SFU_SOC TALK_2024

gender & the geopolitics of "homemaking" under duress

Nazanin Shahrokni

Associate Professor of International Studies Simon Fraser University nazanin_shahrokni@sfu.ca

National politics & entanglements

Economic Sanctions

The State

Household

Local norms & expectations

Geopolitical encounters & entanglements

Objectives

Transregional Dialogues

Interdisciplinary Dialogues

• ONE bring sanctions studies (international relations) in dialogue with austerity studies
• TWO draw on feminist geopolitics and feminist everyday political economy

• ONE move away from Iranian/Middle Eastern exceptionalism
• TWO put Middle East Studies in dialogue with other regional studies

Iran under sanctions

Iran under sanctions

METHODOLOGY

This project draws on 10 unstructured and 52 semi-structured interviews with women from middle-class households in Tehran, who were invited to reflect on the ways their lives adjusted between 2015-2021.

These are women who experienced upward mobility prior to the recent sanctions. - they range in age from 24 to 69 - all but three had at least a bachelor’s degree - all but eight were married - all but five had full-time paid jobs outside the home

Shifting Household Dynamics

Time Poverty

Triple Labor

Physical/Mental Fatigue

• time is an unevenly distributed resource
• the scarcity of discretionary time
• the gender gap created by material constraints and cultural expectations

• triple labor & time poverty deplete energies & exhaust bodies.
• due to the state's austerity measures, resources for replenishment have been reduced or privatized.

• home as a site of production & reproduction
• increased unpaid work
• increased care work

Triple Labor

• home as a site of production & reproduction
• increased unpaid work
• increased care work

Akram used to clean and tidy up the house. But she could no longer afford to live in Tehran, so she went back to her hometown. Now I come back from work, take my veil off, and the second shift begins.

Mansoureh

When Amir arrives from work, I make sure that Hasti [her daughter] doesn’t approach him with unreasonable requests. Anything can be triggering. He needs to be pampered, so I give him space, let him rest a bit, offer him juice or something. Men are weak, you know! They don’t have our energy, can’t multitask. He is under a lot of pressure. We have a lot of debt.

Saba

Once I went to buy pickles, I noticed that for 15 small pickles I had to pay 25,000 tomans. I bought 3 kilos of cucumber instead, made the pickles myself and managed to give a few jars to my friends and relatives as well. It made me proud, because I saved a lot of money. I even joked with my husband that, if people really like my pickles, I will start a home business, by turning my kitchen counter into a production line!

Narges

Time Poverty

Time stretching Waking up before & going to bed after other houdshold members, with little or no rest in between

• time is an unevenly distributed resource
• the scarcity of discretionary time
• the gender gap created by material constraints and cultural expectations

Before we used to buy our monthly meat all at once from our neighborhood butcher. Now, on a monthly basis we might consume the same amount, well a little less perhaps, but I buy it in smaller portions every week.

Afsaneh

We now go to discount stores [Haji Arzooni]. It's a bit far, but I buy almost the same amount of everything for similar prices [to those before the crisis]. It's all about managing our money and time effectively.

Neda

Physical/Mental Fatigue

• triple labor & time poverty deplete energies & exhaust bodies.
• due to the state's austerity measures, resources for replenishment have been reduced or privatized.

I had fibroids. The doctor told me surgery was necessary but I decided to postpone it until after Nowruz [the New Year in Iran], because usually around the New Year our spending goes up. And this year in particular with the inflation and all I just couldn't deal with this extra and unexpected expenditure. By the time I went for the surgery, I was suffering from intense bleeding and pain.

Effat

As a family we loved going to the movies. Five, six years ago, the ticket was around 4 to 6 thousand tomans; now it’s around 15 to 18 thousands! So, we have joined Namava and watch movies at home. But of course I'll have to clean up after everyone. Restaurants have also become very pricy. Sometimes, I pretend to be Colonel Sanders and make fried chicken for the family, and that’s that!

Negar

Concept Triptych

HOME

HOMEMAKING

FEELING AT HOME

My friend complains that her husband comes back home completely knackered. And that their home is like a hotel to her husband. If a man cannot provide or does not have the energy to interact, talk, laugh or cry with you, why would I want to marry him?

If I were to marry, I'd lose the autonomy and little freedom I have now. I'd become legally dependent on a man, and I'd have to negotiate for my right to divorce, to get a passport, to travel.

Sanaz

Once Sina tripped and fell on the ground. I had my back turned. I heard his scream, turned, and saw him on the floor. My first reaction was ‘God I hope his trousers are not torn!’ This is sad. I was more worried about the cost of buying him new trousers than about him getting hurt!

Shahla

Patriarchal Gender Structure

masculinity defined by "lack"

proactive femininity to perform their role as homemakers, women are further entrenched in the home

to perform their role as breadwinner, men are further pushed away from the home

Gender roles ashomemaker vs breadwinner reinforced

Relationality Intersectionality

“an emerging shared austerity reality”

The emphasis on the ways in which political interactions and decisions at the (inter)national level are reflected in, and shape, the everyday, the recognition that the (inter)national is personal, underlies my attempt to “domesticate” economic sanctions.

National policies, politics & entanglements

EconomicSanctions

The State

Household

Local norms & expectations

Geopolitical encounters & entanglements

Thank you

NAZANIN SHAHROKNISCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIESSIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY, CANADA nazanin_shahrokni@sfu.ca