In the historiography of modern Iran, legal archives are under-explored. Yet they are extremely rich sources that offer insight into the lifeworlds of marginal subjects, who exist at the threshold of the legitimate space of citizenship. In the 82nd episode of Parse, Dr. Jairan Gahan centers the constructed archival category of “sex-related crimes” to raise questions about the processes of producing archives – in particular legal archives – and what a critical approach to archives can offer scholars.   

Jairan Gahan is the Executive Director of the Canadian Society for Iranian and Persian Studies. She is also an assistant professor of History and Islam at the University of Alberta. She earned her PhD in Religious Studies concentrating on the many convergences and divergences between Islamic ideas and ideals and those of the modern world with an eye on women’s histories.  

To watch the full talk, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj2R_XFNZN4&t=27s