The Biopolitics of Hijab in Iran

The existing literature on Hijab cannot explain the special case of Iran due to a lack of enough attention to the biopolitical aspects of the forced Islamic dress code in the country. This paper argues that the imposition of Islamic veiling on women in Iran was both a biopolitical practice intended to control the bodies and administer lives as something affecting the security of the state and its development, at least in its earlier phases (1979-1983), was directly related to the struggles over power among various post-revolutionary force. The recent social challenges against Hijab in Iran can also be linked to a wider political discourse that is targeted against the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic and seeks to overthrow it.