“To Be Recorded in History”: Researching Iranian Underground Political Activists in Exile

Abstract

This paper contains ethnographic reflections on my research among Iranian leftists in exile. I discuss challenges of fieldwork and in-depth interviewing about sensitive topics. I particularly emphasize the dynamics of gaining interviewees' trust in a community concerned about political ramifications of revealing personal and organizational secrets. In this respect, I underline the complications of researching and representing a defeated movement. I also write about the gender implications of my research—a male feminist researching the gender dynamics of revolution and the changing sexual politics of revolutionary collectivities in Iran and abroad. Finally, I raise issues concerning doing sociology in translation.