Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle

Speaker
Alborz Ghandehari
Affiliation
Department of Ethnic, Gender and Disability Studies, University of Utah
Date and Time:
-
Location:

ICGC Commons for Critical Inquiry (537 Heller Hall) and Zoom.

Register for the Zoom link here!

An exploration of how people in Iran have renewed their longtime struggle for freedom

The Woman, Life, Freedom uprising is only the latest manifestation of a century-long struggle for liberation in Iran. This ongoing movement for justice has encompassed two revolutions against domestic dictatorship and foreign imperialism, as well as a series of uprisings since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which was followed by a new era of repression. Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle offers an intersectional analysis of how progressive and radical movement builders have reenvisioned liberation in the post-’79 era, despite new forms of oppression under the Islamic Republic and from US and other foreign imperial powers. Bringing together a diverse array of sources, including oral histories with Iranian labor, student, and gender justice organizers, as well as resistance literature and art, Alborz Ghandehari challenges narratives that treat working-class, feminist, queer, and oppressed ethnic minorities’ movements as separate from one another. Post/Revolutionary Conditions demonstrates how such potent reimaginings of collective liberation and a radically democratic future have been shaped by multiple generations of protest and kindred struggles globally.

Discussant: Arash Davari (UMN Political Science)

Guest Office Hour: Dr. Ghandehari will have a guest office hour on 4/15 between 1-3PM. Grad students are encouraged to sign up for a 20-minute slot if they're interested in talking to him directly & perhaps sharing their own projects with him. 

Co-sponsored by the Institute for Global Studies, Department of Anthropology, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Department of Political Science, and Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development.

About the Speaker

Alborz Ghandehari is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. His research centers social movements in Iran and Southwest Asia/North Africa, as well as movements in the region’s diasporas. He is the author of the new book, Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle, published by Northwestern University Press (2025). Some of his writings appear in Journal of Middle East Women’s StudiesSocial IdentitiesCritical Ethnic Studies JournalFrontiersJadaliyya, and In These Times. Ghandehari's new queer fiction piece  “The River and the Story” appears in MOZAIK and follows the story of two childhood friends separated by political violence in Iran and Kurdistan in the 1980s. His work has been supported by the American Council for Learned Societies and the Persian Heritage Foundation among other awards and programs. Also a performer, his most recent performance credits include Nassim Soleimanpour’s acclaimed play “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” in association with Aurora Nova Productions and a cover of the popular Iranian freedom song Aftabkaran ("The Sun Planters" ) produced by Cato Creative. Ghandehari is currently writing and developing a new theater production, to premiere in LA in June 2026, titled Bird of Dawn: A Century of Song and Struggle in Iran. The production is adapted from a hundred years of Iranian protest music up until the present day.