Arts and Artifacts of Movements in Suppressive Contexts: The Case of 2022 Protests in Iran

• In Event: Mobilization Under (Growing) Autocracy

Abstract

Studies of movements’ arts and artifacts examine how they are used to create solidarity within movements, influence public opinion, and make claims against authorities. In this paper, I use the case of Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran to examine cultural production in suppressive contexts in times of intense political activism. Using images of the movement’s material objects, I suggest three interpretations of how they were used: as “wake up calls and announcements” in the absence of free media, disruptions of the internet, and excessive suppression; as a means to “keep the city space revolutionary;” and as a tool for “remembering in public.” I examine aspects of political and cultural messaging at the intersection of technological advances, movements, and culture.
The paper contributes to the literature in multiple ways. First, by focusing on protests in Iran, I capture how artistic production functions in suppressive contexts. Second, by studying the movement’s arts and artifacts, I contribute to a less-studied aspect of cultural production (that of material objects) in movements. Third, by analyzing the transitory nature of these objects and their survival in digital format, I contribute to ongoing debates about how new technologies impact movements and our abilities to study them.

Author

• Jaleh Jalili, Rice University