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January 28, 2025

The gap between civil society and protesters in December/ Shahin Sadeghzadeh Milan

“خط متن فارسی را به انگلیسی ترجمه کنید”

“Translate the following Farsi text to English”
Shahin Sadegh Zadeh Milan

“Civil society” in Iran is one of the terms that is frequently used in political writings, but there may not be a specific definition for it. Generally, when we talk about civil society, we mean a collection of groups and activists who are engaged in various civic activities and strive to bring about positive change in society. Therefore, environmental groups, disability rights activists, labor unions, bar associations, and many others, despite having different concerns, are all known as “civil society” under this title.

“Civil society”, as the name suggests, is not seeking radical or fundamental change. This does not mean that the desires and concerns of civil society are unimportant. It means that achieving the demands of civil society does not necessarily require a change in government. For example, stopping the construction of a dam or making public transportation accessible for people with disabilities does not require the downfall of the Islamic Republic. In many cases, civil activists are even seeking the implementation of existing laws in the Islamic Republic, rather than the passing of new laws. Unlike demands such as separation of religion and government, which are impossible in the Islamic Republic and can only be achieved by the downfall of the regime, demands such as allowing women to enter sports stadiums do not even require a change in the law; as none of the existing laws in Iran prohibit women from entering stadiums.

These characteristics, which we know as “civil society,” both promote it as a reformist approach and focus its activities on major cities, especially Tehran. Since in Iran the government plays a dominant role in all areas, from economy to art to sports, and since civil society movements naturally monitor and persuade the government for change, a significant portion of civil society activities take place in Tehran.

The reformist and interactive approach of civil society and its relative concentration in the capital naturally leads to its convergence with reformists and their social origin, namely the urban middle class. The collective efforts of civil activists, reformists, and reformist newspapers and journalists in recent years have been able to turn their interactive approach into the dominant discourse in Iran. In other words, besides the discourse of conservatives who have their own special privileges and rely on various forms of government rent, the discourse of civil society/reformists was the strongest alternative voice heard in Iran.

The December 2017 protest movement shook this space. The epicenter of this movement was not Tehran, but smaller cities like Kermanshah, Chabahar, Toiserkan, and Ghahderijan. The slogans and demands of the protesters were different and even conflicting with the demands of the reformist civil society. Some slogans in support of the Pahlavi government, such as “Independence, Freedom, Iranian Republic” and the final cry of “Reformist, Principle-based, the story is over” shouted by some students at the University of Tehran, were not in line with the framework set by the civil society and reformists. In the early days of the protests, some reformists, activists, and journalists close to them remained silent and watched. In the following days, many well-known individuals and reformist organizations, including the Council of Combatant Clerics, condemned the disruptive protests and distanced themselves from them.

It is clear that Iranian civil society has an independent identity from reformists. This independent identity is not up for discussion. However, it cannot be ignored that civil activists are forced to adhere to the red lines of the Islamic Republic in order to operate in Iran. Let us not forget that the Islamic Republic has a hostile approach even towards activists whose activities are in no way subversive. A recent example of this is the detention of several environmental activists and the suspicious death of Kavous Seyed Emami in Evin prison.

Despite the fact that civil society has never been safe from the actions of the Islamic Republic, it has been forced to accept it as the legitimate government of Iran in order to continue its existence. The main factor in the division between civil society and the protesters in December is this fundamental point. For the protesters who do not believe in the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, the concerns and methods of civil activists do not resonate. On the other hand, for activists whose goal is to interact and persuade the Islamic Republic to implement change, adopting an approach that prioritizes the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic is not feasible: if you do not consider the government as legitimate, your efforts to change its perspective will be very difficult or even impossible.

Unnamed names

In the protests of December 2017 and the subsequent arrests in several detention centers, at least 30 Iranian citizens lost their lives. Apart from Sina Ghanbari, a young man who died in Evin prison, the rest of the casualties were residents of other cities in Iran. The names of many of the victims are still unknown and no information has been published about them in the media. The stories of these Iranian citizens have been lost behind the pressure and security threats and the neglect of the media. Despite the establishment of dozens of websites and newspapers that sometimes publish repetitive news, it is not common for reporters to be sent by the national media to cities to report on the casualties of the protests. This process, of course, is not unprecedented. It is not expected from conservative media outlets, but even reformist media outlets refrain from publishing accurate and unbiased reports for security reasons. We also have no clear information about individuals who are executed for security crimes in the Islamic Republic. In many

This approach will continue to widen the gap between reformists and the protesting body. In the meantime, the distance between civil society and the protesting body will also increase. The protesting body has brought demands to the political scene that go far beyond the red lines of civil activists. So far, civil society has mainly been unable to go beyond defending the right of protesters to peaceful protest. How institutions and civil society activists will confront this new reality in the coming months may be crucial. Accepting fundamental political demands by civil society can help bring about peaceful change in Iran. However, the continuation of the current trend will only widen the rift and may even increase the possibility of future protests turning violent.

Notes:

  1. To observe two examples of people’s organizations from the list.

    Here.

    And.

    Here.

    Take a look. Most of the mentioned organizations are located in these two lists in “Tehran”.

Manager of the Legal Center for Human Rights Documents in Iran.

Created By: Admin
March 20, 2018

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Civil society Nationwide protests in December peace line Shahin Sadegh Zadeh Milani