Family Law in Contemporary Iran

Marianne Bøe’s new book “Family Law in Contemporary Iran” takes up the issue of women’s rights in the modern context of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The book offers a nuanced view of how women’s rights activists assert their rights within Islamic context by weaving together religious and historical texts and narratives. Furthermore, it contributes to challenge both the traditional view of “Islamic Feminism” as monolithic and clears a path to a new understanding of the role of women’s rights activists in shaping and synthesizing debates on the shari'a, women's rights and family law.

The Ongoing Debate

The codification of Muslim family law is a divisive issue of debate in several countries these days. In Iran, various forms of codification have been launched seeking to fulfil a dual purpose of implementing both shari‘a and women’s rights since the early 1900s.

The most recent initiative came in 2007, when the Family Protection Bill (Layehe-ye Hemayat-e az Khanevadeh) was introduced. With this Bill, family law once again emerged as a contentious issue of public debate, to which women’s rights activists have offered significant 
contributions.

The Author

Marianne Bøe is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen. She is an historian of religions who holds a PhD from University of Bergen in 2012. Bøe has published widely on gender issues and religion, as well as on Muslim family law and women’s rights activism. Currently, she is working on the postdoctoral project «Religious Law and Everyday Life: Shifting practices of mahr (Islamic dower) in legal pluralistic Norway» funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

Discussant: Liv Tønnessen, senior researcher at CMI

The book is published by I.B. Tauris and the launch is hosted by the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion (AHKR), University of Bergen and Centre on Law & Social Transformation.