Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Media as a Site of Transformative Politics: Iranian Women’s Online Contestations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Iran’s Struggles for Social Justice

Abstract

This chapter addresses some of the challenges, and some of the positive outcomes, of women’s use of social networking sites in their struggles for social justice and gender equality in Iran. Iranian women use these sites to express social forms of assertive female subjectivity and to actively participate in ongoing assessments, evaluations, and rearticulations of concepts such as politics, culture, gender identity, resistance, and activism. The chapter underscores the transgressive possibilities, radical potentials, and spaces of dissent that such online platforms open up for ordinary Iranian women and activists alike. The author concludes that women’s online platforms must be read and understood as spaces of cultural, social, and political contestation, and as one of the arenas in which Iranian agents of radical political change are emerging.

I wish to note my appreciation of my two research assistants, Saman Rejali and Zeinab Farokhi, for their meticulous work in monitoring My Stealthy Freedom (MSF) Facebook posts from March to June 2015.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akhavan, Niki. 2013. Electronic Iran: The Cultural Politics of an Online Evolution. London: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alavi, Nasrin. 2005. We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs. London: Portobello Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexanian, Janet A. 2011. Eyewitness Accounts and Political Claims: Transnational Responses to the 2009 Postelection Protests in Iran. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 31(2): 425–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alinejad, Donya. 2011. Mapping Homelands through Virtual Spaces: Transnational Embodiment and Iranian Diaspora Bloggers. Global Networks 11(1): 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amar, Paul. 2011. Middle East Masculinity Studies: Discourses of ‘Men in Crisis,’ Industries of Gender in Revolution. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 7(3): 36–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amir-Ebrahimi, Masserat. 2008. Transgression in Narration: The Lives of Iranian Women in Cyberspace. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 4(3): 89–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arab Social Media Influencers Summit. 2015. Arab Social Media Report. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://www.arabsmis.ae/assets/frontend/images/ASMISEnglishReport.pdf

  • Ayers, Michael D. 2003. Comparing Collective Identity in Online and Offline Feminist Activists. In Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, ed. M. McCaughey, and M.D. Ayers, 145–164. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozorgzadeh, Amir-Esmaeil. 2016. The State of Digital in Iran. Techcrunch (TC). Accessed March 21, 2016. http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/29/the-state-of-digital-in-iran/

  • Brophy, Jessica. 2010. Developing a Corporeal Cyberfeminism: Beyond Cyberutopia. New Media and Society 12(6): 929–945.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bucar, Elizabeth M., and Roja Fazaeli. 2008. Free Speech in Weblogistan? The Offline Consequences of Online Communication. International Journal of Middle East Studies 40(3): 403–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, Manuel. 2011. A Network Theory of Power. International Journal of Communication 5: 773–787.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diani, Mario. 2000. Social Movement Networks Virtual and Real. Information, Communication and Society 3(3): 388–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doostdar, Alireza. 2004. ‘The Vulgar Spirit of Blogging’: On Language, Culture, and Power in Persian Weblogestan. American Anthropologist 106(4): 651–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubai School of Government. 2011. Arab Social Media Report. 1(3). Dubai, EAU: Dubai School of Government. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://www.arabsocialmediareport.com/UserManagement/PDF/ASMR%20Report%203.pdf

