Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran

Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran, by Parvin Paidar. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. xvi + 363 pages. Gloss. to p. 367. Refs. to p. 390. Index to p. 401. $59.95. Reviewed by Guity Nashat

Although women have been active in Iranian politics throughout the 20th century, their involvement has not received the attention it deserves. Now, with the publication of Parvin Paidar's pathbreaking work, this oversight has been corrected. Paidar's work goes beyond a narrative account to offer a cogent analysis of the complex events she describes. The title of the book, however, conveys only partially the scope of this outstanding study. Although women constitute the central focus of her discussion, Paidar also offers a brief and cogent account of Iran's political evolution from a traditional, authoritarian country to a modern nation-state and, then, to an Islamic republic. By pairing the changing role of women with the evolving concept of the state, the author traces the major changes in Iran's political development in this century and touches upon most of the important changes in ideas about nation, state, and women.

Paidar's approach is novel...