The War Against Feminism in the Name of the Almighty: Making Sense of Gender and Muslim Fundamentalism

In recent years, some postmodern feminists have warned us about the perils of generalizations in feminist theory that transcend the boundaries of culture and region, while feminist critics of postmodernism have argued conversely that abandoning cross-cultural and comparative theoretical perspectives may lead to relativism and eventual political paralysis.’ As I will argue in this article, the two positions are not always as diametrically opposed as they seem to be. The militant Islamist movements which have proliferated across a wide variety of cultures and societies in North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, have propagated remarkably similar policies and doctrines with regard to gender issues. As a result, a comparative theoretical perspective that would focus on this issue is both essential and surprisingly neglected. But careful distinctions need be made between conservative discourses-both Sunni and Shiite -that praise women’s roles as mothers and guardians of the heritage yet deny them personal autonomy, and progressive discourses on Islam that argue for a more tolerant and egalitarian view of gender roles.

The Contentious Historiography of the Gilan Republic in Iran: A Critical Exploration

This article was published in Iranian Studies, Colume 28, Number 1-2, 1995

Social Democracy and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11

This article was published in A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran, J. Foran, U. of Minnesota Press, pp. 21-43, 1994

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was followed by a series of revolutions in Iran (1906), Turkey (1908), Mexico (1910), and China (1911) that marked a new stage in the history of the developing world and brought several competing ideologies – nationalism, democracy, religion, and socialism – into open confrontation. The Iranian Constitutional Revolution is remembered most for its establishment of a parliament and a democratic constitution in the country for the first time. Less known are the roles of various social democratic tendencies that were active in Iran in this period. These groups, which became politically important organizations in their own right, are of crucial importance in an understanding of the course and development of the revolution.

نقدی بر تاریخ نگاری متناقض جمهوری گیلان

This article was published in نگاه نو، شماره 29، ص. 51

Social Democracy and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-1911

This article was published in A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran, John Foran, Editor

شورشهای دهقانی منطقه خزر در زمان انقلاب مشروطیت

This article was published in نگاه نو, فروردین-اردیبهشت 1373

نگاه نو، چلد 19 (فروردین-اردیبهشت 1373) صص. 6-24

Social Democracy and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11 (Persian)

This article was published in Iran Nameh, Vol XI, No. 3 (in Farsi), Summer 1993

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was followed by a series of revolutions in Iran (1906), Turkey (1908), Mexico (1910), and China (1911) that marked a new stage in the history of the developing world and brought several competing ideologies – nationalism, democracy, religion, and socialism – into open confrontation. The Iranian Constitutional Revolution is remembered most for its establishment of a parliament and a democratic constitution in the country for the first time. Less known are the roles of various social democratic tendencies that were active in Iran in this period. These groups, which became politically important organizations in their own right, are of crucial importance in an understanding of the course and development of the revolution.

The Debate of Women’s Liberation in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1911

This article was published in Expanding the Boundaries of Women's History, Essays on Women in the Third World, Indiana U. Press, 1992

Published in Expanding the Boundaries of Women’s History, Essays on Women in the Third World, Chery Johnson-Odim and Margaret Storbel, Editors, Indiana U. Press

Peasant Rebellions of the Caspian Region During the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, 1906-1909

This article was published in Int. J. Middle East Stud. 23, Cambridge U. Press, 1991