  • Friedman, Elisabeth Jay. 2005. The Reality of Virtual Reality: The Internet and Gender Equality Advocacy in Latin America. Latin American Politics and Society 47(3): 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gajjala, Radhika. 2001. Studying Feminist E-Spaces: Introducing Transnational/Postcolonial Concerns. In Technospaces: Inside the New Media, ed. S. Munt, 113–126. London: Continuum International.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. Snapshots from Sari Trails: Cyborgs Old and New. Social Identities 17(3): 393–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gajjala, Radhika, Yahui Zhang, and Phyllis Dako-Gyeke. 2010. Lexicons of Women’s Empowerment Online. Feminist Media Studies 10(1): 69–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gheytanchi, Elham, and Valentine N. Moghadam. 2014. Women, Social Protests, and the New Media Activism in the Middle East and North Africa. International Review of Modern Sociology 40(1): 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghorashi, Halleh, and Kees Boersma. 2009. The ‘Iranian Diaspora’ and the New Media: From Political Action to Humanitarian Help. Development and Change 40(4): 667–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golkar, Saeid. 2011. Liberation or Suppression Technologies? The Internet, the Green Movement and the Regime in Iran. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 9(1): 50–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorkemli, Serkan. 2012. ‘Coming Out of the Internet’: Lesbian and Gay Activism and the Internet as a ‘Digital Closet’ in Turkey. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 8(3): 63–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesford, Wendy S., and Eileen E. Schell. 2008. Configurations of Transnationality: Locating Feminist Rhetorics. College English 70(5): 461–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Internet World Stats. 2015. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm.

  • Jacques, Luke. 2008. The I in Community: It’s All About ME in Gaydar’s Global Gay Diaspora. In The Revolution Will Not be Downloaded: Dissent in the Digital Age, ed. T. Brabazon, 187–197. Oxford: Chandos.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, John and Bruce Etling. 2008. Mapping Iran’s Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere. Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2008-01. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Kelly&Etling_Mapping_Ira ns_Online_Public_2008.pdf

  • Khosravi, Shahram, and Mark Graham. 2002. Reordering Public and Private in Iranian Cyberspace: Identity, Politics and Mobilization. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 9: 219–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, Priya. 2012. Transnational Tamil Networks: Mapping Engagement Opportunities on the Web. Social Science Information 51(4): 578–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntsman, Adi. 2009. Figurations of Violence and Belonging: Queerness, Migranthood and Nationalism in Cyberspace and Beyond. Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langman, Lauren. 2005. From Virtual Public Spheres to Global Justice: A Critical Theory of Internetworked Social Movements. Sociological Theory 23(1): 42–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lotan, Gilad, et al. 2011. The Revolutions Were Tweeted: Information Flows during the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions. International Journal of Communication 5. Accessed March 9, 2016. http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1246

  • Martinez-Torres, Maria Elena. 2001. Civil Society, the Internet, and the Zapatistas. Peace Review 13(3): 347–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCaughey, Martha, and Michael D. Ayers (ed). 2003. Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moghadam, Valentine M., and Fatima Sadiqi, eds. 2006. Special Issue on Women and the Public Sphere in the Middle East and North Africa: Introduction and Overview. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies Spring, 2(2). pp. 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moghissi, Haideh. 1996. Populism and Feminism in Iran: Women’s Struggle in a Male-Defined Revolutionary Movement. London: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2000. Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism: The Limits of Postmodern Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2009. Women and the 1979 Revolution: Refusing Religion-Defined Womanhood. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 29(1): 63–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mojab, Shahrzad. 2001a. The Politics of “Cyberfeminism” in the Middle East: The Case of Kurdish Women. Race, Gender and Class 8(4): 42–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2001b. Women of a Non-State Nation: The Kurds. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morozov, Evgeny. 2009. Iran: Downside to the “Twitter Revolution”. Dissent 56(4): 10–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • My Stealthy Freedom. 2015. Accessed March 22, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/videos/1097149603632466/

  • My Stealthy Freedom. n.d Accessed March 22, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/info/?tab=page_info

  • Naghibi, Nima. 2007. Rethinking Global Sisterhood: Western Feminism and Iran. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2011. Diasporic Disclosures: Social Networking, NEDA, and the 2009 Iranian Presidential Elections. Biography 34(1): 56–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nouraie-Simone, Fereshteh. 2005. Wings of Freedom: Iranian Women, Identity and Cyberspace. In On Shifting Ground: Muslim Women in the Global Era, ed. F. Nouraie-Simone, 61–79. New York: Feminist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queen, Mary. 2008. Transnational Feminist Rhetorics in a Digital World. College English 70(5): 471–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raghavan, Ramya. 2009. Digital Activism on YouTube. The Official Google Blog. Accessed March 23, 2016. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/digital-activism-on-youtube.html

