Tribeswomen of Iran: Weaving Memories among Qashqa’i Nomads

Since the revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has permitted few Western scholars to conduct research in the country. Here Julia Huang provides a remarkable account of local tribal life in Iran and depicts a community largely beyond the scope and reach of foreign travellers and the Western media. Huang documents the difficult livelihoods and lifestyles of these mobile Qashqa’i pastoralists and their society and culture, and she explains how this Turkic-speaking group relates to the wider Iranian society and the Islamic Republic. Focusing on a small group of women, she shows us how they adapt to a rapidly changing world while retaining tribal values and a distinctive ethnolinguistic identity as one of Iran’s largest national minorities. Engagingly written and documenting a disappearing way of life, “Tribeswomen of Iran” is essential reading for all those interested in Iran, the Middle East, anthropology, nomadism and gender.