A critical analysis of the role of law and feminist legal approaches in women’s life advancement : a case study of the one million signatures campaign
department or school: Law, Peter A. Allard School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Olyaei, Shiva
issued: 2018-05-24T15:49:26Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Iranian women carry the legacy of five generations of women’s activism over the last 150 years. Through a feminist legal lens, this dissertation surveys this rich history, especially the One Million Signatures Campaign (OMSC). The dissertation raises two major questions. (1) Whether there has been too much emphasis on law and legal reform as means to achieve gender justice in Iranian feminist movements at the expense of other approaches. (2) Whether using certain aspects of liberal and radical feminism as methodologies turned the OMSC into the reflecting surface of the western feminist centre, thus failing to contextualize their work within their sociopolitical and cultural region. This dissertation sheds light on the theoretical and methodological possibilities of drawing more on postmodernist and Third world feminist approaches. Through historical, textual and discourse analysis, this dissertation explores legal centralist liberal feminism and radical feminism as influential western tropes in contemporary Iranian feminism. Deconstructive postmodern and TW feminism, which tackle universalist and orientalist tendencies in feminist scholarship, are suggested as pertinent approaches for Iranian feminism. Honouring the legacy of and historicizing five generations of Iranian women’s activism, this dissertation complicates earlier categorizations by highlighting class, ideology and religion. OMSC is critically analysed, including its emergence and demise, its strategic legal demands suggesting a paradigm shift from traditional readings of Shari’a law to secular CEDAW norms, and its discursive engagement with western feminism. By referring to data on the status of Iranian women, this research shows that formal legal indicators fail to capture Iranian feminist praxis in the so-called ‘repressed post-revolutionary era’. It is argued that law cannot be portrayed as the sole factor responsible for stagnation or advancement in women’s lives, as it glosses over how women defy, …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/66056
note: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF LAW AND FEMINIST LEGAL APPROACHES IN WOMEN’S LIFE ADVANCEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE ONE MILLION SIGNATURES CAMPAIGN by Shiva Olyaei LL.M., The University of British Columbia, 2007 M.A., International Law, Allameh Tabatabaei University, 2004 B.A., Law, Islamic Azad University, 1999 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Law) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) May 2018 © Shiva Olyaei, 2018 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: a critical analysis of the role of law and feminist legal approaches in women’s life advancement: a case study of the one million signatures campaign submitted by Shiva Olyaei in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy In Law Examining Committee: Susan B. Boyd, Law Supervisor Margot Young, Law Supervisory Committee Member Sunera Thobani, IGRSSJ Supervisory Committee Member Debra Parkes (Law) Professor Leonora Angeles (SCARP & IGRSSJ) University Examiner Leonora Angeles, SCARP & IGRSSJ University Examiner iii Abstract Iranian women carry the legacy of five generations of women’s activism over the last 150 years. Through a feminist legal lens, this dissertation surveys this rich history, especially the One Million Signatures Campaign (OMSC). The dissertation raises two major questions. (1) Whether there has been too much emphasis on law and legal reform as means to achieve gender justice in Iranian feminist movements at the expense of other approaches. (2) Whether using certain aspects of liberal and radical feminism as methodologies turned the OMSC into the reflecting surface of the western feminist centre, thus failing to contextualize their work within their sociopolitical and cultural region. This dissertation sheds light o…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0367003
language: eng
degree discipline: Law
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/66056