  • Rahimi, Babak. 2003. Cyberdissident: The Internet in Revolutionary Iran. Middle East Review of International Affairs 7(3): 101–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, Niamh. 2007. Cosmopolitan Feminism and Human Rights. Hypatia 22(4): 180–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Richard et al. 2012. Mapping Iran Online. Publication of the Iran Media Program, Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Accessed April 12, 2016. http://www.global.asc.upenn.edu/fileLibrary/PDFs/Mapping_Iran

  • Safshekan, Roozbeh. 2014. The Matrix of Communication in Social Movements A Comparison of the 1979 Revolution and 2009 Green Movement in Iran. Sociology of Islam 2: 328–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schradie, Jen. 2012. The Trend of Class, Race and Ethnicity in Social Media Inequality: Who Still Can’t Afford to Blog? Information, Communication, and Society 15(4): 555–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shahidian, Hammed. 2002. Women in Iran: Emerging Voices in the Women’s Movement. Westport/London: Greenwood Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakhsari, Sima. 2011. Weblogistan Goes to War: Representational Practices, Gendered Soldiers, and Neoliberal Entrepreneurship in Diaspora. Feminist Review 99: 6–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012. From Homoerotics of Exile to Homopolitics of Diaspora: Cyberspace, the War on Terror, and the Hypervisible Iranian Queer. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 8(3): 14–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Social Media in Iran. 2012. Visually. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://visual.ly/social-media-iran.

  • Sohrabi-Haghighat, M. Hadi, and Shohre S. Mansouri. 2010. ‘Where is My Vote?’ ICT Politics in the Aftermath of Iran’s Presidential Election. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 8(1): 24–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sreberny, Annabelle. 2007. Becoming Intellectual: The Blogestan and Public Political Space in the Islamic Republic. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 34(3): 267–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sreberny, Annabelle, and Gholam Khiabany. 2010. Blogistan: The Internet and Politics in Iran. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tohidi, Nayereh. 1996. Feminism, Demokrasy ve Eslamgara`i dar Iran (Feminism, Democracy, and Islamism in Iran). Los Angeles, CA: Ketabsara.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010a. The Women’s Movement as a Response to the Disparity Between the State Policies and New Social Realities in Iran (In Persian). Jaras. Accessed April 12, 2016. http://www.nayerehtohidi.com/wp-content/uploads/news/tohidi-interview-2010-hashemi.pdf

  • ———. 2010b. The Women’s Movement and Feminism in Iran. In Women’s Movement in the Global Era: The Power of Local Feminisms, ed. A. Basu, 375–414. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Bos, Matthijs. 2006. Hyperlinked Dutch–Iranian Cyberspace. International Sociology 21(1): 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vegh, Sandor. 2003. Classifying Forms of Online Activism: The Case of Cyberprotests Against the World Bank. In Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, ed. M. McCaughey, and M.D. Ayers, 71–96. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh-Haines, Grant. 2012. The Egyptian Blogosphere: Policing Gender and Sexuality and the Consequences for Queer Emancipation. Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 8(3): 41–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witteborn, Saskia. 2011. Gendering Cyberspace: Transnational Mapping and Uyghur Diasporic Politics. In Circuits of Visibility: Gender and Transnational Media Culture, ed. R.S. Hegde, 268–283. New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wojcieszak, Magdalena, and Briar Smith. 2014. Will Politics Be Tweeted? New Media Use by Iranian Youth in 2011. New Media & Society 16(1): 91–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yahyanejad, Mehdi, and Elham Gheytanchi. 2012. Social Media, Dissent, and Iran’s Green Movement. In Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy, ed. L. Diamond, and M.F. Plattner, 139–153. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Historical Studies, University of Toronto-Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani

Authors
  1. Victoria Tahmasebi-Birgani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    Peyman Vahabzadeh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tahmasebi-Birgani, V. (2017). Social Media as a Site of Transformative Politics: Iranian Women’s Online Contestations. In: Vahabzadeh, P. (eds) Iran’s Struggles for Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44227-3_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44227-3_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44226-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44227-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation