Since the revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has permitted very few Western scholars to conduct research in the country. Here Julia Huang provides a remarkable account of local tribal Iranian life, depicting a community largely beyond the scope and reach of foreign travellers and the Western media. The Qashqa’i nomads are migrant pastoralists--Huang documents their difficult livelihoods and lifestyles, their society and culture, and 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 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.
