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Power and the Production of History
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Trouillot argues that history is not simply a neutral record of past events, but a product of the social, political, and economic structures of the present. He contends that the way in which history is written and the stories that are told reflect the interests and perspectives of those in power. In other words,…
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Bypassing Religion in Iran? A Rare TV Debate
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Recently, a TV debate on women’s rights in Iran has caused controversy. Dr. Maryam Nasr, a member of the Women’s Studies Department at the Research Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, and a clergyman named Majid Dehghan, a faculty member at the Women and Family Research Institute, discussed the topic of “Sovereignty and Gender…
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United Against Brutality: A Call for Solidarity with Iranians
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To date, they have received 200 signatures from over 20 countries. Signatories include individuals from various professions such as academics, doctors, lawyers, journalists, and artists, as well as representatives from trade unions, political and associative organizations.
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Evin’s Dark Night:
A Report on the Killing, Torture, and Transfer of Political Prisoners during the October 15th Fire•
On October 15th, a tragic event occurred at Evin prison in Iran, one of the country’s most feared facilities. Despite the passage of three months, the exact details of what happened remain a mystery, as independent investigations are not permitted in the Islamic Republic. Among the prisoners held at Evin are political dissidents, ordinary…
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Greece’s Pushback Problem:
Evidence Mounts as Denials Persist•
Greece has been facing accusations of illegal pushbacks of migrants and asylum seekers for several years. However, the country’s Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, recently denied that there is any truth to these claims. Despite this denial, evidence of illegal pushbacks has continued to surface in increasing numbers in 2022.
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Iranian Feminist May Face Death Penalty for Protesting Compulsory Hijab
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Mozhgan Keshavarz, an Iranian feminist, was arrested in early 2019 along with two other women’s rights activists, Munirah Arabshahi and Yasman Ariani (mother and daughter), for protesting against the compulsory hijab. Before their arrest, these three had published a video on social media giving flowers to women in the metro without hijab on 8…
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Inadequate Care: The Plight of Medical Aid for Refugees in Greece’s Camps
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Waris Ali and Tsiona Nzita are two resent examples of individuals who have died in the refugee camps due to lack of access to medical care. The reason for the death of both of them was the long delay in the arrival of the ambulance.
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Don’t Tell Mom
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Mohsen Shekari, 23, was a waiter in Tehran. Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, was publicly hanged from a crane in Mashhad (northeastern Iran) and did not have a defined profession. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, 39, was a worker and an orphan of both parents. He still published pictures on his Instagram that he took on a…
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The Political Foundations of Kurdistan’s Leftist and Communist Cooperation Council
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In the past months of the ongoing revolution in Iran, numerous pictures and videos from different Kurdish cities were published on social networks, which had a more radical political message than what was going on in other parts of Iran. “Long live socialism”, “Long live the council management” and emphasizing the opposition to the…
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An Outskirts Portrait of Tehran
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According to the governor of Tehran, approximately 5 million people live in these neighborhoods around the city, many of whom reside in dilapidated buildings that are at risk of collapsing. While the media is not forbidden from publishing reports on these neighborhoods, they may choose not to do so due to the possibility of…
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The Middle East and the Road to Peace
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In the Middle East, progressive political groups, including those on the left, right, seculars and radicals such as communists and anarchists, often face brutal suppression by authoritarian governments. At the same time, Islamist groups in the region also actively oppose and attack these progressive movements, using tactics such as assassination, murder, and forced disappearance.
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Iran: The Construction of a National Identity
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A critical study of how Iranian nationalism, itself largely influenced by Orientalist scholarship first undertaken by the European Orientalists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, has shaped modern conceptions of Iran and Iranian identity, as well as narratives of Iranian history, leading to the adoption of a broad nationalist construction of identity to suit…