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We are Iran (Paperback) - Common
In September 2001, a young Iranian journalist, Hossein Derakhshan, created one of the first weblogs in Farsi. When he also devised a simple how-to-blog guide for Iranians, it unleashed a torrent of hitherto unheard opinions. There are now 64,000 blogs in Farsi, and Nasrin Alavi has painstakingly reviewed them all, weaving the most powerful and provocative into a striking picture of the flowering of dissent in Iran. From one blogger’s blasting of the Supreme Leader as a “pimp” to another’s mourning for an identity crushed by the stifling protection of her male relatives, this collection functions not only as an archive of Iranians’ thoughts on their country, culture, religion, and the rest of the world, but also as an alternative recent history of Iran. Government crackdowns may soon still these voices — in February 2005, one blogger was sentenced to 14 years in jail — and We Are Iran may serve as the only serious record of their existence.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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June 25, 2020
A very interesting, if somewhat dated (the book covers the period of 2003-2005) portrayal of a society torn between theocracy and liberalism. I stumbled upon it searching for companion materials for The Handamaid's Tale, and found two useful chapters.
This is a mix of analysis and compilation of primary sources; the author's writing style feels better here, lighter, than in her online articles.
This is a mix of analysis and compilation of primary sources; the author's writing style feels better here, lighter, than in her online articles.
October 8, 2009
this is a really good book to get a bit of perspective on what's going on in iran right now. it's from the early 2000's but it give a good overview of the current youth culture in iran. and since 70% of the country is under the age of 30, that's a lot of iran. it's mostly blog entries, but she writes very smart and un-preachy intro's to each chapter that give an historical background to what people are talking about.
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July 31, 2017This was published in 2005 and so it is refers to events and developments of more than ten years ago as recent phenomena. Iran is currently ruled by a system involving elected representatives and un-elected Shia clerics, since the ouster of the American backed Shah in 1979. The revolution that toppled him had multiple ideologies competing within it - from atheistic-marxist to ultra-islamic. But a Shia cleric - Ayatollah Khamenei, then in exile in Paris, emerged as the face of this amalgam of the anti-Shah movements. The revolution succeeded and Khamenei ended up as the Supreme Leader – the representative of god on earth – of Iran. This was more than thirty five years ago. The theocracy in Iran was one of the first in the modern world. But it has not been successful (in my opinion), and according to this book it is an utter failure.
This books is a compilation of blogs posted on the internet in early 2000's with a narrative provided by the editor. The bloggers are out-of-job journalists, authors, political activists but mostly young Iranians who are – most importantly – disaffected by this regime. These internet posts have bloomed because of the stringent media censorship by the state. Hundreds of newspapers and magazines have been shut down and books, music, films and theater are always under the lens of the government. The intrinsic anonymity that the internet provides has allowed the common person in Iran to let out against their rulers.
For those looking for an insight into Iranian Society, this is a good resource. The editor claims that these blogs represent - and her ideas are shared by - the majority of the young Iranians today. She also conveys a massive unrest in the population in general. How accurate are these assertions? I don’t know. I will try to verify her claims. But things like these… you can never truly tell. Yes, people are not free but this book indicates that another revolution is brewing. The blogs themselves are insightful but just as any post on the internet, they are also over-emotional, illogical, dissonant and unoriginal. These are supposedly the biggest blogs, with the largest readership and they are all anti-establishment. I don’t know if there are any blogs which support this regime? Are all those who are pro-theocracy, Islamists? You will not find the answers to such question in this book. This will provide you with a one-sided view, which is valuable, but alas only partial.
I think that criticism of the theocratic aspects of the Iranian establishment from an Islamic perspective is utterly futile. Corruption and nepotism aside, the criminal and civil laws of Iran are in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence having been derived from the scriptures. Yet, these bloggers who virulently oppose mandatory hijab, polygamy, reduced age of marriage, stoning for adultery, death for apostasy, and the diminished status of women in the legal system and society at large, do so in the name of Islam. According to these people all these laws are “un-islamic” and the Shia clerics are all “fake” muslims and know nothing about “real” Islam. People living in the theocratic state are critical of the West (which they should be, by all means) and blame them for terror attacks (which is really very twisted), and their posts are in general replete with the usual apologia – “nothing to do with Islam” or “Islam is the religion of peace”. [This cognitive dissonance has been discussed many time over by the gentleman professor Gad Saad on his youtube channel. Please check it out here if interested.]
