On November 2, 2023, the Iran 1400 Project participated in its third Middle Eastern Studies Association conference in Montreal, Quebec. Six panelists, Mr. Sydney Martin, Dr. Kristin Soraya Batmanghelichi, Dr. Azadeh Momeni, Dr. Tom Walsh, Dr. Arash Azizi, and Ms. Sarah Eskandari, participated in the panel Exploring the Inspirations and Ambitions Behind “Woman, Life, Liberty.” The panel explored the social, political, and economic dimensions of the Woman, Life, Freedom (WLF) movement and the underlying conditions that facilitated its emergence. It focused on the aspirations of the protesters, drew parallels with previous protests, and assessed the unique aspects of the WLF protest, among other facets. Dr. Batmanghelichi and Dr. Momeni acted as discussants for the panel, offering their insights on each presentation and taking questions from the audience.
Dr. Arash Azizi, a professor at Clemson University, presented Iran and Three Revolutions: Comparing 1906, 1979 and 2022 in a Global Perspective. He compared and contrasted the 2022 uprising with the 1906 constitutional revolution and the 1979 Islamic revolution. He argued that the 2022 uprising represents a distinct departure from the 1979 revolution, instead marking a return to the ideals and principles of the 1906 revolution. Sarah Eskandari, a Ph.D. student in history at the University of Pennsylvania, presented Internal Colonialism in Iran: Gender and Resistance Against the Islamic Regime. She advocated for appraising the roots of the WLF movement using the lens of internal colonialism, proposing that it is within this framework that the Islamic Republic has been able to normalize gender discrimination through religious dogma. View her published article here. Mr. Sydney Martin, the Iran 1400 Project’s project director, presented his paper “A New Lexicon of Resistance:” The Discourse of Woman, Life, Freedom, which synthesized and analyzed current trends in the scholarship of the WLF movement. Based on 17 interviews with scholars of Iran, he identified the most common obstacles and successes discussed, as well as the most frequently suggested institutional and ideational changes proposed to actualize the goals of the movement. With an accepted abstract, his paper is pending review for publication as a chapter in an edited volume. Lastly, Dr. Tom Walsh, a lecturer at Northumbria University, presented Social Media, Visuality, Music, and Iran’s Gen-Z Uprising. He showed the importance of the specificity of the visual as a powerful political tool within the WLF movement and a core means to understand the protest movement. Focusing specifically on the most viewed 30 TikTok videos related to the protests, he highlighted the core ways that TikTok amplified the message of the protests. View his published article here.
Because Dr. Azizi, Ms. Eskandari, and Dr. Walsh could not join us in person, the panel discussion occurred between Dr. Batmanghelichi, Mr. Martin, Dr. Momeni, and the audience. Dr. Batmanghelichi and Dr. Momeni posed additional questions and offered insightful analyses of the presentations. One thought-provoking question focused on the significance of pursuing a global perspective while potentially neglecting the role of women, which sparked an intriguing and essential debate. Furthermore, the discourse touched on the significance of ideology, highlighting that incorporating ideology is not always a requisite. Subsequently, there was an interesting discussion regarding the value of academic analysis conducted by individuals living outside Iran. These thoughts and inquiries were not confined solely to the panelists, as several audience members also contributed their viewpoints, diversifying and enriching the discussion.
Sydney Martin is the Project Director of the Iran 1400 Project. He received his BA in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the Iran 1400 Project, he studied in Tajikistan with a Fulbright-Hays scholarship and interned at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.
