Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-hvd4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-10T19:15:06.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Women and Political Leadership in an Authoritarian Context: A Case Study of the Sixth Parliament in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2016

Valentine M. Moghadam  and
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo
Valentine M. Moghadam
Affiliation:
Northeastern University
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo
Affiliation:
Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy, Inc.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

When Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, presented his proposed Cabinet to the Majles (parliament) in August 2013, one issue brought up in social media was the strange silence of the women members throughout the intensive four-day sessions to assess the ministerial nominees' programs before the vote of confidence. None of the nine women parliamentary members (MPs) used the podium to object that the president had not nominated any woman as minister. Only on social media and Persian language television was there criticism for the absence of women ministers. Eventually, Rouhani promised to include a woman in his Cabinet and to promote women in middle managerial positions. Not only was this tokenism evidence of gender-blindness, but it also evinced historical amnesia, as it overlooked the intense campaigning for women's greater participation and rights on the part of the 13 women members of Iran's Sixth Majles during the reform era coinciding with President Mohammad Khatami's two terms (1997–2005). That parliament is notable for its commitment to political and cultural reform and for the caucus that agitated for women's greater presence. Among its accomplishments were passage of the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); raising the minimum age of marriage for girls from puberty to 13; and removing the ban on single young women traveling abroad on state scholarships.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 168 - 197
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adelkhah, Fariba. 2004. Being Modern in Iran. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Alamdari, Kazem. 2008. “Chera Eslahat Shekast Khord?” [Why was reform defeated?] Woodland Hills, CA: Sayeh Publishers.Google Scholar
August, Oliver. 2014. “The Revolution is Over: Special Report Iran.” The Economist (November 1):3–16.Google Scholar
Boli, John, and Thomas, George M.. 1997. “World Culture in the World Polity: A Century of International Non-Governmental Organization.” American Sociological Review 62 (2): 171–90.Google Scholar
Bolzendahl, Catherine. 2011. “Beyond the Big Picture: Gender Influences on Disaggregated and Domain–Specific Measures of Social Spending, 1980–1999.” Politics & Gender 7 (1): 35–70.Google Scholar
Boroujerdi, Mehrzad. 2014. “Iran.” In The Middle East , 13th ed., ed. Luist, Ellen. Los Angeles and London: Sage, 487–506.Google Scholar
Celis, Karen. 2006. “Substantive Representation of Women: The Representation of Women's Interests and the Impact of Descriptive Representation in the Belgian Parliament (1900–1979).” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 28 (2): 85–114.Google Scholar
Charrad, Mounira. 2012. “Family Law Reforms in the Arab World: Tunisia and Morocco.” International Year of the Family. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/docs/egm12/PAPER-CHARRAD.pdf (accessed January 10, 2016).Google Scholar
Charrad, Mounira, and Zarrugh, Amina. 2013. “The Arab Spring and Women's Rights in Tunisia.” E-International Relations (September 4). http://www.e-ir.info/2013/09/04/the-arab-spring-and-womens-rights-in-tunisia (accessed January 10, 2016).Google Scholar
Childs, Sarah, and Krook, Mona Lena. 2008. “Critical Mass Theory and Women's Political Representation.” Political Studies 56 (3): 725–36.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 1990. Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Enloe, Cynthia. 2007. Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Eschle, Catherine. 2000. Global Democracy, Social Movements and Feminism. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Franceschet, Susan. 2001. “Women in Politics in Post-Transitional Democracies: The Chilean Case.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 3 (2): 207–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghamari-Tabrizi, Behrooz. 2013. “Women's Rights, Shari'a Law, and the Secularization of Islam in Iran.” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society vol. 26 (3): 237–53.Google Scholar
Hellewege, Julia Marin. 2014. “Review Essay: Women's Legislative Representation.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 2 (4): 689–97.Google Scholar
Htun, Mala, and Weldon, Laurel. 2012. “The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change: Combating Violence against Women in Global Perspective 1975–2005.” American Political Science Review 106 (3): 548–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Norris, Pippa. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Interparliamentary Union. 2014. Women in National Parliaments Database. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm (accessed March 2014).Google Scholar
Jaquette, Jane. 1997. “Women in Power: From Tokenism to Critical Mass.” Foreign Policy 108 (4): 23–46.Google Scholar
Kabeer, Naila. 1994. Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Kittilson, Miki Caul. 2005. “In Support of Gender Quotas: Setting New Standards, Bringing Visible Gains.” Politics & Gender, 1 (4): 638–45.Google Scholar
Krook, Mona Lena, and Childs, Sarah, eds. 2010. Women, Gender, and Politics: A Reader. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mahdavi, Pardis. 2008. Passionate Uprisings: Iran's Sexual Revolution. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mashayekhi, Mehrdad. 2001. “The Revival of the Student Movement in Post-Revolutionary Iran.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 15 (2): 283–313.Google Scholar
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. 1996. “Women and Politics in Post-Khomeini Iran: Divorce, Veiling, and Emerging Feminist Voices.” In Women and Politics in the Third World, ed. Afshar, Haleh. London and New York: Routledge, 142–69.Google Scholar
Moaddel, Mansoor. 2007. “The Saudi Public Speaks: Religion, Gender, and Politics.” In Values and Perceptions of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Publics, ed. Moaddel, Mansoor. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 209–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moghadam, Valentine M. 2013. Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East, 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Najmabadi, Afsaneh. 1998. “Feminism in an Islamic Republic: ‘Years of Hardship, Years of Growth.’” In Women, Gender, and Social Change in the Muslim World, ed. Haddad, Yvonne Y. and Esposito, John. New York: Oxford University Press, 59–84.Google Scholar
Paxton, Pamela, and Hughes, Melanie. 2007. Women, Politics and Power: A Global Perspective. Los Angeles and London: Pine Forge Press.Google Scholar
Paxton, Pamela, and Hughes, Melanie. 2014. Women, Politics, and Power, 2nd ed. Los Angles: Sage.Google Scholar
Paxton, Pamela, and Kunovich, Sheri. 2003. “Women's Political Representation: The Importance of Ideology.” Social Forces 82 (1): 87–114.Google Scholar
Peterson, Spike V., and Runyan, Anne Sisson. 1993. Global Gender Issues. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, Anne. 1991. Engendering Democracy. University Park: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, Anne. 1995. The Politics of Presence: The Political Representation of Gender, Ethnicity and Race. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Randall, Vicki. 1987. Women in Politics: An International Perspective. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rezai-Rashti, Goli, and Moghadam, Valentine M.. 2011. “Women and Higher Education in Iran: What are the Implications for Employment and the ‘Marriage Market’?” International Review of Education 57 (3): 419–41.Google Scholar
Sedghi, Hamideh. 2007. Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tickner, Ann. 1992. Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives on Achieving Global Security. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Tohidi, Nayereh. 1997. “‘Islamic Feminism’: A Democratic Challenge or a Theocratic Reaction?” Kankash 13: 106 (in Persian).Google Scholar
Thomas, Gwynn, and Adams, Melinda. 2014. “Breaking the Final Glass Ceiling: The Influence of Gender in the Elections of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Michelle Bachelet.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 31 (2): 105–31.Google Scholar
United Nations. 1996. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Walby, Sylvia. 2009. Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Weldon, S. Laurel. 2002. Protest, Policy and the Problems of Violence against Women: A Cross-National Comparison. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Wyndow, Paula, Li, Jianchong, and Mattes, Eugen. 2013. “Female Empowerment as a Core Driver of Democratic Development: A Dynamic Panel Model from 1980 to 2005.” World Development 52: 34–52.Google Scholar
World Values Survey. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org Google Scholar