There was a reference to the Gujarat riots of 2002 by one of the bloggers whose post is published in this book. In that post (s)he claims that the fire that engulfed 60 Hindus in the Sabarmati Express train before the riots was an “accident”. That information is completely false. Those Hindus including women and children were murdered according to a pre-planned conspiracy as reported here. This is an example of falsehood that I, being from India, could catch.
Ending note: This particular blog, about Gujarat, is at the very end of the books and upon reading it I realized that there might be multiple instances of inaccuracies in these private blogs. This seriously belittled whatever confidence I had in this as a true reflection of Iran. Hence, I will not rate this book.
This books is a compilation of blogs posted on the internet in early 2000's with a narrative provided by the editor. The bloggers are out-of-job journalists, authors, political activists but mostly young Iranians who are – most importantly – disaffected by this regime. These internet posts have bloomed because of the stringent media censorship by the state. Hundreds of newspapers and magazines have been shut down and books, music, films and theater are always under the lens of the government. The intrinsic anonymity that the internet provides has allowed the common person in Iran to let out against their rulers.
For those looking for an insight into Iranian Society, this is a good resource. The editor claims that these blogs represent - and her ideas are shared by - the majority of the young Iranians today. She also conveys a massive unrest in the population in general. How accurate are these assertions? I don’t know. I will try to verify her claims. But things like these… you can never truly tell. Yes, people are not free but this book indicates that another revolution is brewing. The blogs themselves are insightful but just as any post on the internet, they are also over-emotional, illogical, dissonant and unoriginal. These are supposedly the biggest blogs, with the largest readership and they are all anti-establishment. I don’t know if there are any blogs which support this regime? Are all those who are pro-theocracy, Islamists? You will not find the answers to such question in this book. This will provide you with a one-sided view, which is valuable, but alas only partial.
I think that criticism of the theocratic aspects of the Iranian establishment from an Islamic perspective is utterly futile. Corruption and nepotism aside, the criminal and civil laws of Iran are in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence having been derived from the scriptures. Yet, these bloggers who virulently oppose mandatory hijab, polygamy, reduced age of marriage, stoning for adultery, death for apostasy, and the diminished status of women in the legal system and society at large, do so in the name of Islam. According to these people all these laws are “un-islamic” and the Shia clerics are all “fake” muslims and know nothing about “real” Islam. People living in the theocratic state are critical of the West (which they should be, by all means) and blame them for terror attacks (which is really very twisted), and their posts are in general replete with the usual apologia – “nothing to do with Islam” or “Islam is the religion of peace”. [This cognitive dissonance has been discussed many time over by the gentleman professor Gad Saad on his youtube channel. Please check it out here if interested.]
There was a reference to the Gujarat riots of 2002 by one of the bloggers whose post is published in this book. In that post (s)he claims that the fire that engulfed 60 Hindus in the Sabarmati Express train before the riots was an “accident”. That information is completely false. Those Hindus including women and children were murdered according to a pre-planned conspiracy as reported here. This is an example of falsehood that I, being from India, could catch.
Ending note: This particular blog, about Gujarat, is at the very end of the books and upon reading it I realized that there might be multiple instances of inaccuracies in these private blogs. This seriously belittled whatever confidence I had in this as a true reflection of Iran. Hence, I will not rate this book.
Read
June 25, 2007In September 2001, a young Iranian journalist named Hossein Derakhshan, created one of the very first weblogs in his native language of Farsi. In response to a request from a reader, he created a simple how-to-blog guide in Farsi. With the modest aim of giving other Iranians a voice, he wound up unleashing a torrent of opinion, the likes of which had never before been seen in the Islamic world.
There are now 64,000 blogs in Farsi, and Nasrin Alavi has been painstakingly reviewing them all. In so doing she has created a remarkable document of the efflorescence of dissent in Iran, a book that not only functions as an archive of what Iranians think of their country, their religion, their culture and the world around them, but also as an alternative recent history of Iran.
