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Women's rights have been a historically controversial issue. This is no exception in Iran, where the struggle between modernization and keeping with traditional Islamic values has been a topic of constant disagreement between political leaders. Women in Iran have experienced many changes in their personal rights and freedoms throughout the decades. This research focuses on religion and culture, the policies of the main leaders of Iran in the past decades, and the role of non-governmental organizations as factors that expand or limit the rights and freedoms of women. It attempts to identify which factor is mostly responsible for the position that women have been historically placed in. The intent of this thesis is to research the rights and conditions of women in Iran.In general the question could be proposed as "are the lives of women in Iran better off today than in the past?" In the western world there are many stereotypes that are oftentimes attached to women, such as the notions that they are not allowed to pursue an education or career and that they do not have any legal rights. Evidence shows that these notions are not accurate in contemporary Iran, and that women have made significant strides in gaining their rights and freedoms. Through the analysis of several case studies, literature reviews, and statistical evidence, this thesis seeks to identify the factors that most affect women's rights and freedoms. By analyzing the factors that have historically placed women at a disadvantage in Iranian society, and better understanding their lives, this thesis aims to fight the stereotypes placed upon them as well as raise awareness for the continuing plight of women in Iran today.

This dissertation conducts the first systematic study of illustrated Shahnama manuscripts from Qajar Iran (1789-1925). The Shahnama is a Persian epic, composed by the poet Firdawsi (940-1020 or 1025) in the eleventh century. Over time, the Shahnama became the most frequently illustrated Persian text and manuscript copies of the epic continued to be made in nineteenth-century Iran. However, rather than studying the continued production of illustrated manuscripts, scholarship on Qajar Iran has thus far privileged monumental oil paintings, photography, and lithography. I propose that in nineteenth-century Iran, illustrated Shahnama manuscripts were a potent tool for the ruling class and other ambitious individuals to express and build their identity, lineage, and power, despite the availability of other—and more public—ways to communicate the same message. A vibrant network of manuscript painters, who also worked in other media, produced these illustrated Shahnama copies in dialogue with novel forms of cultural production. Specifically, I argue that illustrated manuscripts and lithographed editions of the epic were created by overlapping circles of artists and they demonstrate how Iran and India were part of a shared cultural zone. By explaining how these two media existed in a dialogical relationship, affecting one another, this project challenges the narrative of teleological progression from one medium to the next. I center my discussion around eleven illustrated Shahnama examples and examine the manuscripts both as individual units and as interrelated parts of a group. I focus on their contexts of production, including patronage, intended audience, and artist workshop and pedagogical relationships. In Chapter 1, I study two early-nineteenth-century illustrated manuscripts (Or. 4906 in the British Library and Lewis O.58 in the Free Library) and explain how each underscored the Qajars’ royal identity and dynastic legitimacy during a period of intense competition for the throne and territorial instability. Chapter 2 explains that military leaders and elite administrators were key drivers of illustrated Shahnama manuscript production. I anchor my discussion around MS 535 in the Matenadaran Library in Armenia to outline how non-royally-commissioned manuscripts mirror the patrons’ political aspirations. Chapter 2 also traces the shared motifs that link one manuscript to another and shows that Shiraz was a major production center for illustrated Shahnama manuscripts. The visual repetitions and adaptations I identify in these manuscripts show that the period’s landscape of artistic production was a tightly woven network of artists’ pedagogical and working relationships. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the Shahnama books from the latter half of the nineteenth century, including lithographed editions printed in Bombay and illustrated manuscripts made in Iran. Images in these books display the flexibility of the artists as they began to work on both manuscripts and lithographed books; developed unique compositions rooted in the cultural and economic ties connecting Shiraz and Bombay; and expressed artistic agency and authorship as they produced for a speculative market. The four chapters together offer a fresh perspective on the Qajar dynasty’s imperial and ideological usages of the epic, the period’s active non-royal patronage and vibrant workshop practices, and Qajar society’s cultural connections to India, all of which distinctively contributed to building a visual language unique to nineteenth-century Iran.

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No / Although Iran is one of the most diverse nations in the Middle East, the state historically has been reluctant to adapt a pluralistic approach to both socio-political and economic development. This chapter focuses on the Sunni population in Iran, which is often overlooked in studies dealing with state-minority relations in Iran. It examines the socio-economic challenges of the Sunni population under both the Pahlavi dynasty and the Islamic Republic. Although the Islamic Republic based its ideology both on redistribution of wealth and empowerment of the impoverished, the ethnic Sunni Iranians who lived in the most impoverished regions of the country received very little attention from the new post-revolutionary order.

This study investigates the causes of the Iranian revolution of 1978-79. To this end, the different theories of revolution are reviewed in Chapter One. Chapter Two provides a discussion of the historical background of the country and the role the clergy played in shaping its political development. Socioeconomic and political factors which contributed to the outbreak of this revolution are examined in the following two chapters. Finally, an attempt is made to draw some conclusions on whether existing theories of revolution can fully explain the Iranian upheaval of 1978-79 or not. For the preparation of this study United States government documents and Iranian and English language scholarly works were consulted.

Ce travail de recherche doctorale interroge les enjeux et les stratégies culturelles, économiques, politiques, et sociales liées au patrimoine pour la ville d'Ispahan. Il est centré sur la mise en place des grands plans iraniens et des initiatives récentes en faveur du secteur du patrimoine culturel et du tourisme, notamment après la révolution islamique d'Iran en 1979. A une époque où la croissance incontrôlée urbaine a engendré une détérioration progressive du tissu historique des villes iraniennes et la perte de leur identité urbaine, Ispahan, la capitale islamique brillante et safavide, prend une importance particulière après révolution islamique dans le pays. Dans une première étape, par une approche théorique et historique de la notion de patrimoine, nous mettons en évidence les spécificités du concept dans le monde islamique et iranien, et nous évoquons des visions différentes (occidentales-orientales). Egalement, nous abordons les défis principaux face au patrimoine iranien et d'Ispahan. Par la suite, nous analysons les grandes stratégies et des initiatives récentes en faveur du secteur du patrimoine culturel et du tourisme d'Ispahan, après la révolution islamique et notamment par le plan Outlook iranien. Il s'agit de quatre programmes quinquennaux planifiés pour la perspective de développement du pays à l'horizon 2005-2025, en tant que puissance régionale. Enfin, nous abordons les projets de mise en valeur, achevés, ou en cours de réalisation dans la ville d'Ispahan, tous en faveur de son secteur du patrimoine culturel et du tourisme. Nous discutons également des projets impactant (négativement) les biens historiques et inscrits au patrimoine mondial. Les sources utilisées (documents d'archives et originaux), sont des dispositifs de protection des patrimoines d'Ispahan, en particulier de la RROI (Organisation de Rénovation et de Restauration d'Ispahan) et de l'ICHHTO d'Ispahan (Organisation de Patrimoine Culturel, d'Artisanat et du tourisme), ainsi que des entretiens, des enquêtes, des conférences, des ouvrages, et des photos personnelles (récoltées lors de notre étude de terrain à Ispahan, du 1er Juin 2012 au 1er septembre 2012). Afin de bien éclairer les concepts et les plans abordés dans cette recherche, nous confrontons ces cas spécifiques iraniens à d'autres exemples par une étude comparative, dans toutes les parties de la thèse. / This doctoral research is an interrogation of the cultural, economic, political, and social issues and strategies relating to heritage for the city of Isfahan. It focuses on the implementation of major Iranian plans and recent initiatives in favor of the cultural heritage and tourism sector, particularly since the Islamic revolution of 1979. At a time when uncontrolled urban growth has led to the progressive deterioration of the historical texture of Iranian cities and the loss of their urban identity, the importance of Isfahan, the renowned Islamic capital of Safavid, has increased. This phenomenon has been notable since the Islamic revolution in the country. The first step will be a theoretical and historical approach to the notion of heritage and the specificity of these concepts in the Islamic world and particularly Iran. This initial focus will then be broadened to include a discussion of different views (occidental - oriental). Furthermore, the major challenges facing the Iranian and Isfahan heritage will also be reviewed. Subsequently, there will be an analysis of the major strategies and recent initiatives implemented in favor of the cultural heritage and tourism sector of Isfahan, since the Islamic revolution in Iran and notably due to the Iranian Outlook plan. This refers to a plan for four five-year programs concerning the development perspectives for the country for the period 2005-2025, which aim to reinforce the country's position as a regional power. A final point will discuss current, future and completed architectural projects in the city of Isfahan, in favor of its cultural heritage and tourism sector as well as the projects affecting (negatively) the world-renowned historical significance of this city. The sources used for this study (original and archival documents) are from the heritage protection institutions of Isfahan, in particular, the RROI organization (Renovation and Restoration Organization of Isfahan) and ICHHTO of Isfahan (Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization), also the interviews, surveys, conferences, books, and personal photographs (collected during a field study in Isfahan, from 1st of June 2012 to 1st of September 2012). In order to adequately illustrate the concepts and the plans discussed in this thesis, and where relevant, specific Iranian cases will be systematically confronted with alternative examples through a comparative approach.

