancement. The question is whether or to what extent these policies translate into votes for the political parties/candidates or generally lead to a politicization of women’s issues. The presidential election of 2009 and subsequent protest and counter rallies provided a fertile ground for the political parties to assess their women’s and gender policies. This paper examines the extent to which the considerable agency of women and their proactive roles in support of reformist candidates, the Green Movement, and protest rallies can be explained by the policies of the main political parties and the extent women supporters of neo-Islamists managed to expand their sphere of influence within their political camps and how these may change in the presidential election scheduled for June 2013.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
None