Women and Development: Iranian women's roles under the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties

Authors

1 Department of Development and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, iran

2 Corresponding Author, Department of Development and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, iran

10.22059/jsr.2023.91519

Abstract

Introduction: Several approaches have emerged in recent decades to illustrate how development concerns impacted women and men. Furthermore, women's development models have attempted to explain why women have not progressed at the same level as men, particularly in developing countries.
Aim: This article discusses the involvement of Iranian women in the development process during the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties in the education, work, political and legal rights area. Therefore, in this regard, the most important questions to consider are: what impact did development have on women in Iran throughout the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties, and how did women participate in the development process? The theoretical framework has based on the six approaches in the field of women and development, including Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD), Gender and Development (GAD), Gender Mainstreaming (GMS), Women, Culture, and Development (WCD), and Gender, Law, and Development (GLD).
Methods: Based on qualitative and documentary research, this study has a historical perspective.
Finding: The findings show that women's progress during the Qajar period had greatly enhanced by their active participation in the formation of the Constitutional Revolution. However, Women were marginalized after the revolution and deprived of education and the right to vote. Women's activists began spontaneously organizing schools and even giving jobs to convince men in the National Consultative Assembly that women could have the right to study by highlighting the importance of motherhood and marriage. During the Pahlavi era, particularly the second, women were primarily involved in the development of Iran since providing education and jobs for women was a government strategy to modernize and build the state.
Discussion:  Thus, the Constitutional Revolution changed attention to gender policies during the Qajar era, while modernization and nationalization signified a turning point in gender policies during the Pahlavi dynasty.

