Rethinking Gender, Ethnicity and Religion in Iran: An Intersectional Approach to National Identity

Rethinking Gender, Ethnicity and Religion in Iran: An Intersectional Approach to National Identity is a 2023 academic book written by Azadeh Kian. The book provides a critical analysis of the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, and religion within the context of Iranian national identity, focusing on the shifts experienced by Sunnite and subaltern women following the Iranian Revolution.

Rethinking Gender, Ethnicity and Religion in Iran

Author	Azadeh Kian
Language	English
Series	Sex, Family and Culture in the Middle East
Subject	Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Iranian Studies
Published	August 10, 2023
Publisher	I.B. Tauris, Bloomsbury Publishing
Media type	Hardback
Pages	280
Awards	Winner of the Latifeh Yarshater Book Prize 2024
ISBN	978-0-7556-5025-5

Overview

The book studies the Pahlavi modern nation-state and the Islamic regime, discussing how the establishment of Shi'ism as the state religion has impacted various demographics, particularly women in the Baluchistan and Golestan provinces. Kian explores themes of cultural racialization, ethno-centrism, Shi'a centrism, and the patriarchal and chauvinistic ideologies that are prevalent in Iranian society, often perpetuated by state policies.

Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, which includes surveys of over 7,000 married women and 100 interviews with Sunnite and subaltern Persian women, Kian highlights the intricate dynamics of social hierarchy and power relations influenced by gender, class, ethnicity, and religion.

Key themes

Kian argues that women have been central to the reconstruction of national and ethnic identities, asserting their roles as potential mothers expected to uphold national and ethnic boundaries. By analyzing the family institution as a site of power and examining family dynamics alongside women's everyday experiences, the book offers insights into the politics of ordinary Iranians and the relationship between state and society.

The author advocates for a non-hegemonic definition of Iranian national identity that acknowledges gender, class, ethnic, and religious diversity, as well as the varied experiences of oppression and injustice faced by different groups.

In a lecture at University of California, Los Angeles Kian described the book as follows: “ An Intersectional Approach to National Identity examines the crucial shifts that affected Sunnite and subaltern women once Shi’ism became the state religion after the Iranian Revolution. Focusing on women in the Baluchistan and Golestan provinces of Iran, Kian analyses and explores issues of cultural racialization, ethno-centrism, Shi’a centrism, and patriarchal and chauvinistic ideologies in Iranian society propagated by the state and sustained by its policies. It reveals how social hierarchy and power relations based on gender, class, ethnicity and religion operate.”