Episode 34: Mansoureh Shojaee on Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom Movement | Feminism, Democracy & Solidarity What does genuine solidarity with Iran’s women’s movement look like—and who gets to decide the country’s political future? In this episode of The Emancipated Citizen Podcast, we speak with Mansoureh Shojaee, a longtime Iranian women’s rights and human rights activist, researcher and feminist whose work builds upon and documents the history of women’s resistance in Iran. We discuss the legacy of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which grew out of the protests following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September 2022. Shojaee explains why the movement must be understood within a much longer history of Iranian women’s activism—and how it brought together people across generations, genders, ethnicities and political backgrounds around demands for dignity, freedom and fundamental change. Our conversation also explores the relationship between grassroots activism and political leadership. What distinguishes a movement driven by civil society from one organized around a single leader? What would a democratic transition in Iran require? And how can Iranians pursue self-determination without exchanging one form of authoritarian rule for another? We discuss the competing political visions for Iran, the dangers of foreign intervention and the ways feminist movements can be appropriated for political purposes. Shojaee argues for a democratic alternative grounded in the agency of Iranian civil society, rather than war or the imposition of political solutions from abroad. A particularly moving part of the conversation concerns From Evin With Love, Shojaee’s exhibition project documenting the resistance of women imprisoned in Iran through their handmade artworks. She recounts how the project developed from her work on a women’s museum in Iran, her own experience of imprisonment and the gifts she received from women political prisoners. These objects preserve individual stories of love, dignity and resistance while helping document the history of Iran’s women’s movement. We also examine the difficult responsibilities of diaspora activism: how can activists abroad amplify the voices of people living under repression without speaking over them or putting them at risk? How can international feminist networks offer meaningful support while respecting local movements’ independence? Shojaee’s answer is especially relevant to anyone interested in transnational feminism and human rights activism: solidarity must be more than sympathy. It becomes meaningful when people are willing to share resources, access, protection and institutional power while respecting the self-determination of those whose struggles they support. In this conversation, we discuss: The history of Iran’s women’s rights movement and the significance of Woman, Life, Freedom Jina Mahsa Amini’s death and the protests that followed in 2022 Intersectionality, grassroots organizing and horizontal social movements Civil society, political leadership and the possibilities for democratic transition in Iran The risks of political co-option, authoritarianism and foreign intervention From Evin With Love: preserving the stories and handmade artworks of women political prisoners The responsibilities and limitations of Iranian diaspora activism Transnational feminism and the difference between sympathy and meaningful solidarity How international supporters can contribute without undermining local agency About our guest Mansoureh Shojaee is an Iranian feminist, researcher and longtime women’s rights activist. Her work has included documenting the history of Iran’s women’s movement, supporting women’s libraries and cultural initiatives, and developing projects that preserve the experiences of women engaged in political resistance. Through From Evin With Love and her wider documentation work, she continues to bring the stories of Iranian women to audiences beyond Iran. https://www.irwmm.org/en/?shem=aimgspe%2C Further reading and links 📚 Mapping Gender Struggles — the edited volume exploring gender, contemporary social movements and political conflict, including feminist struggles in Iran and beyond. https://www.dampfboot-verlag.de/bucher/mapping-gender-struggles 🧵 From Evin With Love — learn more about the exhibition and its collection of handmade artworks created by women imprisoned in Iran. https://www.irwmm.org/en/germany-munich-2026-2161/ Support The Emancipated Citizen Podcast Consider supporting this project by becoming a patron: patreon.com/TheEmancipatedCitizenPodcast Or if you would like to make a one time donation, click on the link to our page on PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/PodECP Your contribution will help us produce more of this content and 50% of it will go directly to helping refugees in need. 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