Mobilizing pity : the dialectics of narrative production and erasure in the case of Iran’s #BlueGirl
(2022) In Globalizations 19(2). p.205-219- Abstract
In this article we present a case analysis of Sahar Khodayari’s transformation into a global injustice icon, the #BlueGirl, after she set herself ablaze outside a courthouse in Tehran, Iran, allegedly in protest against the ban on women entering football stadiums. We focus on the ways in which ‘pity’ was generated, mobilized, and transformed into indignation against the Iranian state by digital activists. Drawing on the literature on the politics of pity, we explore the creation of a global icon, the #BlueGirl, draw attention to the gendered elements of Sahar Khodayari’s iconization, and take a closer look at the mobilization of affect mechanisms set in motion. The article suggests that the politics of pity rests on a chain of erasures... (More)
In this article we present a case analysis of Sahar Khodayari’s transformation into a global injustice icon, the #BlueGirl, after she set herself ablaze outside a courthouse in Tehran, Iran, allegedly in protest against the ban on women entering football stadiums. We focus on the ways in which ‘pity’ was generated, mobilized, and transformed into indignation against the Iranian state by digital activists. Drawing on the literature on the politics of pity, we explore the creation of a global icon, the #BlueGirl, draw attention to the gendered elements of Sahar Khodayari’s iconization, and take a closer look at the mobilization of affect mechanisms set in motion. The article suggests that the politics of pity rests on a chain of erasures that deprive the pitiable other of their agency, history and historicity, and erase the global conditions that contribute to the suffering of the former, thus, localizing responsibility and instituting western moral hierarchies.
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- author
- Shahrokni, Nazanin and Sofos, Spyros A. LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- feminist activism, gender, iconization, Iran, mobilization, Politics of pity
- in
- Globalizations
- volume
- 19
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 205 - 219
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85099475340
- ISSN
- 1474-7731
- DOI
- 10.1080/14747731.2020.1864963
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- db10efeb-0cf9-4a23-8df2-f965485c775c
- date added to LUP
- 2021-01-29 11:30:59
- date last changed
- 2023-10-08 20:50:10
@article{db10efeb-0cf9-4a23-8df2-f965485c775c,
abstract = {{<p>In this article we present a case analysis of Sahar Khodayari’s transformation into a global injustice icon, the #BlueGirl, after she set herself ablaze outside a courthouse in Tehran, Iran, allegedly in protest against the ban on women entering football stadiums. We focus on the ways in which ‘pity’ was generated, mobilized, and transformed into indignation against the Iranian state by digital activists. Drawing on the literature on the politics of pity, we explore the creation of a global icon, the #BlueGirl, draw attention to the gendered elements of Sahar Khodayari’s iconization, and take a closer look at the mobilization of affect mechanisms set in motion. The article suggests that the politics of pity rests on a chain of erasures that deprive the pitiable other of their agency, history and historicity, and erase the global conditions that contribute to the suffering of the former, thus, localizing responsibility and instituting western moral hierarchies.</p>}},
author = {{Shahrokni, Nazanin and Sofos, Spyros A.}},
issn = {{1474-7731}},
keywords = {{feminist activism; gender; iconization; Iran; mobilization; Politics of pity}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{205--219}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Globalizations}},
title = {{Mobilizing pity : the dialectics of narrative production and erasure in the case of Iran’s #BlueGirl}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1864963}},
doi = {{10.1080/14747731.2020.1864963}},
volume = {{19}},
year = {{2022}},
}