foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary
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114 Foucault's Writings on <strong>the</strong> Iranian Revolution<br />
(Gueyras 1979a). Feminists connected to <strong>the</strong> journals Des femmes en mouvement<br />
<strong>and</strong> Histoires d'elles now held large public debates over Iran, with both<br />
French <strong>and</strong> Iranian women taking <strong>the</strong> floor. The Trotskyist Revolutionary<br />
Communist League (LCR), <strong>the</strong> largest group to <strong>the</strong> left of <strong>the</strong> Communist<br />
Party, called for "solidarity" with <strong>the</strong> Iranian women, who, as reported on<br />
March 1 4 in <strong>the</strong> leftist paper Liberation, "were fighting for <strong>the</strong> right to control<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own lives <strong>and</strong> against an Islamic normalization that threatens <strong>the</strong> freedoms<br />
of all workers, of minorities, <strong>and</strong> of homosexuals." On Friday, March<br />
16, as recounted enthusiastically by Liberation, a thous<strong>and</strong> turned out for a<br />
demonstration in Paris in support of <strong>the</strong> Iranian feminists. Slogans included<br />
"We will give in nei<strong>the</strong>r to <strong>the</strong> shah nor <strong>the</strong> ayatollah" <strong>and</strong> "The veil will<br />
fall, from Tehran to Casablanca." Among <strong>the</strong> participants were Iranian <strong>and</strong><br />
French feminists, as well 'as gay <strong>and</strong> lesbian activists (Delacour 1979a). In<br />
Iran that same day, about a hundred thous<strong>and</strong> demonstrators, many of <strong>the</strong>m<br />
women clad in black chadors, rallied in Tehran to defend Khomeini <strong>and</strong> to<br />
denounce <strong>the</strong> women's demonstrations of <strong>the</strong> previous week. Much larger<br />
than <strong>the</strong> feminist demonstration of March 10, this one enjoyed <strong>the</strong> full support<br />
of <strong>the</strong> regime, including free transportation, <strong>and</strong> did not have to contend<br />
with violent harassment on <strong>the</strong> streets. G<br />
In Paris, Simone de Beauvoir called a press conference on March 19 to<br />
announce that an international delegation composed of feminist activists <strong>and</strong><br />
intellectuals was heading to Iran to ga<strong>the</strong>r information. Whil she had to<br />
cancel her own plans to travel to Iran for health reasons, de Beauvoir made a<br />
public statement of solidarity:<br />
We have created <strong>the</strong> International Committee for Women's Rights (CIDF) in<br />
response to calls from a large number of Iranian women. Their situation <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir revolt have greatly moved us . ... The first task we have taken up is a very,<br />
very burning one for today. It is <strong>the</strong> task of acquiring information concerning<br />
<strong>the</strong> struggle of <strong>the</strong> Iranian women, communicating that information, <strong>and</strong><br />
supporting <strong>the</strong>ir struggle. We have received an appeal from a very large<br />
number of <strong>the</strong>se women. We have also seen <strong>the</strong>ir struggles, <strong>the</strong>ir fights, <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir actions. We have appreciated <strong>the</strong> depth of <strong>the</strong> utter humiliation into<br />
which o<strong>the</strong>rs wanted to make <strong>the</strong>m fall, <strong>and</strong> we have <strong>the</strong>refore resolved to<br />
fight on <strong>the</strong>ir behalf. . . . It is very possible that <strong>the</strong> mission will fail. inasmuch<br />
as <strong>the</strong>y might turn it away <strong>the</strong> moment it arrives. Never<strong>the</strong>less <strong>the</strong> die will<br />
have been cast, <strong>and</strong> it is important to have a demonstration-on <strong>the</strong> part of<br />
a very large number of Western women, French women, Italian women, <strong>and</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs-of solidarity with <strong>the</strong> struggle of Iranian women. ("Speech by Simone<br />
de Beauvoir, " app., 246-47)