The Historical Relationship between Women’s Education and Women’s Activism in Iran

Abstract

This paper focuses on the historical relationship between women’s education and women’s activism in Iran. The available literature shows that education is considered to be one important factor for Iranian women’s activism. The historical analysis of women’s demand for education helps us to gain an understanding of the past in order to relate it to the future. This paper analyzes Iranian women’s active participation in education throughout the Safavid period (1501-1722) and the Qajar period (1794-1925). Women’s demand for education continued into the twentieth century and by the time of the constitutional revolution (1905-1911), during which Iranian women participated immensely in political affairs, the alliance of elite and non-elite women was clearly visible around educational issues. Women’s demand for education gained particular visibility; however, the focus shifted from modernization based on Westernization during the Pahlavi period (1925-1979), towards Islamization from 1979 onwards. This paper analyzes the ways in which, during different eras, women have been treated differently regarding their rights to education and at some points they faced difficulties even in exercising them; therefore, they had to constantly express their demands.