Nazanin Shahrokni

Debates over the global dynamics of sociological knowledge production have intensified in recent years, with growing interest in “national sociologies,” “Southern theory,” and “regional traditions.” Iran offers fertile ground for these discussions, as explored in an interview with Dr. Abdolmohammad (Abdie) Kazemipur, Professor of Sociology and Chair of Ethnic Studies at the University of Calgary and former...

This roundtable brings together six sociologists working on Iran, situated within distinct academic fields and institutional contexts across varied geopolitical locations. While united by their disciplinary training in sociology, the contributors bring divergent positionalities shaped by their locations within and outside Iran, producing knowledge across national, linguistic, and institutional boundaries. The roundtable engages three key methodological questions...

This symposium on the sociology of Iran appears at a moment when knowledge production in the country is under extraordinary strain. Iranian sociology has long been animated by debates over its public role – whether it should serve as a critical voice, a diagnostic tool for social crises, or a mediator between state and society. Today, however, the terrain on which these debates unfold has narrowed dramatically. Political repression, the silencing of...

Michael Burawoy was more than a sociologist; he was a builder of sociology – not only through his theoretical contributions, but through the institutions he shaped, the relationships he nurtured, and the global solidarities he forged. He transformed the discipline into a reflexive and practice-oriented field – one that interrogates power, centers the margins, and bridges critique with imagination, theory with action. In this spirit, I...

On August 6, 2012, with the new academic year approaching, the government-backed Mehr News Agency in Iran posted a bulletin that 36 universities in the country had excluded women from 77 fields of study. The reported restrictions aroused something of an international uproar. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate exiled in Britain, wrote a letter to Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, and Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner...