Human Rights in Iran: The Ethnography of ‘Others’ and Global Political Theory

Abstract

Knowledge about the ‘other’ is one of the founding pillars for the development of global political theory. Although human rights are an important part of the moral and legal discourse on global governance, there is still a gap between these theories and detailed accounts of human rights violations and the context for resistance. This article examines the treatment of the ‘other’ in a specific country (Iran), and the oppression as Muslims of Iranians living abroad, in order to begin to fill this gap. More specifically, it is argued that anthropology, journalism and diaspora literature about Iran provide useful input for the field of global political theory on human rights, democratisation and global justice. This literature helps bring home the realities of human rights violations, contributes to a better understanding of injustice and ways of creating social change, and illuminates issues of universality and difference that are of direct relevance to global political theory.