Iranians are in their third week of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian police. Johns Hopkins University experts are available to offer insight and perspective on the unrest in the country.
Available experts include:
Narges Bajoghli, assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, can discuss the feminist nature of the uprising and use of social media to amplify the protests. Bajoghli’s 2019 book, “Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic,” won the 2020 Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Adria Lawrence, Aronson Associate Professor of International Studies and Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, can discuss the success and effectiveness of protest in autocratic regimes. Lawrence is a scholar of Middle Eastern and North African politics. She studies colonialism, nationalism, conflict, and collective action.
Nima Tootkaboni, teaching assistant and Ph.D. student in sociology, can discuss the implications the protests could have on Iran’s domestic politics and status of women’s rights in the country. Tootkaboni was a student activist in Iran during the 2000s, where he helped lead an organization called Students for Equality and Freedom.