Authoritarianism and Academic Freedom: Gender and Transnational Repression and Carcerality in the Iranian Diaspora

The Iranian state’s (IRI) authoritarian surveillance system suppresses the academic freedom of scholars working on Iran, both within and outside the country. Academics in Iran face a variety of repressive regimes that regulate their practices and dictate research agendas. Diasporic scholars, while also impacted by the IRI’s surveillance and repressive tactics, face additional limitations due to a prevalent carceral mindset, which stifles nuanced debate. In the diaspora, repression often takes the form of labeling intellectuals as regime sympathizers and systematically targeting them for their scholarly work. This paper argues that scholars face restrictions on their academic freedom not only due to tensions with the Iranian state, but also because of fears of repercussions within the diasporic community. This has serious consequences for the production of scholarly work on topics that are already marginalized and face institutional barriers such as hefty ethical procedures.