Conversation

Dan Brockett
@Freakademic
People forget that, prior to the Islamic* Revolution of 1979, Iran was ruled by a brutal, US- and British-backed dictator and hijab had been banned (under his father, iirc, and men required to wear fedoras) to be more "Western."
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Dan Brockett
@Freakademic
The politicization of various forms of hijab - banning it, requiring it, in Muslim-majority countries and Europe - was never about Islam. It was about imperialism, identity and control.
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Dan Brockett
@Freakademic
*Most historians I've read argue that the Revolution was not primarily Islamic in the moment, but was executed by broad coalitions including leftists, islamists of many points of view (and republicans?) and appropriated by Khomeini and his followers as it became successful.
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Dan Brockett
@Freakademic
Much of the metaphor used to mobilize support was Islamic, as that was the primary cultural language of Iran, but the revolution was primarily anti-imperialist (according to these historians).
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Dan Brockett
@Freakademic
Related: Definitely check out Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran by Chelkowski and Dabashi. It's a brilliant book, full of gorgeous, propagandistic artwork from that time. Also, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
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