Gender and statelessness: Kurdish women and the ontological limits of Persian feminism

Ahmad Mohammadpour

Chapter 19 in Handbook on Gender in World Politics, 2026, pp 116-122 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter opens with a pressing question: How do the lived experiences of Kurdish women in Iran, members of a stateless and marginalized nation, fit within the dominant narratives of gender and feminism in the Middle East? While mainstream Persian (Fars) feminism often portrays a homogenized vision of Iranian womanhood, it systematically elides the distinct struggles faced by Kurdish women – struggles deeply entwined with their ethnic, linguistic, and religious positionalities. The chapter dismantles this reductive imagery, unmasking the internal coloniality that shapes the lives of Kurdish women, both within state structures and feminist discourse. Taking the Jîna (Women, Life, Freedom) uprising in 2022 as an example, the chapter unveils how this movement was systematically appropriated, stripped of its Kurdish essence, and reframed within a Persian-centric paradigm of women's movements. By interrogating these acts of cultural erasure, it makes a compelling case for, as well as a critique of, an intersectional feminist approach that acknowledges the dynamics of statelessness, language, and ethnoreligious identity. This analysis calls for a transformative rethinking of feminist discourse in Iran – one that moves beyond homogenization and meaningfully engages the complex realities of Kurdish and other minoritized women.

Keywords: Statelessness; Kurdish Women; Gender Politics; Persian Feminism; Persianness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781803923765
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