File(s) not publicly available
Top-down or bottom-up? Towards a theory of change for human rights practice in Iran
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, as in other highly restricted environments, there are major problems with employing human rights discourse to pursue change. Local proponents of human rights have been subject to intense harassment, intimidation and repression at the hands of the regime. They also face internal challenges around leadership, organisation and capacity. One way of addressing these problems is to work towards grounding human rights work in Iran within a ‘theory of change’: that is, the strategic linking of a goal or concept (the theory) with the mechanisms or methodologies that are designed to deliver on the promise of the goal or concept (the change). Building on work by Paul Gready and Wouter Vandenhole (Human Rights and Development in the New Millennium: Towards a Theory of Change. Routledge, 2014) on agents of change and their key entry points, this chapter explores two distinct approaches to change in Iran: the political reform movement, exhibiting a top-down/inside-track approach; and the women’s movement’s One Million Signatures Campaign, exhibiting a bottom-up/outside track approach. The authors consider a series of fundamental factors put forward by Rosalind Eyben et al. (Development in Practice 18, no. 2: 201–12, 2008) underpinning the development of a theory of change: objectives, targets, strategies, constraints, roles, relationships and context.
History
Title of book
Human rights and agents of change in Iran: towards a theory of changeSeries
Studies in Iranian politicsChapter number
1Pagination
3 - 24Publisher
Palgrave MacmillanPlace of publication
SingaporePublisher DOI
ISBN-13
978-981-10-8823-0Language
engPublication classification
B1 Book chapterCopyright notice
2018, The AuthorsExtent
10Editor/Contributor(s)
Rebecca Barlow, Shahram AkbarzadehUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
Islamic Republic of Iranhuman rights practiceHuman rights and drivers of change in IranIran’s legal frameworkInside track approach to change in IranIran’s people’s tribunalGrassroots justice in IranModernisation from below in IranLiberal multiculturalism in IranWomen’s campaigns in post-reform IranIranian Student Movement under Rouhani governmentEnvironmental activism in IranHuman rights practice in IranSocial SciencesPolitical ScienceSocial IssuesSocial Sciences, InterdisciplinaryGovernment & LawSocial Sciences - Other TopicsREFORM MOVEMENTREPRESSIONACTIVISMENVIRONMENTALISMIDENTITYPOLITICSFEMINISMPROTESTWOMEN