Women's Political Representation in Iran and Turkey: Demanding a Seat at the Table

How have women in many Muslim-majority countries been able to achieve surprising success despite the significant constraints imposed by conservative gender ideology and authoritarian political parties and systems? Through a comparative focus on Iran and Turkey, Mona Tajili examines the activities and strategies of women's rights groups across the ideological spectrum. She explores how various groups have negotiated with political elites in order to bolster female political representation and identifies the conditions that stimulate greater support to ease women's path to political office. Studying how women's groups manoeuvre within these structures is important to help our understanding of the gendered politics of autocratic regimes.

Author: Mona Tajali
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 02/26/2024
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.09lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.73d
ISBN: 9781474499477

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2023

About the Author

Mona Tajali is associate professor of international relations and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia. She has authored (with Homa Hoodfar) Electoral Politics: Making Quotas Work for Women (WLUML 2011), and several scholarly articles on gender and politics in the Middle East. Since 2007 she has been collaborating with the research wing of Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) transnational solidarity network and since 2019 serves as a member of its executive board.