Protests in Iran: Maybe not the Tocqueville Paradox
A Discussion with Ali Ansari
Episode 105 of the New Books in Iranian Studies podcast, hosted by New Books Network, titled "Protests in Iran: Maybe not the Tocqueville Paradox" was published on December 5, 2022 and runs 35 minutes.
December 5, 2022 ·35m · New Books in Iranian Studies
Summary
In mid-September of this year, a young Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died under suspicious circumstances after her arrest by the morality police for improperly covering her hair. Her death set off a huge wave of protests across Iran – the biggest in many years. The protesters’ rallying cry was “Women, Life, Freedom,” and women have indeed taken a prominent role in the demonstrations that followed Amini’s death. This week on International Horizons, John Torpey talks with Ali Ansari about the protests in Iran, their ideological basis, and the interplay between state and religion in the desires of the population. Moreover, Ansari discusses the reasons why Iran supports Russia in the war on Ukraine, and how this support has boosted the attention on the protests, converting them into a transnational phenomenon. Ansari also compares the health of the Iranian and the Chinese regimes in the middle of the protests and concludes that the dire social and economic situation of the Iranian people has made them fearless and defiant of the status quo, whereas China's CCP has more leverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices