The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society?

Transcription

1 KNOWLEDGE PROGRAMME CIVIL SOCIETY IN WEST ASIA Special Bulletin 3, July 2013 Edited by SHERVIN NEKUEE The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society?

2 Colophon First published in July 2013 by the Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia. Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries P.O. Box CG The Hague The Netherlands Design: Tangerine Communicatie advies, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Cover photo: Iranians carry a large green flag through the crowd as they demonstrate in the streets on June 15, 2009 in Tehran, Iran to protest the re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Getty Images) The publishers encourage fair use of this material provided proper citation is made. The views represented in this publication are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Hivos. ISSN The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

3 3 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

4 Table of Contents Editorial: 5 What is the Green Movement Dreaming About? Kawa Hassan Introduction: 6 The Green Movement Four Years On Shervin Nekuee Chapter One: 7 Revolution or Reform: Seizing the Government or Organizing Society? Nima Kelari Chapter Two: 11 The Impact of the Women s Movement on the Green Movement Laily Saidi Chapter Three: 15 Reflections on Civil Protest and Non-violent Forms of Resistance in Iran s Green Movement Ammar Maleki Chapter Four: 21 A Hundred Year Road Trip to Democracy: From Constitutional Revolution to Green Movement, Progress by Trial and Error Shervin Nekuee Chapter Five: 24 Iranian Civil Society is not yet a Social Project Interview with Sohrab Razzaghi by Mehdi Owrand 4 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

5 Editorial: What is the Green Movement Dreaming About? Kawa Hassan* The idea for a fundamental analysis of the Green Movement from the perspectives of Iranian researchers one that goes beyond the headlines was born in the Autumn of At this time, we had several internal discussions at Hivos about the need for new knowledge on the internal dynamics and context of the Green Movement, three and a half year after its suppression. Given that the mission of Hivos Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia is to co-produce insider knowledge that is rooted in the regional realities of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), we were pleased to partner with five prominent Iranian intellectuals and civil society activists who, in one way or another, were involved in the movement. The result is this collection of critical chapters that dissects the core challenges the movement is facing four years on. Intentionally, this publication does not deal with the violent repression of the movement or its achievements and successes. This has been analyzed many times elsewhere. Rather, we delved deep and critically into the vision of the movement, its relationship with the women s movement and civil society, and its discourse on non-violence revolution What are the Iranians dreaming about? (also referred to by Kelari in his chapter), we believe that the title What is the Green Movement Dreaming About? best captures the central theme of this publication. Despite enormous and unprecedented regime repression, the Green Movement is required more than ever to deliberate what alternative democratic society and state it wants to achieve, so that, should the fall of the current authoritarian regime become feasible in the future, it does not result in the reproduction of further authoritarianism. This is a tall order and involves a painstaking internal process. But the vitality and vibrancy of the Iranian society and the emergence of the Green Movement itself tell us this is not mission impossible. *Kawa Hassan works as Knowledge Officer at Hivos where he coordinates the Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia. His main focus of interest is transitions, democratization and donor assistance in the Middle East. Prior to this assignment he worked for UNDP and INGOs in Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. He holds a Masters'degree in Political Science (specialization international relations) from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and studied English and German at Almustansyria University, Baghdad, Iraq. The Green Movement is a massive and unprecedented social movement that brought together different segments of the society and courageously challenged the regime. However, despite its importance, social mobilization alone is not sufficient to bring about a regime change, let alone a sustainable democracy. In addition to mobilization, the movement needs a strategic reflection on its vision, which aims at developing a new narrative for an alternative social order that is truly tolerant, pluralist, democratic, today and tomorrow, and that would result in the (re)definition of a bigger us. Therefore, we argue that democratizing society is the start of democratizing the state. Nima Kelari, the writer of the first chapter, rightly recognizes this crucial theme as the question that the theoreticians and activists of the movement need to reflect upon and address. Hence, reformulating the famous phrase of Michel Foucault in response to the 5 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

6 Introduction: The Green Movement Four Years On Shervin Nekuee* In the first days of the politically hot summer of 2009 (on June 23, to be precise), massive demonstrations in the major cities of Iran stunned the leaders of the Islamic Republic. The mass protests were against the officially declared election victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Two days later, on June 25, the government was confronted with yet more massive rallies on the streets of Iran s cities. In Tehran alone, an estimated three million people took to the capital s streets, in what was probably the biggest rally in Iran s history to date. Their key slogan was Where Is My Vote? The colour they carried, on flags, scarves or wristbands, was green. This was the colour adopted by the campaign of Ahmadinejad s main opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, whom protestors believed to be the real winner of the election. Thus, the Green Movement was born. The Green Movement s mass demonstrations and protests continued, albeit decreasing in numbers after the initial nine months of protest. On 14 February 2011, a rally in support of the emerging Arab revolutions was brutally suppressed. This would prove to be the last public rally of the Green Movement. Many political and civil society activists and journalists were arrested during the uprising and/or were forced to leave the country. The main leaders of the movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have already spent more than two years under house arrest. The Green Movement was forcibly pushed back from the public sphere. Yet, during the recent presidential election of 2013, the Green Movement activists showed their presence again, using the presidential rallies of the moderate candidate Hassan Rouhani (who later won the election) to shout the name of Mousavi and they celebrated Rouhani s victory as their own, chanting I ve got my vote back. The Green Movement may be wounded, but it is alive! A broad coalition of Iranian citizens joined the Green Movement. Secular and religious, men and women, intellectuals and activists. Nonetheless, the backbone of the Movement was clearly middle class urban Iran with democratic value orientation. What united these diverse groups? What was the nature of the Green Movement, and what is its likely future? In this special bulletin, five prominent Iranian intellectuals and civil society activists review four years of the Green Movement and place this political phenomenon within the current context and the historical dynamics of the socio-politics of Iran. They introduce a number of urgent strategic dilemmas and call attention to the crossroads the movement now faces in terms of its short- and long-term future. Furthermore, they examine the impact of the Green Movement on civil society and, in turn, what influence this civil society may have on the Movement in the future. Last, but not least, a crucial question regarding the future nature and engagement of the Green Movement within the socio-political landscape of Iran is posed: What will the target of the Green Movement ultimately be creating a new political culture or challenging the current political system? I am very proud to present this work. The Green Movement is a young and dynamic socio-political phenomenon. It is still hard to grasp and it is no exaggeration to claim that this work is pioneering in providing a multi-faceted assessment of such a recent and fresh socio-political phenomenon. This work is the second Special Bulletin for Hivos Knowledge Programme on Iran that I have been honoured to produce as Guest Editor. The first Hivos Special Bulletin I edited focused on the Shia Clergy and was published in December I want to use this occasion to give my thanks to Kawa Hassan from the Hivos Knowledge Programme for creating this opportunity and this intellectual platform. *Shervin Nekuee (Tehran, 1968) is an Iranian- Dutch sociologist, writer and founder of the TeheranReview. He is the author of The Persian Paradox (2006, in Dutch), a book of personal, political and historical narratives on the Islamic Revolution in Iran and its socio-cultural consequences. He was the guest editor of a Hivos special bulletin on Iranian Shia Clergy and Democratic Transition (2012) and is the guest editor of this current special bulletin on the Green Movement (2013). 6 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

7 Chapter One: Revolution or Reform: Seizing the Government or Organizing Society? Nima Kelari* Four years ago, during the presidential election campaigns and especially in the aftermath of the election, a vast and unprecedented social movement emerged in the Iranian public sphere and on the streets of Tehran and other major cities; a social movement that has subsequently changed the nature of all social movements in post-revolutionary Iran. On the one hand, this uprising deepened the existing cleavage between the political elite and the regime factions of the Islamic Republic; on the other, it revealed the growing gaps between the society and the state. In major rallies, which went on for about eight months, voices were heard and demands were made that proved to be the tip of the iceberg of unanswered questions and unfulfilled promises that had formed in the years after the Revolution. These voices were from different social groups that, at a moment when a moderately more open atmosphere emerged during the election campaigns, took the chance to show their despair about the current situation and shout out their hopes of having civil and citizenship rights and to actively participate in the political system. This kind of dissatisfaction intensified during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad s first presidency and especially after the May 2009 electoral soft coup. In general, it is safe to say that these demands were made by those who wanted, firstly, the recognition of their civil and citizenship rights ; and, secondly, a change of social and political relations and the current situation. The Green Movement was a thermometer that measured and displayed the heat of Iranian society the kind of fever that was not only remedied, but also exacerbated by the organized and violent suppression of the state. These uprisings bring to mind once again a question that Michel Foucault (although in a different sense) once posed in response to the 1979 Revolution: What are the Iranians dreaming about?. 1 It seems fitting that all Iranians and observers of Iran and its issues, reimagine this question and try to find a suitable 1 Michel Foucualt, "Iraniha che ro'yaee dar sar darand?", What are Iranian Dreaming About? Hossein Ma'somiye Hamedani (translated.) (Tehran, Hermes, 1377, [1998]). answer for it; a question that after thirty years of social and political change, and in the midst of regional and international conflicts, seems more urgent than ever. It would seem that the answer to it could be the key to opening doors to more democratic solutions in Iran s transition to democracy. It is often said and believed that Iranians did not know what they wanted at the time of the Revolution of 1979; that they only knew what they did not want. Do they truly know what they want now? Now that many Iranians are once again engaged in socio-political contentions motivated by a desire to improve the current state the consequence of policies in the years following a radical revolution do they have any ideas about the kind of society they want to be living in? Has it become clear what it is that they desire and how their ideal society should take shape? To find a relevant answer to these questions we need to take a look at the country s history and what Iranians have been through: It is also believed and accepted that for the past hundred years Iranians have endeavoured to establish a socially and politically developed society without despotism and autocracy. And although they have occasionally made progress, they have taken steps backwards too, and there are still active forces within the society that despotically ignore the socio-political rights desired by those Iranians who made the 1979 Revolution happen. Indeed, they try to rule the country the way it was before the Constitutional Revolution. In the history of contemporary Iran, social movements have always been elitist and at the same time massive. But it seems that for the first time since the Revolution and the war these movements are making demands that encompass the desire of different and plural social groups for change and better conditions. But the question remains, what are the specifics of the current situation that need to be changed and what is the ideal to be aimed at?. Answering these questions requires an accurate understanding of Iran s multidimensional and pluralistic society today, so that we can have a clear picture of the active social groups and their demands, address the issues being dealt with by activists, observers and critics and, ultimately, deal with the problems and the nature of agents of change and current social activists. Only then can a better political picture be imagined. Without a doubt, the rise of the middle class in the years after the Revolution and the war has brought about different lifestyles 7 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

8 that have subsequently made way for the pursuit of democratic demands. On the other hand, the social, economic and political changes of the late 1990s and 2000s have widened the gap between the political elites and increased disputes within the state and the regime s factions. This gap has, in turn, made way for the growth and the extension of small social movements (such as women, youth, labour, minorities, etc.) that articulated demands and raised political issues during post-election protests. Although the tenth presidential election was a catalyst for bringing the citizenship and civil rights movement (The Green Movement) onto the streets, it can certainly be said that the roots of the movement were formed in the years after the Revolution and especially during the era of the reformist government of Mohammed Khatami. The policies of the reformist government were frequently based on expanding political development and facilitating the participation of all citizens in politics and preventing the elimination of forces that had played a part in bringing about the ideals of the Revolution. The reformists means of enforcing these policies were newspapers and the people who backed them were, for the most part, intellectuals and journalists. Without the extension of the papers activities and coverage, the possibility for the expansion of the existing social movements within the public sphere would have been far more limited and the newer generation of activists would not have had the chance for participation and involvement. In its efforts to reform the political system, the reformist government produced two albeit unfinished achievements: First, it achieved a majority in the parliament through quasi-party campaigns and attempted to pass legislation (without success and in the face of complete opposition from the authoritarian forces). Second, it held the first city and country councils elections that, despite opposition from the authoritarian forces within the system, saw for the first time the participation of a significant number of citizens in the political and administrative system of the country. We will not go into detail here about the policies of the reformist government and its shortages; nor will become embroiled in the methods of opposition employed by the authoritarians that eventually resulted in the reformist government s downfall. However, it is worth remembering the reasons why the activists and initiators of the Green Movement took to the streets and transformed the reformist movement into a crusade of change. Of course, any reforming action in a solid and unyielding body will result in its decline and a change in its core. The main appeal of the reformist social movement, which goes beyond the reformist government and consists of small socio-political and cultural movements, was the enlargement of the civil sphere. In other words, it sought to limit the government/state s authority, to separate private realms from those under the state s influence and to bring different social groups into politics, or at least give them a voice. The Green Movement was initially formed during the election campaigns; however, after the eradication of reformist candidates from the game it became part of a reformist-authoritarian battle that went on for eight months (and seems to have continued albeit more slowly and in a rather deeper and more thoughtful way). Its nature and fate altered and in opposition to the state s authoritarian rule it crossed the borders of reform. The new form of the movement was the clear declaration of dissatisfaction with injustice, suppression, dismissal, humiliation, the state s illegitimacy and overall inefficiency. This dissatisfaction was expressed by a large part of the middle-class, the educated and intellectuals and also women, youth, workers and religious and racial minorities. It was in opposition to the state usurping complete power over all aspects of society. This time, the main cause of the movement was not only reform in the structure of the government and the state, but also the recognition of civil and long-due social and political rights. The social movement of Iran has taken a big step forward. From a political point of view, what became very clear after the post-election protests was the desire of the authoritarians to change the nature of the ruling system of Iran from a factional state to a unipolar, monolithic and autocratic one. The resistance from political elites on the verge of elimination and the extensive rallies by citizens drove the authoritarian rulers to extremely violent forms of suppression and force that stood and continue to stand against opposing citizens mercilessly and unequivocally. From a social point of view, however, the post-election movement displayed discourse from different social, cultural, political and economic groups, without, it seems, creating a new socio-political contract. This means that adopting non-violent 8 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

9 measures and achieving a smooth transition to democracy in Iran is extremely difficult if not unimaginable. This situation has raised the question for some reformists, Have we once again reached a historical rupture? Are we in a revolutionary state again after the broken promises of the last presidential election and the suppression of all protests?. In the past few years, and more than ever, the Islamic state has sought to unify the ruling body and dismiss even obliterate political rivals with force and violence oppression. Employing methods of organized suppression, restricting civil society institutions and creating discord within social groups, it has tried to disperse and individualize the movement and prevent or undo any kind of civil or union organization. The closed and disunited society feels powerless and impotent, sees all peaceful ways of social interaction and discourse as being in vain and seeks shortcuts to realize its demands. The Green Movement truly exposed the authoritarian will and nature of the state and, at same time, displayed the variety of voices and demands of political activists. It proved the urgency of reconsidering the approach towards society and showed ways of gathering, opposing and fighting an authoritarian state. The suppression of the civil and citizenship rights movement and its outcomes highlighted two possible approaches to socio-political activists: Firstly, overthrowing the regime with violence possibly through force and even by asking for foreign aid which seems to bring nothing more than further annihilation of civil institutions and the weakening of the existing social fabric. Certainly, the experience of the two neighbouring countries of Iraq and Afghanistan and the destructive civil war in Syria is a clear indication of the uncertainty of taking these measures. Secondly, finding practical solutions to organizing different social groups as a necessary step for an internal democratic transition and political change. The success or the failure of the past twenty years of the reformist and progressive civil and citizenship rights movement has shown that recognition of the other and acknowledging the diverse groups within society, as well as facilitating their unison and organization by putting the state under pressure to respond to their demands through protests, are fundamental conditions for a non-violent democratic transition. (The latest struggle by Esfahani farmers for their water right is exemplary in this regard). The progressive and the reformist forces have realized that creating democratic relations within the society is not made possible by elimination of the rival and the dismissal of other groups, and that the cornerstone of democracy is defending and guaranteeing the rights of the minority. It seems, therefore, that a non-violent and effective way of achieving a democratic political structure in today s Iran is the acceptance of different identities and entities, the attempt to understand the demands of different social groups though respectful dialogue, the investigation of possibilities for collective action, and the ability to organize and mobilize in a more effective way. Constructing and creating bigger social identities makes collective action more effective and therefore creates the necessary force for more democratic change in the future. In practice, the Green Movement was the manifestation of this social need in all its variety and diversity and, as a result, it created an umbrella that encompassed different voices of existing active groups and other social movements within Iranian society. It also exposed the deep divisions between state elites. The consequence of this was a panic reaction from the authoritarian government. Now, activists, observers and different leaders of the Iranian civil and citizenship rights movement are faced with many questions in need of answers. The most important, it seems, is how to deal with citizens political apathy, on the one side, and, on the other, how to prevent the costly radicalization of civil-political activism (which the state has played a part in and been responsible for by continuing its current approach that is harmful to the social movement and its necessary social unification). After the suppression of the first wave of protests, and for various reasons, Green Movement activists were unable to keep the majority of citizens engaged in politics and political issues, despite attempts to keep alive the debates on collective good and unity in the public sphere and in the wider society. They offered no ways to organize and mobilize social forces except for some incidental and unstable opportunities. Although informal civil groups, which had emerged from the Green Movement protests, and also social networks in cyberspace were able to keep the discourse and the memory of the movement alive, they failed to keep all the forces of the movement together and unified. Understanding and reaching a consensus on the main demands of the various social groups, reaching a common social platform and 9 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

10 translating that platform for all participants of the movement are fundamental issues ahead that must be confronted if all involved are to reflect on and realize their demands. Another question is how to politically organize and mobilize within work places, neighbourhoods and other communities. The common forms of protest employed by the Green Movement were imitations of those used in the Revolution of 1979 and have been limited to flyers, daily rallies and nightly shouts from the rooftops. Of course, the extension and advancement of the media and communication technologies are not comparable to thirty years ago and social networks on the internet and the media have played a part in keeping the democratic and opposition discourse alive. However, it is clear that an effective way of social and oppositional organization is achievable only by face-to-face contact within the context of daily life, connecting the other social movements to the Green Movement for bigger mutual actions. This is an issue that the Green Movement activists must find a real solution for, not least because unorganized and isolated individuals face elimination by the suppressing apparatus of the authoritarian regime. Moreover, the demands of the post-election protests highlighted a distance from the common and usual ideological discourses of the past thirty years. The participation of the protesters in official and state-related events and the acceptance of Mir-hussein Musavi and Mehdi Karoubi as their symbolic leaders is another sign of the democratic mindset of the major body of the movement. Also, the overall critique of populist tendencies (that since the beginning of the Revolution of 1979 have had the upper hand in mobilizing) shows signs of change in designing an ideal political structure. Again, there is no consensus between the supporters of the Green Movement on a political economy approach. In general, they are divided into liberal and social-democratic tendencies. It seems that uncertainty in relation to the political economy approach is a cause of the ambiguity emanating from the activists of the Green Movement. Of course, considering Iran s social structure, liberalism is favoured by the ruling and the upper middle class groups, and social democracy may attract more working and lower middle classes. noticeable during the election campaigns and after, is the tendency to create and express a new national identity in opposition to previously imagined ones. It seems that previous major social projects used extremism and force and attempted to modernize society and citizens, first, through tyranny and, second, through authoritarian Islamization, have been major failures. Recent progressive social movements show signs and tendencies of recreating national identity based on the democratic acceptance of the diversity of citizens and a belief in the coexistence of identities and different sociopolitical cultures under one big umbrella. The question that the Green Movement activists must answer is how to unite and redefine a bigger us and how to foster acceptance of the other. Another often asked question is why the Green Movement has been, as most observers acknowledge, an urban movement and has attracted different stratum of the middle and urban classes but has been unable to organize and mobilize the workers, farmers and the labouring poor. To answer this we must look back at the social development and the class structure of the past thirty years of Iran. Initially, liberalist developmentalist economic policies resulted in rapid social and economic mobility and a big growth of the middle-class. Later, the same policies have stopped growth and class mobility and have resulted in many being pushed down to lower classes in society. Nevertheless, recent social movements in Iran have been as much the result and the cause of many of Iran s socio-political contentions and contradictions as they have been elements of the democratic transition of Iranian society and the key to solving the existing differences. *Nima Kelari a freelance researcher and journalist. The other important issue, which became 10 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

11 Chapter Two: The Impact of the Women s Movement on the Green Movement Laily Saidi* To explain the impact of the Iranian women s movement on and its relationship with the Green Movement, one should begin by saying that they both share the same conceptual framework and discourse, one that is common to all social movements in Iran today; that is to say, the demand for civil rights. These active and synergistic organizations are united in their struggle for democracy. This means we must acknowledge that the existing and active movements involved in the Iranian civil resistance came together and mutually agreed to form one general movement. We can also assume, therefore, that the origins of the impact of the women s movement on the Green Movement lie in the formation of the coalition of women for civil demands' during the 2009 election. Despite considerable suppression, there were many organizations within the Iranian women s movement during the first two years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad s first presidency, such as the One Million Signatures Campaign, Mothers for Peace, Women s Square, Women s International Charter, The Society of Reformist Women, etc. Unlike previous incarnations of the movement, this time there were no fundamental differences in discourse and all groups involved were focused on the elimination of legal discrimination against women. That said, because of the general situation, the activists involved in this wider women s movement were scattered, which made the institutionalization of the movement very difficult. From 2008, however, and after the coalition had devoted its energies to fighting a reactionary family bill, some of the organizations within the movement, such as The Society of Reformist Women, who had been hoping to use their influence to impose change on the power structure, realized the shortcomings of this strategy. Intellectual religious women moved closer to the Islamic feminist discourse than to the general feminist discourse; and the secular women s movement encouraged a compromise, both in practice and in theory, between its members and the Islamic activists. This compromise made it possible, unlike previous experiments, to actively form new multifaceted unions and coalitions. Under these conditions, within the movement and the wider society, activists spent the last months of Ahmadinejad s first presidency waiting for an opportunity to resurface. Experience had taught them that just before general elections, Iran s closed and controlled society would open up somewhat, creating a semi-democratic atmosphere that could be exploited as a chance to make demands and advocate for civil society and a citizenship discourse. By relying on the collective power of active women and by implementing a collective action, the activists of the women s movement formed the coalition Women for civil demands at the times of the election based on mutual goals and ideals. Using this power and understanding they then joined the general civil uprisings and the Green Movement. We vote for women s demands This major coalition of many groups and waves of the women s movement entered the elections with two clear demands: first, for Iran to sign up to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and second, the amendment of a number of discriminatory articles in Iran s constitutional law, in particular articles 19, 20, 21 and 115. The collation of these demands under the slogan We vote for women s demands declared the movement s presence in the political sphere, albeit without the support of any of the election candidates. But it served as a timely reminder of the women s movement agenda. On the one hand, this female tactic worked the issue of legal rights for women was adopted and incorporated into the agendas of all candidates. On the other hand, the strategy along with the protests for free elections, and based on workshops and direct contact with people on the streets and in public spaces helped to push forwards the notion of demand-oriented discourse. The cooperation terminated a week before the 2009 presidential election. The temporary fellowship had shown that involvement of the women s movement in politics was not about capturing power and political gain, but rather it is was about seizing opportunities, i.e. the more relaxed atmosphere prior to the elections, to make their demands. Establishing strategy Three different approaches established the strategy and defined the relationship between the women s movement and the Green Movement: 11 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

12 The first approach views legal discourse as the only possible and legitimate strategy for the women s movement. However, sticking so rigidly to this approach the fear of changing strategy risked creating a feeling that previous strategies used by women s groups had been sacred, especially those used during the One Million Signatures Campaign. (One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws also known as Change for Equality, was a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their country). An attitude that would lead to stagnation and could have jeopardized the dynamic of the women s movement. The second approach puts its force behind the issues that arose from the Green Movement and believed that the Green Movement s democratic discourse could work as an umbrella to cover all other sub-movements. The danger with this approach, however, is it could result in the women s movement becoming diluted and simply absorbed into the Green Movement. The third approach believed in creating an identifiable and two-way connection with the wider democracydemanding movement. This would not only add the potential of the women s movement to the bigger picture, bolstering the public uprisings, but it would have the added advantage that it still protected the women s movement s goods and interests. By maintaining an identifiable two-way connection with the democratic movement, rather than simply assimilating into it, this approach avoided the dilution of the women s movement. In fact, this approach resulted in the formation of the Women s Green Fellowship that played an important role in pushing the legal and antidiscriminatory discourse of the Green Movement forward. The Women s Green Fellowship declared its existence on 8 March The presence of influential female Green Movement figures such as Zahra Rahnavard (a political advisor to the former reformist president Khatami, and wife of the Green Movement s presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi), was, on the one hand, an important reminder of women s legal and gender responsibilities in the Green Movement and, on the other hand, an opportunity to advocate anti-discriminatory discourse within the Green democratic movement. The presence of activists in streets protests and among the opposition movement During the rise of the Green Movement street protests, the wide and significant participation of women activists showed their committed obligation to the union of force to achieve democratic demands. Women who had originally taken to the streets with the slogan We vote for women s demands, now continued their march with a new slogan, I will claim your vote! My Martyr Sister. Their extensive participation in Green Movement protests enabled them to share valuable experiences from the women s movement and provided opportunities to reflect and share the news and opinions about the Green movement on the internet. Their presence was not limited to their participation in and coverage of the street protests of the movement. Their organizational capacities, which had developed since the reformist government time and in the four years of women s coalitions, were valuable as bigger coalitions were formed and connections with the Green Movement were made. The Women s Solidarity Committee Against Social Violence, Mourning Mothers, and Green Fellowship, all shaped during the eight months of resistance after the presidential election of 2009, were some of these new coalitions. The Women s Solidarity Committee Against Social Violence was formed to spread the non-violence discourse in society. They highlighted the violent and suppressive behaviour of the government against peaceful and legal rallies of the people and contrasted the intimidating and threatening atmosphere of executions against the peaceful and public civil conduct. They tried to fight the violence with different strategies. Women s organizations had been one of the main victims of violence. This female experience showed that violence is a cycle that results in violence regenerating itself in different guises and in other aspects of society. In addition to the strategic and directive presence of women s movement activists, female presence in the Green Movement was also noteworthy for another reason. The massive presence of diverse female supporters in the Green Movement had a different appearance literally in terms of looks and clothing compared to women who had taken part in the 1979 Revolution. The accentuation of a feminine aesthetic had a great influence on the civil uprisings. Wanted or not, a contemporary and possibly liberated way of dressing and wearing of make-up by women protestors put a stamp on the Green Movement s identity. In fact, women s presence can be divided between the activists and the plural selfidentified groups from society. In the view of this 12 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

13 author, and in spite of some other activists opinions, this female presence was not asexual. In general, one can say that the manner of participation and the presence of women in the Green uprisings indicates the general characteristics of the women s movement and can be summarized as a demand-oriented, nonviolent, pluralistic, and an identity affirming as opposed to an ideological approach. In terms of conceptualizing the presence of women in the Green Movement, it also illustrates the assertion that networking is crucial to organization. The mutual relationship of political and social phenomena In most countries around the world, and with a forward-moving and identified pace, all contemporary social movements benefit from each other s rules and traditions when dealing with other movements. In Iran, the women s movement has independently brought important lessons to the general democratic movement. As mentioned before, the connection between the women s movement and the Green Movement should not be analyzed in a cost-benefit kind of framework, but rather in terms of a dialectic mutual connection between socio-political phenomena that can be categorized in three different forms: collate-collate, collate-contrast and contrast-contrast. The plural, public uprising that followed the presidential election of 2009 can be characterized by the presence of people who had gathered together under the slogan Where is my vote?. Many separate and specific movements, together with hundreds of thousands of independent people, came together for a single goal and created the Green Movement. Here we can see the collate-collate phase of the participating political and civil movements. In the same period, three of the four candidates standing in the elections declared women s issues to be a part of their political agenda and the Green Movement s charter gives clear and special attention to women s rights. The fact that a number of prohibited candidates and prominent members of the Green Movement mentioned women s demands in their speeches also illustrates the importance and the influence of women s networks and organizations in previous coalitions such as the Fellowship. The lack of female presence and women s movement in Libya meant that the connection between the Arab Spring movement and liberty in Libya remained unclear. By contrast, the significant presence of women in the Egyptian movement had a significant impact on the democratic movement there. The strong structures of the women s movement and its strategic relationships made it possible for the Green Movement to become a carrier of women s demands at the time of its inception. At the same time, this is a women s movement that had independently made its presence felt with its demands for equality and by using the streets as a platform. While we had previously witnessed the presence of women in the movements, this time aided by the Fellowship s campaign and other efforts to establish an independent presence there was talk of a distinct and effective women s movement within the Green Movement. The rupture between the women s movement and other civil society organizations The violent events after the 2009 presidential election stopped the social movements from escalating their quest for democracy. The disintegration that followed affected all social movements, including the women s movement. An increase in international tensions, regional unrest, the pressure of international sanctions, a fear of war, economic pressures resulting from the elimination of state subsidies, unemployment, the closing of factories, harsh sentences for political and social activists and their massive migration abroad, all contributed to the movement for equality in civil society to its knees. The influence of these grave conditions on movements such as the women s movement caused a real crisis among women activists. People started looking to apportion blame; some said they should never have got involved with other movements, that it had been a mistake to define the women s movement within the framework of organic relationships with different social movements. The apparent decline and the failure of the women s movement should be understood in different degrees. The slowing and even the stopping of a movement due to suppression and force do not equal its end and decline. The efforts made by the members of a movement for its survival, including reinventing or reshaping it in order to counter the forces that seek its demise are, in fact, proof of the movement being alive. The decline of a movement does not happen by taking the streets away from its members, their participation is not limited to street protests. The activities of 13 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

14 academic and professional institutions such as the Society of Female Sociologists, the Society of Female Entrepreneurs and activist institutions such as Mothers of Peace and Mothers of Laleh Park play a role in maintaining momentum. Smart moves made by women inside the country against discriminating laws such as the Passport Law and gender separation at universities and the Family Bill, as well as the holding of seminars and meetings with officials, publications, interviews, websites such as The Feminist school, Toward the Equal Family Bill, Women Centre, Change for Equality, etc., all form part of a group of actions that are helping the women s movement to survive and move forward, having come through a period of blossoming and initial success. In a period of less than a year (8 March 2008 to the same day on 2009), the Green Fellowship was able to hold five assemblies and prepare four declarations. There was a clear influence of articles of these declarations in the speeches and declarations made by Green Movement candidates at the time. Attention to the political discourse of the Green Movement in the last two declarations of the Fellowship proves their influence on each other. In the first declaration of the Fellowship there were demands to join the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination, or to amend the Family Bill and criminal law alongside demands to free political prisoners. However, in the last declaration, published on the International Day of Non-Violence in 2009, there were signs of political stances, condemnation of military intervention, studies of concepts such as imperialism and its role in promoting women s goals, all of which demonstrated a change of approach and, in a way, a feministic intervention in the political discourse. The Green Fellowship s conduct showed that the women s movement was not entering into the political discourse for political power or position, rather with a view to incorporating anti-discriminatory dialogue into the political sphere. annual seminars with women from inside and outside of the country and from different groups was one such activity. We can conclude that the women s movement made practical efforts to make connections both inside and outside of Iran. However, and despite this background, until now there have been no serious attempts to rekindle these connections and manifest the movement s latent potential. One of the reasons for this may be the structure of the women s movement, which could be raising barriers to change and innovation. This notion should be examined more closely. Security issues are another reason including the suppression and threats by government forces against members of the movement. The difference in approaches, priorities and varying methods inside and outside of the country are also part of the problem. In another situation, these differences in social practice could have created self-initiating groups and cores that would assist the women s movement. But in the current circumstances it has not been possible to create a balanced movement within the country. Furthermore, individual strategies to live outside the country have also created barriers to developing the necessary balanced coordination. In sum, investing in and creating workable strategies for intensifying the output of the transnational operations of the Iranian women s movement is needed. In my view it is a realistic goal. If there is a will to coordinate these connections, then activists inside the country would defend their right to do so and make contact with members of women s movements outside Iran. In response, the members of women s movements outside Iran would seek to find the common ground with groups inside the country and use the common literature of equality. * Laily Saidi is a leading Iranian women s rights researcher and activist. The flowing geography of the women s movement The phenomena of immigration and asylumseeking have provided a transnational and flowing geography for the women s movement. Prior to and from the 1990s onwards, there were efforts by the Foundation of Women Studies to make connections between members of the movement inside and outside of Iran. Organizing 14 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013

15 Chapter Three: Reflections on Civil Protest and Nonviolent Forms of Resistance in Iran s Green Movement Ammar Maleki* Without a doubt, the current Iranian civil movement the Green Movement that started in opposition to the results of the tenth presidential elections and with the slogan Where is my vote? is an example of civil resistance that showcased non-violent protests against fraud and injustice. The Green Movement was selfruling and, unlike many other civil movements, did not start with a programme and a step-bystep strategy. This was largely because the opposing candidates and political forces did not anticipate it and, at the time, many of them did not believe in civil resistance as a form of political activity. For this reason, the Green Movement did not have a clear strategy for civil resistance and, in the course of events, it transformed from an electoral wave to a civil movement on the streets. The humiliating endeavours of the government coupled with general dissatisfaction pushed people to continue their civil protests. However, the violence and cruelty imposed by the government progressively set the movement back to the point that the fires of civil resistance were hidden under the ashes of suppression. Although general suppression of the Green Movement was one of the main reasons for its erosion, there were also other reasons. Among them were the fundamental differences that emerged among the diverse forces present in the movement in relation to understanding the concept, nature, and the methods of civil resistance. Theoretical confusion and ignorance arose from disagreements on various concepts, such as the difference between legal opposition and extra-legal civil resistance, the distinction between avoiding violence and escaping violence, the reduction of civil resistance to reformism, and the equalization of revolution and violence. These were just some of the many disputes that caused strategic disorientation for the movement. In this article, I will first try to examine one of the most important concepts of civil resistance, the issue of violence and nonviolent strategy. I will analyze its role at various stages of civil resistance within the Green Movement. Famous advocates and civil resistance leaders on the meaning of non-violence Non-violence or non-resistance is undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of civil resistance. But there is a difference of opinions among theorists and known activists about the concept of violence and the role and boundaries of non-violence in civil resistance. It has been said that nonviolence, like conducting open activism, has influence in terms of attracting an audience and bringing the general public into civil resistance. Non-violence prevents and avoids the direct damage of violence and a non-violent strategy does not advocate force when violence is inflammatory. In addition, non-violence lowers the risk of making enemies and intensifies the differences among the opposition. Furthermore, it does not cause distraction and, in fact, can deny regimes the option of using violent actions against demonstrators. However, some commentators have criticized different aspects of the significance of non-violence and its impact on civil resistance. First, there is the difficulty of agreeing on an appropriate definition of violence. For example, does the definition of violence also include the violation of possessions and belongings? Logically, if the criterion of violence is to be even trivially the idea of hurting people, then we should consider such actions as violent. Secondly, sometimes non-violent actions hurt others more than violent measures. A legal strike by ambulance drivers could have more severe consequences than an act of small-scale disobedience. Thirdly, some theorists believe that violence does not necessarily take away the connection between the disobedient and their target group. Certain acts of violence, used for a specific cause, could intensify the connections of civil disobedience by attracting public attention and, subsequently, result in more perseverance and desperation. These views, however, do not change the fact that a non-violent opposition surpasses a violent one. 2 Non-violence: a means or an end? Among non-violence advocates and civil resistance activists, such as Leo Tolstoy, 2 Brownlee, Kimberley (2009). Civil Disobedience. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, from: 15 The Green Movement: Seizing the State or Democratizing Society? Shervin Nekuee 2013