Editorial Note: Women and Transformative Politics in Iran  (©Background)

The Women, Life, Freedom (WLF) movement, which emerged in September 2022, has garnered significant interest among academics and researchers in exploring the interactions of women’s activism and feminist movements with transformative politics in Iran and other countries in the Middle East. The movement has inspired a range of scholarly outputs, including academic articles in journals and specialized media focused on the Middle East. In 2023, Malu Halasa published an edited volume on the topic, followed by three books in 2024 by Arash Azizi, Pamela Karimi, and Farhad Khosrokhavar. Yet, further research, and forthcoming publications are on the way. This issue of GlobIS Review is dedicated to introducing and reviewing part of this literature, to acknowledge the efforts of the researchers and authors while reflecting on their diverse claims and arguments. We use the concept of transformative politics to refer to collective acts of protest that challenge established political power to bring about radical change and structural transformation, as discussed by Tarrow (2015). Almost all studies on the WLF protests and their aftermath emphasize protesters’ aspirations for radical and transformative change. They argue that such demands arise due to the deep entrenchment of political power within patriarchal and male-dominated structures, making any call for women’s rights and freedoms inherently disruptive to established power dynamics.

Academic articles on the WLF movement are much more numerous than the existing books on the subject. However, given space limitations, only a select few are reviewed in this issue, leaving many important works beyond the scope of this examination. By early 2025, around 40 peer-reviewed articles on the movement have been published in English-language academic journals. Some of these have been widely cited by other scholars, including Bayat (2023), Afary and Anderson (2023), Khatam (2023), and Sadeghi Boroujerdi (2023) each with over 30 citations and some have been translated into Persian and read by a larger public audience. The exact number of Persian-language academic articles is unknown, but some have been included in a review conducted by SheikhalIslam for this issue.

While the authors of these studies examine the protests from various perspectives, at least three central questions dominate their analyses. One key inquiry explores the factors that contributed to the shift from the decades-long protest of opposing compulsory hijab to challenging the Islamic Republic (IR) itself. The second question investigates the transformative potential of the protests by examining the heterogenous and intersectional composition of the protestors across gender, ethnic, class, and religious identities. This analysis also examines the level of collaboration, solidarity, and coordination across diverse mobilized groups, as well as the government’s willingness and capacity to suppress the protests. The third topic problematizes how different visions, ideals, and futures proposed by on-the-ground actors, diaspora advocates, and supporters among global and regional powers have interacted and competed to dominate the public sphere through social platforms, student journals, domestic social media, and satellite TV channels operated by the diaspora.

Scholars from diverse academic disciplines and theoretical traditions have examined the WLF movement, offering a range of interpretations informed by their respective perspectives and expertise. Two primary lines of inquiry, grounded in feminist and social movement scholarship, adopt a broad analytical scope, while a third group of scholars from various social science disciplines concentrates on specific dimensions of the protests. Feminist scholarship underscores systemic gender discrimination and women’s persistent resistance as central to transformative politics in the IR, exemplified by the WLF movement, which is understood as a continuation of the women’s first demonstrations against compulsory veiling in March 1979. This scholarship includes historical and sociological analysis (Afari, 2023; Ahmadi Khorasani, 2024; Sadeghi, 2022, 2023; Tafsiri, 2022; Tohidi, 2023; Habibi, 2025) but also ethnography of the bodily liberation potential of street protests for women. (L., 2022; Kamel, 2025) These two lines of scholarship complement each other, as historical analyses of women’s agency in asserting control over their bodies intersect with studies on moments of rupture and the liberating, revolutionary, and women-led nature of the protests.

Scholars of social movements often interpret the WLF movement as a critical conjuncture of intersecting economic and social crises fueled by the IR declining economic resources, administrative capacity, and public legitimacy. Its rapid escalation reflects a decade of peaceful demonstrations and riots by various groups, all of which faced severe state repression. To define this moment, Khosrokhavar (2024) emphasizes the shift from a theocratic to a totalitarian regime, Bayat (2024, 2021) examines the colonization of everyday life, and Saeed Madani (February 2023) introduces the concept of a contentious or restless society (jame’h jonbeshi).

As renewed interest in “revolution” emerges through protests, it has become common to link the major public protests of the 2010s as cycles of an escalating movement culminating in the WLF movement. While most authors dedicate sections of their article or chapters of their book to protests by various groups—such as Kurdish and Balochi protesters, workers, and others—the analytical framework for examining these solidarities remains underdeveloped. Arash Azizi’s book (2024), with eight chapters focusing on activists beyond women, exemplifies this notion of “imagined solidarity.” Sadeghi Boroujerdi (2023) examines the movement as the intersection of four crises: gender control and social reproduction, center-periphery conflict, the failure of reform projects and religious democracy, and neoliberal authoritarianism. However, the relative importance of each crisis and how they intersect remains unexplored. Simin Fadaee (2024) argues that the WLF movement has generated a new revolutionary discourse, introduced novel activist models, and intensified resistance against repression. Its greatest success is sustaining civil disobedience against compulsory hijab, yet on the whole it has failed to engage broader social groups, stemming from historical neglect of economic disparities in Iran, the absence of a viable opposition, and the rise of the far right abroad. Scholars such as Saeed Madani (2021), a social movement scholar based in the country, have critiqued the characterization of the WLF movement as a “revolutionary movement.” Madani argues that this label overlooks the state’s capacity to suppress horizontal, leaderless movements, particularly those that do not mobilize large populations. This critique has sparked debates on the concept of revolution, the nature of failed or unfinished revolutions, and the significance of studying the counter-revolution in the analysis of revolutionary movements/moments.

