RESUMO
Having reversed its pronatalist policies in 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran implemented one of the most successful family planning programs in the developing world. This achievement, particularly in urban centers, is largely attributable to a large women-led volunteer health worker program for low-income urban neighborhoods. Research in three cities demonstrates that this successful program has had a host of unintended consequences. In a context where citizen mobilization and activism are highly restricted, volunteers have seized this new state-sanctioned space and successfully negotiated many of the familial, cultural, and state restrictions on women. They have expanded their mandate from one focused on health activism into one of social, if not political, activism, highlighting the ways in which citizens blur the boundaries of state and civil society under restrictive political systems prevalent in many of the Middle Eastern societies.
Assuntos
Política de Planejamento Familiar , Saúde Pública , Políticas de Controle Social , Voluntários , Mulheres Trabalhadoras , Países em Desenvolvimento/economia , Países em Desenvolvimento/história , Política de Planejamento Familiar/economia , Política de Planejamento Familiar/história , Política de Planejamento Familiar/legislação & jurisprudência , Programas Governamentais/economia , Programas Governamentais/educação , Programas Governamentais/história , Programas Governamentais/legislação & jurisprudência , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Irã (Geográfico)/etnologia , Saúde Pública/economia , Saúde Pública/educação , Saúde Pública/história , Saúde Pública/legislação & jurisprudência , Mudança Social/história , Políticas de Controle Social/economia , Políticas de Controle Social/história , Políticas de Controle Social/legislação & jurisprudência , Fatores Socioeconômicos/história , População Urbana/história , Programas Voluntários/economia , Programas Voluntários/história , Programas Voluntários/legislação & jurisprudência , Voluntários/educação , Voluntários/história , Voluntários/legislação & jurisprudência , Voluntários/psicologia , Saúde da Mulher/etnologia , Saúde da Mulher/história , Direitos da Mulher/economia , Direitos da Mulher/educação , Direitos da Mulher/história , Direitos da Mulher/legislação & jurisprudência , Mulheres Trabalhadoras/educação , Mulheres Trabalhadoras/história , Mulheres Trabalhadoras/legislação & jurisprudência , Mulheres Trabalhadoras/psicologiaRESUMO
The unification of a strong and authoritarian state with religious laws and institutions after the 1979 revolution in Iran has resulted in the creation of a dualistic state structure in which non-elected and non-accountable state authorities and institutions-the majority of whom have not accepted either the primacy of democracy nor the premise of equality between men and women (or Muslims and non-Muslims)-are able to oversee the elected authorities and institutions. The central question posed by this paper is whether a religious state would be capable of democratising society and delivering gender equality. By analysing the regime's gender policies and political development, the paper suggests that, at least in the case of Iran and Shi'ism, the larger obstacle to gender (and minorities') equality has more to do with the undemocratic state-society relations that persist in Iran and less to do with the actual or potential compatibility (or lack thereof) of religious traditions or practices with democratic principles.