The other side of silence : a memoir of exile, Iran, & the global women's movement
(Book)

For more than 50 years, Afkhami has been a voice against injustice, violence, and oppression. She became the first and only minister of women's affairs in Iran and later helped develop the Foundation for Iranian Studies, which has played a significant role in scholarship about Iran. She has been a leading figure in the international women's movement and offers a valuable perspective on women's lives in the Global South and on the internal politics of various women's organizations, such as the Women's Learning Partnership, for which she serves as founder and president. Afkhami condemns "a world that is structured to perpetuate violence, poverty, and insecurity" and, unlike some of her feminist colleagues, insists that all religions can be inspiring through their dictates regarding kindness, justice, and caring (p. 265). Yet, with a very Western view of modernity, she does not adequately acknowledge the degree to which the dictatorial and elitist Pahlavi period in Iran was responsible for much of the structural inequality that contributed to the rise of religious extremism and the continuing collapse of Iranian society she experienced both as a child in Kerman and later as a literature professor in Tehran. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. --Bahram Tavakolian, emeritus, Denison University

Iranian activist Afkhami (Women in Exile) delivers a moving account of her advocacy for Iranian women's rights. After her parents divorced, 14-year-old Afkhami and her mother moved to California in 1956. In 1967, she returned to Iran as a wife and mother and landed a teaching job at the National University of Iran, a position she left several years later to head the Women's Organization of Iran, growing its membership to one million women by 1977. Later, as the minister for women's affairs, Afkhami passed a package that provided paid maternity leave and workplace childcare, but the violent demonstrations of Ayatollah Khomeini's followers rocked Afkhami's conviction. "We had contributed to the unrest by helping to raise the consciousness of Iranian women," she writes. In 1978, she was named an enemy of the Iranian Revolution and began life as a political exile, going on to organize panels and speak at global women's events, including the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women. Afkhami's complexities and passion make even the driest policy discussions captivating. The result is a thought-provoking addition to the international women's rights shelf. (Nov.)

Iranian activist Afkhami (Women in Exile) delivers a moving account of her advocacy for Iranian women's rights. After her parents divorced, 14-year-old Afkhami and her mother moved to California in 1956. In 1967, she returned to Iran as a wife and mother and landed a teaching job at the National University of Iran, a position she left several years later to head the Women's Organization of Iran, growing its membership to one million women by 1977. Later, as the minister for women's affairs, Afkhami passed a package that provided paid maternity leave and workplace childcare, but the violent demonstrations of Ayatollah Khomeini's followers rocked Afkhami's conviction. "We had contributed to the unrest by helping to raise the consciousness of Iranian women," she writes. In 1978, she was named an enemy of the Iranian Revolution and began life as a political exile, going on to organize panels and speak at global women's events, including the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women. Afkhami's complexities and passion make even the driest policy discussions captivating. The result is a thought-provoking addition to the international women's rights shelf. (Nov.)