Seizing the Opportunity: Iranian Women, a Century of Struggle

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Seizing the Opportunity: Iranian Women, A Century of Struggle

Author: Shabnam Shenasi Azari

Mentor: Lina H. Kreidie

The political opportunity model of social movements sees social movement mobilization, organization, and success as shaped by environmental factors and human agency. The constellation of environmental variables within a particular society provides opportunities or obstacles to the pursuit of movement demands. Accordingly, the development of a social movement can be understood by looking at the ingenuity of movement participants working within and against this environmental framework to maximize their opportunities, minimize their obstacles, and create a new environment conducive to movement demands. Until now, studies using this model have focused on social movements in Western democratic societies, whose governments offer its citizens a measure of freedom of speech, press, and political participation. This thesis examined the relevancy of the political opportunity model to the women’s movement in Iran, conducting a literature review to explore the effects of six environmental variables—education, favorable policies, mobilization of other movements, repression, war, and the power of religious officials in government—on mobilization for women’s rights from the 1850s until today. It found that despite the many obstacles women faced, they took whatever opportunities were available to them to mobilize support, educate and politicize women, and push government for more favorable policies. While in Western democratic nations favorable policies tend to create a disincentive for mobilization, favorable policies in Iran escalated mobilization, except in times of government suppression. Mobilization thrived most when the state was less repressive, however today, in spite of the many restrictions, women have found creative ways to vocalize their demands.