Overview

Proper Women tells the unprecedented story of an NGO-led “women’s empowerment” program in Tehran that was created to serve young, impoverished Iranians and Afghan refugees. Fae Chubin recounts the well-intentioned efforts of cosmopolitan NGO administrators whose loyalty to liberal feminist principles of individualism, sexual autonomy, and anti-traditionalism complicated their objective of empowering marginalized women. Chubin brings attention to the varying class, ethnic, religious, and national identities of NGO staff and clients that shaped their differing understandings of oppression and justice. Her examination of the tensions within the organization reveals why the efforts of the NGO workers failed to gain purchase among the intended beneficiaries. Proper Women concludes by encouraging feminist activists to not only examine the role of local politics and transnational connections in shaping their definitions of empowerment, but also consider the advantages of a justice-enhancing practice as opposed to justice monism for their target populations.

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9781439923276

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Reviews

“Detailing the operations of a remarkable nongovernmental center in Iran for marginalized women, this book reveals a deeper understanding of the complexities and contradictions of ‘empowerment’ programs and the feminist project. Theoretically sophisticated, sensitively written, and filled with rich interview and observational data, Fae Chubin’s Proper Women is a highly original contribution to several bodies of literature.”—Valentine M. Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Northeastern University “Fae Chubin’s incisive critique is a significant contribution to feminist scholarship on Iran. She argues that one of the principal challenges of Iranian feminism has been the inequitable class and cultural dynamics that made it possible for women from the privileged and middle classes to impose a neoliberal Western framework of gender oppression on women from ethnic minority groups and marginalized classes in Iran. Chubin makes a powerful case for an intersectional feminism with a genuine commitment to principles of social and economic justice for women at its heart.”—Nima Naghibi, Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University “In this vivid and engaging ethnography, Fae Chubin expertly and eloquently brings Iran into the conversation about the entangled nature of women’s empowerment projects with colonialism and Western secular-liberal feminism, as staff and clients clash over what organizational priorities and material conditions will make empowerment meaningful. The absorbing narratives offered here are made even more potent through Chubin’s careful, compassionate, and innovative scholarship, which reframes justice through the experiences of those marginalized by class, citizenship status, religion, and ethnicity.”—Catherine Z. Sameh, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Irvine “Proper Women is an interesting, important, and very frustrating book. The frustration does not come from the author’s very skillful ethnography or the analysis—this is masterful. The frustration comes from what Fae Chubin reveals about the state of the world and our attempts to change it…. Overall, this is an outstanding work and a very compelling read.”—Social Forces

“Detailing the operations of a remarkable nongovernmental center in Iran for marginalized women, this book reveals a deeper understanding of the complexities and contradictions of ‘empowerment’ programs and the feminist project. Theoretically sophisticated, sensitively written, and filled with rich interview and observational data, Fae Chubin’s Proper Women is a highly original contribution to several bodies of literature.”-Valentine M. Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Northeastern University “Fae Chubin’s incisive critique is a significant contribution to feminist scholarship on Iran. She argues that one of the principal challenges of Iranian feminism has been the inequitable class and cultural dynamics that made it possible for women from the privileged and middle classes to impose a neoliberal Western framework of gender oppression on women from ethnic minority groups and marginalized classes in Iran. Chubin makes a powerful case for an intersectional feminism with a genuine commitment to principles of social and economic justice for women at its heart.”-Nima Naghibi, Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University “In this vivid and engaging ethnography, Fae Chubin expertly and eloquently brings Iran into the conversation about the entangled nature of women’s empowerment projects with colonialism and Western secular-liberal feminism, as staff and clients clash over what organizational priorities and material conditions will make empowerment meaningful. The absorbing narratives offered here are made even more potent through Chubin’s careful, compassionate, and innovative scholarship, which reframes justice through the experiences of those marginalized by class, citizenship status, religion, and ethnicity.”-Catherine Z. Sameh, Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of California, Irvine “Proper Women is an interesting, important, and very frustrating book. The frustration does not come from the author’s very skillful ethnography or the analysis-this is masterful. The frustration comes from what Fae Chubin reveals about the state of the world and our attempts to change it…. Overall, this is an outstanding work and a very compelling read.”-Social Forces

Author Information

Fae Chubin is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampa.

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