This study researches the Islamic Penal System within a penological perspective. The philosophy underlying this Penal System is that every person is responsible and thus punishable for his criminal actions. Punishment could also await the offender in the Hereafter. A system of penalties and rewards is the cornerstone of the Islamic Penal System. The types of punishment that are allowed by the Shari'ah are, inter alia: the death penalty, lashes, banishment, imprisonment, crucifixion, lapidation and public exposure. There are three categories of punishment: Hadd punishment is reserved for serious offences and cannot be altered in any way whatsoever, Qisas punishment is reserved for homicide and assault, whilst Ta'zeer penalties cover the balance. Since this Penal System can only operate within a true Islamic State, it currently only operates fully in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Numerous other Muslim countries apply this system to a lesser degree, for example, Sudan and Afghanistan. / Penology / M.A. (Penology)

Although there are a few general surveys of early Islamic metalwork, and numerous detailed studies of particular objects or object groups, no comprehensive study of the metalworking industry in Iran in early Islamic times has yet been written. This thesis aims to provide that study first by assembling as much as possible of the basic information on metalworking in Iran from the Islamic conquests to the mid 13th century and then by using it to draw some general conclusions about the range and history of Iran's metalworking industries at this time. The primary sources used are the references to metals and metalworking in early Islamic literature and the surviving objects. For technical information and for select vocabularies of the relevant Arabic and Persian terminologies the technical treatises of al-Hamdānī, al-Birūnī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, and Abū'l-Qāsim al-Kāshānī have been particularly exploited. For the names and functions of particular objects or object groups a range of Arabic non-technical works has been searched. For the gazetteers and general discussions of metal sources Arabic and Persian geographical works have been utilised. The objects catalogued and discussed here include all the published pieces known to the author, together with unpublished objects in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum (including Sirāf excavation material), the Musée du Louvre in Paris (including Susa excavation material), the Museum für Islamische Kunst Berlin-Dahlem, the StaatlicheMuseum in East Berlin, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, the Philadelphia University Museum (including the Rayy excavation material), the Walters Art Gallery, the Freer Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (including the Nīshāpūr excavation material), and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. All objects have been arranged in groups on the basis of metal, function, and form, and catalogued accordingly, and an overall dating and provenancing for each group has been established through reference to their decoration, including inscriptions where relevant, and archaeological data. Additional use has been made of analyses undertaken by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Musee du Louvre, and the Ashmolean Museum, plus a limited number of other published analyses: all these are included in a single Table.

Over the past decade, popular music in Iran has steadily gained recognition beyond its borders. The Western media has increasingly provided an idealised and romanticised view of music-making in the Iranian underground. These reports create an image of popular musicians united under the same political and social challenges, while struggling to be heard against an oppressive regime. Contrary to these often overly politicised accounts, the current Iranian youth generation continues to explore its identity through the creation of new hybridised forms of popular music. This dissertation utilises first-hand accounts of musicians and those involved in Iranian popular music to analyse the current state of popular music in Iran since 1979. By recognising the heterogeneity of the Iranian post-revolutionary pop world, this study distinguishes the individual voices and experiences that make up the dynamic and multifaceted popular music scene in young, urban Iran and the Iranian diaspora. Opening with a historical account of music’s fluctuating relationship with regime censorship, this dissertation illuminates the many contradictions of popular music practice in a controlled climate that are also embedded within youth identity. Dichotomies continually emerge during this discourse, including globalisation vs. localism, authentic vs. borrowed, and home vs. homeland. These themes are prolific throughout the discussions of the illegal underground music scene in Tehran, the complexities of music in exile, and the final discussion of the role of popular music in the 2009 presidential election and subsequent Green Movement. Popular music continues to serve as an outlet for pleasure and entertainment while simultaneously representing the diverse voices of the young generation of Iranians in the world, as they seek to assert their identity and establish a future of their own.