Feminist scholars hold differing views on characterizing the protests as a revolutionary movement. Some sympathize with it, examining the challenges that hinder its ability to achieve its radical goals (Afari & Anderson, 2023; Tohidi, 2023), while others argue it is creating an alternative social order from below through acts of disobedience (Sadeghi, 2023). However, another group of feminists considers the concept of revolution as an “overloaded” interpretation of the movement (Tafsiri, 2022; Ahmadi Khorasani, 2023; Kashani-Sabet, 2023).

The third genre of writings concentrates on specific aspects of the protests, such as particular social groups, actors, events, locations, and other facets of the movement. While they may not address all conceptual and overarching questions about the movement, these writings offer a fresh and more detailed perspective on the specific areas they examine, providing a nuanced understanding of the dynamics at play. As a result, they shed light on the diverse elements that shape the broader protest landscape. We have reviews on some of these works, including Karimi’s book (2024), and articles authored by Khatam (2023), Alibakhshi (2022), and Amirian (2023). Karimi examines the role of protest art and artists activism in the movement, while Khatam (2023, 2024) examines the movement’s geographic spread as a ‘youth movement’ and how this limits its potential to evolve into a revolutionary movement. Alibakhshi and Amirian focus on the conflicts of interest between opposition groups in the diaspora vying for leadership of the movement and local activists, whose energy was often diverted as they oscillated between extremes.

There are additional significant articles within the third group, not included in this issue but referenced here for interested readers. Alemzadeh’s (2023-a) article analyzes the role of police and military institutions in repression, while Mohammadpour (2024) explores the activism of Kurds and Baluchis within the movement. Azadeh Kian’s (2023) book examines the social indices illustrating how changes in education and economic activities have affected the lives of women in ethnic provinces, as well as their calls for equality. Eric Lob (2024) investigates the impacts of the securitization of these provinces on women’s anger. Another article by Alemzadeh (2023-b) examines the apparent contradiction of joining a revolutionary movement in pursuit of a “normal” life as expressed in street chants and songs, requiring a distinct analysis of the protests in the context of post-revolutionary Iran. Nikfar’s (2024) critiques this notion of “normality” as problematic. These articles present two distinct perspectives on the question of whether protesters in Iran believed in and claim a universal standard of “normal” life, or as Alemzadeh suggests the concept of normality holds a specific radical meaning within the context of Iran.

Many authors have also examined the diaspora’s support for the movement and the complex relationship between diasporic opposition and the movement itself. Bayat characterizes this dynamic as “opposition versus movement,” contending that opposition within the diaspora has largely been reduced to a form of lifestyle and survival strategy, stripped of substantive political engagement. Other scholars have analyzed the geopolitical interests of the West and regional powers in supporting the movement. Bolourchi’s (2023) article highlights the challenges in enforcing human rights sanctions against governments through the sanctioning of state military institutions, including its conflict with laws related to respecting national sovereignty. Bilal Hammamra’s (2024) article analyzes the support of Western feminists for the Jina movement while critically evaluating their relative neglect of the conditions faced by women in Gaza. This disparity in the global application of human rights policies highlights the movement’s challenges in establishing sustainable alliances within the region. Vezvaei’s (2025) review examines how scholars working in the MENA region have perceived the WLF movement in Iran, providing an overview of these challenges. However, Hoodfar and Tajali (2023) explores how feminist figures in the diaspora have sought to build meaningful solidarities, including towards drafting charters or bill of rights, clearly outlining women’s demands within the movement. Having summarised the three main categories of writings related to the movement above, we now introduce the reviews featured in this issue.

The section on Social Sciences in Iran features four reviews of works belonging to feminist and cultural studies scholars. Atena Kamel, in her review of The Spring of the Women’s Movement by Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani, examines the successes of feminists in building the movement in the 1990s and 2000s and their limited influence on the 2022 protests. Through a comparative analysis of two Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to feminist activists, she argues that the ability to leverage global opportunities is contingent upon the strength of domestic feminist activism.