Keywords


آبادیان، حسین و صفری، زهره (1393). مطالبات اجتماعی و فرهنگی زنان در دوره مشروطه تا سلطنت رضاشاه. جستارهای تاریخی (فرهنگ) (ویژه تاریخ)؛ 5(2)، 1-19.
صادقی فسایی، سهیلا، و عرفان منش، ایمان(1394) مبانی روش شناختی پژوهش اسنادی در علوم اجتماعی، مورد مطالعه: تاثیرات مدرن شدن بر خانواده ایرانی، راهبرد فرهنگ، 8(29)، 61-91 .
کاتوزیان، محمد علی همایون (1374)، اقتصاد سیاسی ایران: از مشروطیت تا پایان سلسلۀ پهلوی، ترجمۀ محمدرضا نفیسی و کامبیز عزیزی، تهران: نشر مرکز.
Abadian, H. &. (2015). Women Social and Cultural Demands from Constitution Period to Reza Shah Reign. Jostarha-Ye Tarikh (Farhang) (Historical Studies), 5(2), 1-19. SID.
      https://sid.ir/paper/88172/en(in persian).
Afary, J. (1996). The Iranian constitutional revolution, 1906–1911: Grassroots democracy, social democracy, and the origins of feminism. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bahramitash, R. &., & Salehi Esfahani, H. (2011). Veiled Employment. London: Syracuse University Press.
Bahramitash, R. (2014). Low-Income Islamic Women, Poverty and the Solidarity Economy in Iran. Middle East Critique, 23(3), 363-377.
Bedford, K. (2020). Law, Gender, and Development: Potent Hauntings. Law and Development Review, 13(1): 229–264, https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0066.
Béland, D., & Ostadalidehaghi, R. (2013). Women without guardians” in Iran: Gender, cultural assumptions, and social policy. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 29(1), 48-63. doi:10.1080/21699763.2013.803997.
Bhavnani, K., Foran, J., Kurian, P., & Munshi, D. (2016). Postscript A conversation about the future of women, culture and development. In B. Bhavnani, J. Foran, P. Kurian , & D. Munshi, Feminist Futures: Reimagining Women, Culture and Developmen (pp. 433-438). London: Zed Books.
Brenden, M., & Hooyman, N. (1976). International Social Work. The Importance of the Role of Women in Social Development, 19(2), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002087287601900205.
Chauhan, K. (2014). Gender Inequality in the Public Sector in Pakistan. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Clisby, S. (2010). Gender mainstreaming or just more male-streaming?Experiences of popular participation in. In F. Porter , & C. Sweetman, Mainstreaming Gender in Developmen: A Critical Review (pp. 23-36). Oxford: Oxfam.
DeVault, M. L. (1996). Talking Back to Sociology: Distinctive Contributions of Feminist Methodology. Annual Review of Sociology, 22,. 29-50.
Duffy, V. (2016). Gender and Development. development in an unequal world, 159 – 174.
Higgins, P. J. (1985). Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Legal, Social, and Ideological Changes. Signs, 10(3), 477–494. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174262.
Hodge, I., & Midmore, P. (2008). Models of Rural Development and Approaches To Analysis Evaluation And Decision-Making. economie rurale, 23-38.
Kabeer, N. (2003). Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.
Kashani-Sabet, F. (2011). Conceiving Citizens Women and the Politics of Motherhood in Iran. New York: Oxford University Press.
Katouzian, H. (1996). Iran's political economy: from constitutionalism to the end of the Pahlavi dynasty,. Tehran: Markaz Publishing, translated by Mohammad Reza Nafisi and kambiz Azizi (in persian).
Kusakabe, K. (2010). Gender mainstreaming in government offices in Thailand. In F. Porter , & C. Sweetm, international institutions Mainstreaming Gender in Development: A Critical Review (pp. 46-56). Oxford: Oxfam.
Lee-Smith, D., & Trujillo, C. (2006). Unequal Rights: Women and Property. In J. Jaquette , & G. Summerfield, Women and Gender Equity in Development Theory and Practice (pp. 159-172). New York: Duke University Press.
McCulloch, G. (2004). Documentary Research in Education, History and the Social Sciences. London: Routledge .
Moghadam, V. M. (2006). Gender and Social Policy: Family Law and Women’s Economic Citizenship in the Middle East. International Review of Public Administration, 10(1),23-44, DOI: 10.1080/12294659.2005.10805059 .
Moser, C. O. (1989). Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs. World Development, 17(11), 1799-1789.
Moser, C., & Moser, A. (2010). Gender mainstreaming since Beijing: a review of success and limitations. In F. Porter , & C. Sweetman, international institutions Mainstreaming Gender in Development: A Critical Review (pp. 11-23). Oxford: Oxfam.
Nyamu, C. I. (2000). How Should Human Rights and Development Respond to Cultural Legitimization of Gender Hierarchy in Developing Countries? Harvard International Law Journal, 41(2), 381-418.
Parpart, J. L. (1993). Who is the ‘Other’? A Postmodern Feminist Critique of Women and Development Theory and Practice. Development and Change (SAGE, London, Newbury Park and New Delhi), 24,439-464.
Phukon, D. (2008). Gender Development Approach and Social Protection: Understanding the Case of Assam. the Indian Journal of Political Science, 69(4),771-785.
Platt, J. (1981). . Evidence and Proof in Documentary Research: 1 Some Specific Problems of Documentary Research. The Sociological Review, 29(1), 31–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1981.tb03021.x.
Rathgeber, E. (1990). WID, WAD, GAD: Trends in Research and Practice. The Journal of Developing Areas, 24(4),489-502.
Sabahi, F. (2002). Gender and the Army of Knowledge in Pahlavi Iran, 1968–1979. In S. Ansari , & M. Vanessa , Women, Religion and Culture in Iran (pp. 99-123). London: Routledge.
Sadeqi Fasai, S. &. (2015). Methodological Principles of Documentary Research in Social Sciences; Case of Study: Impacts of Modernization on Iranian Family. Rahborde Farhang, 8(29), 61-91(in persian).
Scanlan, S. (2004). Women, Food Security, and Development in Less-Industrialized Societies: Contributions and Challenges for the New Century. World Development, 32(11),1807-1829.
Sedghi, H. (2007). Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511510380.
Wendoh, S., & Wallace, T. (2005). Re-thinking gender mainstreaming in African NGOs and communities. Gender & Development, 13(2),70-79,DOI: 10.1080/13552070512331332288.