Politics in Contemporary Iran

Part of the "Iran: Past and Present" lecture series.

Detailed information about the series can be found at

http://psa.stanford.edu.

Three experts sketch a realistic image of the politics in Iran in the form of short lectures and answer questions from the audience.

Iran: the political identities of a paradoxical republic (by Kaveh Ehsani): Is Iran a mortal threat, a fanatical theocratic member of the 'axis of evil', or a post-Islamist society in search of security and finding a difficult path toward democracy? Iran's political history after the 1979 revolution has been confusing to many. This talk will attempt to shed some light on this period and discuss the complex development of Iran's political identity.

Reform movements and media in Iran (by Abbas Milani):

Women and religious minorities in Iran (by Nayereh Tohidi): First, a general overview on the status and rights of religious minorities will be presented by emphasizing the perils of both secular ultranationalist homogenization and religious (Shii Islamist) segmentation in contemporary Iran. Then the present contradictory status of Iranian women will be discussed from a historical and comparative perspective. It will be argued that despite being treated as a minority, and despite the repressive and discriminatory policies and many legal and cultural constraints, women have made considerable social achievements presenting themselves as significant agents of change and democratization in Iran.

Kaveh Ehsani is a Research Scholar at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the quarterly journals Goftogu (Tehran) and Middle East Report (Washington DC).

Abbas Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution. In addition, he is a visiting professor in the department of political science at Stanford University.

Nayereh Tohidi is an Associate Professor of Women's Studies at California State University, Northridge. She is also a Research Associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies of UCLA.

For directions to 420-024 (all other 4 events) please use

http://campus-map.stanford.edu/campus_map/bldg.jsp?bldgID=01-420&;cx=1163

&cy=1145&zoomto=100