Theirs is not the Iran of bearded ayatollahs and thuggish militias, but a country that has educated itself to the point where it finds the Islamist fundamentalists antiquated and laughable, where adult literacy (and computer literacy) is higher than in many European states, and where 70% of the population is under 30 and keen to usher in a new Iran. As one blogger (safsari.persianblog.com/) wrote:
"There are those such as Abtahi [Iranian Parliamentary ex-Vice President Mohammad-Ali Abtahi] who have called our virtual community too political and have put that we should use weblogs for their intended use... that is to say, for clich�d daily diaries... So what if we use our blogs in ways not intended for or defined during the distant conception of this media...At a time when our society is deprived of its rightful free means of communication, and our newspapers are being closed down one by one - with writers and journalist in the corners of our jails... the only realm that can safeguard and shoulder the responsibility of free speech is the weblogs..."
There are prominent writers who use their weblogs to bypass strict state censorship and publish their work online; established Journalists are able to post their uncensored reports in their blogs; Iranians living around the world use their blogs to communicate with those back home; people use the medium as a daily journal or diary; student groups and NGO's who utilise their weblogs as a vehicle for coordinating their activities.
We Are Iran therefore provides a unique momentary glimpse of the struggle that the new generation of post-Revolution youth face in democratizing the theocratic state, in generating the revolution within the Revolution. But following on the hardliners' clampdown on the print journalists, there has now been a massive crackdown on bloggers; just a few months ago, one blogger was jailed for 14 years. It is indeed possible, for the moment, that the vocies of the bloggers have been stilled and that We Are Iran will serve as the only serious record of their existence.
But only for a moment. The intensity, indeed desperation of these bloggers demonstrates that Iran- which a quarter of a century ago introduced a mystified world to radical Islam- may again surprise, as the bloggers point the way to a free, democratic, Islamic nation.
There are now 64,000 blogs in Farsi, and Nasrin Alavi has been painstakingly reviewing them all. In so doing she has created a remarkable document of the efflorescence of dissent in Iran, a book that not only functions as an archive of what Iranians think of their country, their religion, their culture and the world around them, but also as an alternative recent history of Iran.
Theirs is not the Iran of bearded ayatollahs and thuggish militias, but a country that has educated itself to the point where it finds the Islamist fundamentalists antiquated and laughable, where adult literacy (and computer literacy) is higher than in many European states, and where 70% of the population is under 30 and keen to usher in a new Iran. As one blogger (safsari.persianblog.com/) wrote:
"There are those such as Abtahi [Iranian Parliamentary ex-Vice President Mohammad-Ali Abtahi] who have called our virtual community too political and have put that we should use weblogs for their intended use... that is to say, for clich�d daily diaries... So what if we use our blogs in ways not intended for or defined during the distant conception of this media...At a time when our society is deprived of its rightful free means of communication, and our newspapers are being closed down one by one - with writers and journalist in the corners of our jails... the only realm that can safeguard and shoulder the responsibility of free speech is the weblogs..."
There are prominent writers who use their weblogs to bypass strict state censorship and publish their work online; established Journalists are able to post their uncensored reports in their blogs; Iranians living around the world use their blogs to communicate with those back home; people use the medium as a daily journal or diary; student groups and NGO's who utilise their weblogs as a vehicle for coordinating their activities.
We Are Iran therefore provides a unique momentary glimpse of the struggle that the new generation of post-Revolution youth face in democratizing the theocratic state, in generating the revolution within the Revolution. But following on the hardliners' clampdown on the print journalists, there has now been a massive crackdown on bloggers; just a few months ago, one blogger was jailed for 14 years. It is indeed possible, for the moment, that the vocies of the bloggers have been stilled and that We Are Iran will serve as the only serious record of their existence.
But only for a moment. The intensity, indeed desperation of these bloggers demonstrates that Iran- which a quarter of a century ago introduced a mystified world to radical Islam- may again surprise, as the bloggers point the way to a free, democratic, Islamic nation.
July 31, 2024
This book is a collection of blog posts from hundreds of different Persian-language bloggers living in Iran. The author has arranged the posts by topic and added commentary and historical context; the book provides a different look at Iran and reminds you that Iranians are actually really wonderful people living under unimaginable conditions. Topics include everything from popular music to political repression. The only problem with this book is that it was published in 2005, during Ahmadinejad’s presidency. A lot has happened since then, obviously…we need a new version!!
June 21, 2025
I read this years and years ago and absolutely loved it. I might have to reread it soon. It's definitely dated but I highly recommend it nonetheless as a time capsule as to what life was like in Iran 20 years ago.
January 27, 2018
Interesting
April 5, 2025
Iran on kiinnostava maa. Sen hallinto on ahdasmielisten islamilaisten hallussa, mutta maan hallintokoneisto on sinänsä riittävän kehittynyt pystyäkseen toimimaan aivan toisenlaisissa, moniarvoisemmissa ja avoimemmissa, oloissa. Nuivaa ja väkivaltaista hallintoa on kestänyt jo niin kauan, että suurin osa kansasta vihaa islamilaista johtoa. Juuri sen ideologinen pakkopolitiikka saakin aikaan - se synnyttää oman vastarintansa. Kansa on maallistunut, moskeijoissa ei käydä, kotiseinien suojassa saatetaan nauttia alkoholia ja tanssia. Hyvänä asiana kannattaa huomata, että Iranin väestö on koulutettua. Tästä voisivat suomalaiset yritykset ottaa vaarin ja rekrytoida työvoimaa Iranista. Näin saisimme koulutettuja maahanmuuttajia, jotka eivät pidä islamista. Maan kulttuuriset juuret eivät ole islamilaiset, vaan ennen islamilaista invaasiota Iranissa vallitsi oma persialainen kulttuuri, jota väestö ei ole suinkaan unohtanut. Myös farsin kieli on indoeurooppalainen eli kuuluu samaan kielikuntaan kuin englanti, ranska, saksa ym.
Vallankumousjohtajat ovat vuosien ajan tuominneet Iranin esi-islamilaisen kulttuurin harhaoppiseksi. Yksi uuden hallinnon ensimmäisiä määräyksiä olikin, että jos lapselle annettiin muinainen persialainen nimi, kuten Cyrus, Darius, Ava, Camron tai Roxana, lapsi jäi ilman syntymätodistusta. Ihmiset viittasivat uhkaukselle kintaalla ja jatkoivat perinteisten nimien antamista lapsilleen. Tämän seurauksena monilla iranilaislapsilla on kaksi nimeä, joista toinen on islamilainen. Nyt kun määräyksen antamisesta on kulunut kymmeniä vuosia, edes viranomaiset itse eivät enää noudata sääntöä. Vallankumouksellisten on ollut todella vaikea tallata Iranin esi-islamilaista kulttuuria ja heidän pyrkimyksensä heikentää sen muinaista vetovoimaa ovat osoittautuneet turhiksi. (s. 157)
Onko kukaan pystynyt selittämään, miksei persian kielessä ole maskuliinisia ja feminiinisiä verbejä tai edes persoonapronomineja, kuten englannissa (he, she)?.. Vaikka persia on sivistynyt ja monipuolinen kieli, emme erottele puheessamme sukupuolia. (s. 200)
Minulta kysyttiin tänään isäni nimeä niin kuin on tehty läpi elämäni mitä erilaisimmissa yhteyksissä: työhakemuksissa, valaehtoisissa todistajanlausunnoissa, sekkien kääntöpuolella, koulun tai yliopiston hakulomakkeissa… Aina halutaan tietää isäni nimi…
Opintotoimiston chadoriin pukeutunut nainen sanoo aina kärsimättömästi: ”Kirjoita passikuvasi taakse isäsi nimi ja syntymätodistuksen numero!”
