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Confessions of a Diasporic Mind: Long-Distance “Nationalists” and Transnational Political Activism among Iranians Abroad
Abstract
The Woman, Life, Freedom movement has once again brought to surface the debate on the role Iranians in diaspora play in shaping the future of the country. Since the 1979 revolution it is estimated that between three and five million Iranians live abroad. The various waves of emigration, starting from the refugee wave in the 1980s, to the current wave of economic, labour, and educational migration, have brought different socio-economic and political groups of Iranians as settlers in mainly Canada, USA, Europe, and Australia. But the question of their political agency vis-à-vis the affairs of Iran, and their rights as expat Iranians to “chime in” on the political affairs of the country, has always been a point of contention among the Iranians, inside or outside. While the general consensus is that Iranian political parties and resistance movements in diaspora have largely been ineffective in mobilizing Iranians abroad in their common fight against the Islamic Regime in over four decades, the recent uprising of 2022 has galvanized diaspora Iranians like no other protest movement prior. The political coalition that is currently gaining momentum (as of February 2023) and is largely comprised of arguably centre-right and neoliberal political figures, such as Reza Pahlavi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and Hamed Esmaeilion, has emerged out of the diaspora, given also that most of the prominent political activists inside Iran are already in prison or heavily monitored, making political mobilization and organization very difficult. Among Iranians, as reflected on social media posts, this diasporic coalition has come under intense criticism, mainly on the basis of the question: “what rights do expat Iranians have when it comes to deciding the future of Iran?” Relying on a self-reflective auto-ethnographic approach, I, a diasporic Iranian subject, set to investigate the contours of my own political belonging, positionality and voice, in relation to dichotomies such as, inclusion/exclusion, insider/outsider, and conservative/progressive, to interrogate the current debate on what role diaspora Iranians have in shaping the future politics of Iran. In this reflective piece, I will also focus on the roles media play in not only providing a platform for voices to be heard, but also I will be critically reflecting on their discursive power in setting the agenda and the trajectory for the Iranian liberty and justice seeking movement efforts.
Discipline
Communications
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
None