In September of 2022, Iran seized global headlines as mass women-led protests erupted throughout the country. Iranians demanded gender equality and no less than the end of authoritarian governance. As such, the publication of the volume at hand, which explores women’s role in shaping the Islamic Republic of Iran, could hardly be timelier. While women under the Islamic Republic have been the subject of innumerable think pieces and news articles, the topic rarely gets the full academic treatment it deserves. Shirin Saeidi’s volume, therefore, is an important contribution to the study of gender politics in contemporary Iran and provides much-needed historical context for Iranians’ recent expressions of dissent. Indeed, several moments in Saeidi’s conclusion feel prophetic, such as when she notes that the state is often “playing catch up,” as societal transformations on gender equality happen in rapid and unpredictable ways, or when she posits that Iranian women are at...

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