Protesting performances and common worlds of Protesters: A Comparative Study of Protests in Iran from 2009 to 2022

Noroozpour, Morteza; Delavari, Abolfazl

doi:10.22034/ipsa.2025.533

Protesting performances and common worlds of Protesters: A Comparative Study of Protests in Iran from 2009 to 2022

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Morteza Noroozpour ¹

Abolfazl Delavari ²

¹ Ph. D. Student in Political Sciences of Allameh Tabataba’ei University

² Associated Professor of Political Sciences of Allameh Tabataba’ei University

https://doi.org/10.22034/ipsa.2025.533

Abstract

Since 2009, four widespread protests with political content have occurred in 2009, 2017, 2018, and 2022. The purpose of this study is to examine changes in protest methods and the relationship of these changes to the common world of the protesters. The method of this study is phenomenological and the data collection tool is in-depth interviews with 60 protesters who have participated in one or more of these protests. The data analysis method is also based on analyzing the themes in these interviews. The results indicate that: Along with the increase in government intervention in various aspects of life, protest opportunities have also become more diverse. Protesters have delegitimized official politics, such as elections, and have moved towards negating any common ground with the ruling semantic system. Daily resistance as one of the protest methods has gradually increased the psychological costs of following the established order. In line with the deadlock in official politics, protesters moved towards eliminating the ugliness of violence. With the despair of some protesters, the desire for social suicide has increased among them after 2022. Awareness and the creation of new narration began in 2009, and during each protest, it encompassed new levels of social life. It seems that the continuation of this process, in the absence of fundamental reform in domestic and foreign policies, will lead to further discrediting of the ruling semantic system and will provide a more comprehensive semantic ground for the occurrence of broader and more intense protests.

Keywords

Political Protest

green movement

Mahsa movement

Common World

Iran

20.1001.1.1735790.1403.20.1.7.4

Subjects

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