Rethinking Global Sisterhood Western Feminism and Iran Nima Naghibi Table of Contents		$22.50 paper ISBN: 0-8166-4760-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4760-6 $67.50 cloth ISBN: 0-8166-4759-3 ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4759-0
The first analysis of how Western and Iranian feminism both converge and conflict. Western women’s involvement in Persia dates from the mid-nineteenth century, when female adventurers and missionaries first encountered their veiled Muslim “sisters.” Twentieth-century Western and state-sponsored Iranian feminists continued to use the image of the veiled woman as the embodiment of backwardness. Yet, following the 1979 revolution, indigenous Iranian feminists became more vocal in their resistance to this characterization. In Rethinking Global Sisterhood, Nima Naghibi makes powerful connections among feminism, imperialism, and the discourses of global sisterhood. Naghibi investigates topics including the state-sponsored Women’s Organization of Iran and the involvement of feminists such as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem in the Iranian feminism movement before and during the 1979 revolution. With a potent analysis of cinema, she examines the veiled woman in the films of Tahmineh Milani, Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Kim Longinotto, and Mahnaz Afzali. At a time when Western relations with the Muslim world are in crisis, Rethinking Global Sisterhood provides much-needed insights and explores the limitations and possibilities of cross-cultural feminist social and political interventions. “A book that not only tears apart stereotypes and assumptions about the significance of Muslim women’s dress, but levels harsh critique against those feminists who invoke ‘global sisterhood’ as their cause while perpetuating colonial attitudes of superiority toward their veiled ‘sisters’.” —In These Times “Naghibi’s effort is commendable and her historical analysis presents a notable exception to the emotional vitriol sometimes displayed against Western feminism’s hegemonic “sisterhood.” —Fellowship “This is an intelligent, original, and refreshing study.” —Middle East Journal Nima Naghibi is assistant professor of English at Ryerson University in Toronto. 232 pages | 5 7⁄8 x 9 | 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Introduction 1. Enlightening the Other: Christian Sisters and Intrepid Adventuresses 2. Scopophilic Desires: Unveiling Iranian Women 3.Global Sisters in Revolutionary Iran 4. Female Homosocial Communities in Iranian Feminist Film Conclusion: Communicating Across Disciplines Post 9/11 Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index