History Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2778
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Item TWO STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT: THE CONVERGENCE OF COLD WAR POLITICS, LABOR, AND ETHNIC TENSIONS IN THE JULY 1946 STRIKES AT KIRKUK AND ABADAN(2019) Hobson, Tiffany Claire; Wien, Peter; History/Library & Information Systems; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explores the convergence of Cold War politics, labor issues, and ethnic conflict on the local scale during the labor strikes which occurred in July 1946 at the oil refineries in Kirkuk, Iraq and Abadan, Iran. The roles of the local communist parties in leading the strikes are weighed against the workers' economic concerns to determine that the workers’ motivations for striking extended beyond political support for any particular party, and claims that the violence which ended the strikes was the result of inherent ethnic conflicts are debunked through examination of both regions’ ethnic histories.Item Zoned Desires: Prostitution, Family Politics, and Sexual Ideology in 20th Century Iran(2014) Hosseini, Fatemeh; Zilfi, Madeline; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation explores the regulation and representation of prostitution in Iran during the twentieth century, and concerns itself with dominant sexual ideologies during this period. While Tehran's red-light district, Shahr-i Nau, is largely absent from modern Iranian historiography, I argue for the significance of this contested urban space to the understanding of Iranian history and society. Using citizen petition letters, police records, and government memos, I highlight the gradual shift in Pahlavi policy from policies focused on the informal removal or relocation of prostitutes to one focused on systematic regulation, epidemiological surveillance, and the geographic concentration of prostitution. The dissertation also frames the social attitudes towards and the multiple meanings assigned to prostitution and examines efforts to control the meaning and image of prostitution. Using women's magazines and scientific studies, I demonstrate how female reformers considered prostitution a result of outdated modes of family practices. The discourse surrounding the links between family and prostitution, then, contributed to an elite form of women's rights activism in Iran that perpetuated paternalistic frameworks within society. The entertainment industry also concerned itself with prostitution, and a growing number of Iranian movies began representing prostitution. Visibility and space were integral to the understanding of sexuality. For women engaged in the commercial sex industry the consequences of regulation were mixed and often contradictory. Female prostitutes lived in a perpetual state of vulnerability that stemmed from inequalities in the law and social double-standards. Despite this, they strove for their own interests in the context of unequal relations of power. In Iran under the Islamic Republic, the Pahlavi policies adopted to control and maintain sexuality and prostitution have manifested along comparable lines, highlighting cultural continuities that remain intact in the face of substantial political change. I argue that despite the momentous political and social changes that have affected Iran in the twentieth century, a study of prostitution and temporary marriage suggests that sexual attitudes remained similar. In post-Revolutionary Iran, temporary marriage was advertised as the solution to society's sexual concerns. In both cases, deviant sexuality was accepted so long as it was separate and invisible.Item Conscripting the State: Military and Society in Iran, 1921-1941(2011) Bingaman, Lyndon; Zilfi, Madeline C; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power in an Iranian state on the verge of disintegration and dominated by foreign powers. In order to reverse this decline and protect national sovereignty, Reza sought to build a centralized state and strong national military modeled after those of Europe. The military came to dominate affairs within the country by consuming a large percentage of the national budget and by the favoritism given to its officers. The government also attempted to impose martial order on society by implementing conscription, requiring military instruction for students, and imposing national dress codes for citizens. Reza's elevation of the military, heavy-handed style of governance, and the systemic corruption of his regime made it unpopular with much of Iran's population. This thesis argues that Reza's reforms did much to alter the appearance of Iran and its military but failed to make critical institutional changes.