Tänään oli yksi lukemattomista päivistä, jolloin olen kirjannut henkilötietoni viralliseen kaavakkeeseen ja minulta on kysytty isäni nimeä. Kiinnostaako ketään äitini henkilöllisyys, joka jää täysin hämärän peittoon? Hänellä ei ole sen paremmin nimeä kuin osoitettakaan. (s. 215-216)
Vallankumousjohtajat ovat vuosien ajan tuominneet Iranin esi-islamilaisen kulttuurin harhaoppiseksi. Yksi uuden hallinnon ensimmäisiä määräyksiä olikin, että jos lapselle annettiin muinainen persialainen nimi, kuten Cyrus, Darius, Ava, Camron tai Roxana, lapsi jäi ilman syntymätodistusta. Ihmiset viittasivat uhkaukselle kintaalla ja jatkoivat perinteisten nimien antamista lapsilleen. Tämän seurauksena monilla iranilaislapsilla on kaksi nimeä, joista toinen on islamilainen. Nyt kun määräyksen antamisesta on kulunut kymmeniä vuosia, edes viranomaiset itse eivät enää noudata sääntöä. Vallankumouksellisten on ollut todella vaikea tallata Iranin esi-islamilaista kulttuuria ja heidän pyrkimyksensä heikentää sen muinaista vetovoimaa ovat osoittautuneet turhiksi. (s. 157)
Onko kukaan pystynyt selittämään, miksei persian kielessä ole maskuliinisia ja feminiinisiä verbejä tai edes persoonapronomineja, kuten englannissa (he, she)?.. Vaikka persia on sivistynyt ja monipuolinen kieli, emme erottele puheessamme sukupuolia. (s. 200)
Minulta kysyttiin tänään isäni nimeä niin kuin on tehty läpi elämäni mitä erilaisimmissa yhteyksissä: työhakemuksissa, valaehtoisissa todistajanlausunnoissa, sekkien kääntöpuolella, koulun tai yliopiston hakulomakkeissa… Aina halutaan tietää isäni nimi…
Opintotoimiston chadoriin pukeutunut nainen sanoo aina kärsimättömästi: ”Kirjoita passikuvasi taakse isäsi nimi ja syntymätodistuksen numero!”
Tänään oli yksi lukemattomista päivistä, jolloin olen kirjannut henkilötietoni viralliseen kaavakkeeseen ja minulta on kysytty isäni nimeä. Kiinnostaako ketään äitini henkilöllisyys, joka jää täysin hämärän peittoon? Hänellä ei ole sen paremmin nimeä kuin osoitettakaan. (s. 215-216)
July 17, 2007
Great read for anyone interested in the youth of Iran. What we generally see and read in the "Western" mass media is political games as usual. This book was a brilliant idea! Who would have thought that Iran has the fastest growing rate of bloggers in the World! Want to know what some young Iranians talk about? Read on...
December 2, 2011
Presents a great view into both the intensity of censorship in the IRI, and the voices of the people through the blog medium. There's some fantastic selections in here. It also gives a decent run down of the history/current political climate. Slightly repetitive, but distinct and a fantastic addition to the literature on post-revolutionary Iran.
May 30, 2010
If this book has whetted your appetite to learn more about Iran, I recommend 'The Soul of Iran' which has a nice combination of history and contemporary culture without being as dry and fact ridden as histories of old.
October 8, 2016
Great read. Interesting insight into the great people living in a place that doesn't get much visibility beyond their political leaders. I crave more. Would love a follow up that continues to current day.
July 15, 2022
Great collection of candid, often hilarious Iranian blogging. For example, a 2002 blog called “From My Personal Street Research” reported, “If you wear a short jacket, lots of makeup and a shawl hanging loosely over your head, all men in Tehran will come on to you.”
April 3, 2007
This is a great contemporary look at Iran, through the content of Farsi-language blogs. Really, I learned, I cried, and I got inspired.
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April 17, 2007iran is butifull
April 11, 2009
There are 64,000 blogs coming out of Iran. This book uses the bloggers words to tell about what is going on in the country. It does a great job telling the inside story.
September 13, 2008
GReat book about the transformation of Iran through young bloggers!
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November 14, 2008Think Axelrod, Obama and Plouffe had a handle on using blog culture as a communications weapon despite the watchful eye of the regime? A fascinating look at Iranians since the revolution.
October 13, 2012
Gave me an understanding of modern Iran and its voices which has been vital in my understanding of the current situation.
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November 22, 2018We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs (Paperback)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews