Iran’s Political Uprising: “Woman, Life, Freedom” Shake the Regime in Iran

The Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs’ Middle Eastern Studies Program presents a panel discussion on Iran’s Political Uprising. During the past two weeks, the name of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian woman killed by the morality police, has dominated the news. Mahsa’s death unleashed a political storm against the theocratic government and confronted the incumbent regime with one of the biggest crises since its emergence in the wake of the 1979 Revolution. Prof. Arzoo Osanloo (University of Washington) and Prof. Kian Tajbakhsh (Columbia University) will discuss the causes and implications of the current political uprising in Iran.  

Arzoo Osanloo is a professor in the Department of Law, Societies, and Justice and the director of the UW’s Middle East Center. Her first book, The Politics of Women‘s Rights in Iran (Princeton University Press, 2009),  explored the politicization of ‘rights talk’ and women’s subjectivities in post-revolutionary Iran. Professor Osanloo is currently working on a new research project that examines the Islamic mandate of forgiveness, compassion, and mercy in Iran’s criminal sanctioning system.

Kian Tajbakhsh is a senior advisor at Global Centers Columbia University. Previously he was the Open Society (Soros) Foundation’s representative in Iran, where he directed several initiatives that enhanced women’s rights and expanded the role of NGOs in public health and freedom of information. His most recent book Creating Local Democracy in Iran: State-Building and the Politics of Decentralization, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022.