Noushin Khorasani’s review of Shahla Lahiji’s work as a publisher and the history of Roshangaran Publishing House over the past four decades offers valuable insights for those seeking evidence of the intergenerational and cultural impact of the 1990s feminist movement, particularly on later generations of writers and artists. Ferdos Sheikholislam’s review of ten selected scholars who have published on the WLF movement in Iranian journals and online platforms offers insight into the academic discourse shaping discussions within Iran. This review highlights the diversity of research projects undertaken by these scholars and traces shared assumptions as well as divergent concerns within their work. The final piece in the Social Sciences section is Fershteh Habibi’s engaging and satirical review of the censorship of Zanan-e Emrooz magazine. Her work affirms that increasing authoritarianism has marginalized women’s agency in both official scene of the politics and publishing the print journals. However, she highlights how journalism, sustained by the efforts of women reporters, continues to provide a crucial avenue for information dissemination and the reinforcement of the transformative politics.

The section on Global Iranian Studies features four book reviews and one review of scholarly articles. Farhad Khosrokhavar’s Revolt Against Theocracy: The Mahsa Movement and the Feminist Uprising in Iran characterizes the movement as the first in Iran’s history to successfully mobilize large numbers of women. In his review, Saeed Paivandi observes that Khosrokhavar integrates a class-based analysis with an examination of the protesters’ ontological resistance to the theocratic state, positioning the movement’s central demand as the pursuit of the “joy of living.” In her review, Nastaran Saremy discusses Pamela Karimi’s Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran, which explores the role of artist-activists, or “artivists,” in developing a visual language of dissent through ten artistic interventions. Saremy highlights the book’s substantial contribution to the analysis of protest art within the movement and its historical continuity with Iran’s long tradition of artistic resistance. However, she notes that the study does not address the variations and divergences among artists in their representations of the movement or their visions for its future.

Arash Azizi’s What Do Iranians Want? offers an analysis of the movement through a broad depiction of Iran’s political dynamics, aimed at a general international audience. In her review, Khatam commends the book’s panoramic portrayal of the diversity and plurality of political engagement among various groups in Iran, considering it a successful achievement of this objective. However, for readers well-versed in Iranian affairs, the book provides limited new insights, except for the two chapters that specifically examine the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Shima Vezvaei examines ten articles from local and international journals authored by scholars from Muslim-majority countries on the Jina movement. Her analysis reveals a degree of polarization in their interpretations: while some authors express support for the movement and women’s rights, others remain skeptical due to the backing it has received from major global powers. The final review in this section covers Mona Tajali’s Women’s Political Representation in Iran and Turkey: Demanding a Seat at the Table, which is a rare comparative analysis of women’s political roles and rights in the two neighboring Muslim countries. In her review, Manijeh Moradian notes that Tajali’s book, though published before the WLF protests, offers a crucial framework for understanding how we arrived at this point. By examining the interactions between ideologically diverse women’s groups and formal political structures over the years, Tajali illustrates that women’s repeated efforts for meaningful representation within the system have consistently failed. Despite their persistence, the regime’s hardliners have managed to suppress these efforts, leading many politically active women to conclude that working within the Islamic Republic’s political system is no longer a viable option.

The Middle East and the World section introduces several significant books on women’s movements and transformative politics in North African and West Asian countries, highlighting the diverse intersections of these two spheres across the region. Sherine Hafez’s Women of the Midan employs the method of “rememory” in her interviews with ordinary women who participated in the 2011 Egyptian revolution to reveal the striking similarities in corporal and gendered repression faced by women from various social, cultural, and political backgrounds.

Jennifer Heath and Ashraf Zahedi’s book on Afghan women critically analyzes the failures of transforming women’s conditions through war and foreign occupation, whether driven by the Soviet invasion and its local collaborators or the U.S. intervention justified as a mission to “save” Afghan women from the Taliban. Madawi Al-Rasheed’s The Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia deciphers the implications of Mohammed bin Salman’s modernization efforts for women. The book argues that Wahhabism’s transformation from a religious revivalist movement into a nationalist ideology after the 9/11 attacks mirrors Egypt’s secular Arab nationalism, which similarly instrumentalized women as powerful political symbols.

Righteous Transgressions: Women’s Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right by Lihi Ben Shitrit explores the activism of religious conservative women, analyzing the contradictions they navigate as they challenge religious restrictions on women’s roles while justifying their political engagement beyond traditional gender norms in Israel and Palestine.

Mona Tajalli, a visiting professor at Stanford University and associate professor at Agnes Scott College, Fatemeh Sadeghi, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Prosperity and a previous researcher on the ERC-funded TAKHAYYUL project, studying the imaginative landscape of Islamist politics from the Balkans to Bengal, and Atena Kamel, an independent researcher, are the guest editors of this issue. The diversity and richness of the content presented are a direct result of their invaluable collaboration.  We thank Sana Zand for granting us permission to use her paintings in this issue. We extend our congratulations to our readers on the occasion of March 8th, International Women’s Day, a day that has been closely linked to the transformative politics pursued by women in Iran since their protests on March 8th, 1979.

References

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