Description
This paper challenges the state-centric and superpower-focused narratives of the Cold War by examining the pivotal yet overlooked role of left-wing women's movements in Iran during the pivotal decades following the 1953 coup (1953-1979). Moving beyond Anglo-American archives, this study leverages untapped primary sources in Persian and Kurdish to recover the agency, ideologies, and organizational strategies of these women. It argues that their activism was not merely an auxiliary force to male-dominated political parties but a dynamic front of social and political struggle that profoundly shaped the domestic opposition to the Pahlavi state. By centering their experience, the paper reveals a more complex and nuanced picture of Cold War-era politics, one where local gendered activism intersected with global ideological currents. This research offers a decolonial methodology for International Studies, demonstrating how multilingual archival work is essential for "decentering" dominant historical accounts and constructing a more inclusive, globally relevant understanding of twentieth-century political history.
