Contemporary debates in social sciences are replete with metaphors of displacement such as diaspora, exile, hybridity, and nomadism. Halleh Ghorashi explores the cultural and political implications of such terms and demonstrates how the social and political contexts of the host countries play a crucial role in influencing the experiences of diasporic communities. Focusing on the life stories of Iranian women whose leftist political activism has led them to exile in the West, she offers at once powerful narratives of cultural dislocation and a compelling critique of social theories that privilege ethnicity over social location. Addressing a wide range of theoretical positions and social discourses, Ghorashi shows how a community of women in exile with the same cultural and political background differ markedly in the way they come to define themselves in the Netherlands and the United States. Through interviews with Iranian women exiles in Amsterdam and Southern California, Ghorashi shows the dynamic and complex process of cultural identification. In presenting the stories of politically leftist women who became homeless in their own country, this book touches upon the question of how people in exile position themselves in space and time. The Iranian women's narratives of both internal and external exile contribute to a new understanding of home that is far more complex and multi-layered than is often assumed. The extensive presence of the author throughout the book as she conveys her own emotional reactions to the research and the women's narratives also contributes to an exceptional work about what women refugees go through before and after they find their place in the new world. In Ways to Survive, Battles to Win, Ghorashi travels with the women of her book as they tell of their lives past and present. A cultural anthropologist, the author carefully balances her personal perspective with a scientific framework that brings past memories and present challenges in a way that will not be forgotten.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating look at immigration and revolution,
By Tori Egherman (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and United States (Hardcover)
For those of you interested in immigration policy, Ghorashi's book will prove a valuable resource for understanding how and why immigrants make a home for themselves in a new country. Her comparison of Dutch and America policies are enlightening. The first is a highly structured and regulated system and the second is more chaotic: a kind of sink or swim policy. Ghorashi's analysis of her selected group: Iranian women leftists, reveals the surprising success of the sink or swim policy. Who would have guessed?On a personal level, I learned so much about my own immigrant relatives from reading the stories and analysis in Ghorashi's book. The insight into the ways in which immigrants create and define "home" and "homeland" helped me better understand my grandparent's relationship to America. I remember how they used to describe Springfield, Illinois as an Eden. As a teen, this confused me, since I found the city incredibly dull. One woman in Ghorashi's book echoes this sentiment in her description of L.A. as paradise. The point is, I have come to understand, that paradise is where one feels safe and at home. What amazed me were the similarities between the experiences of the women Ghorashi studies and the women I grew up with. The fact that more than 80 years separates their immigrations does not seem to matter. Both groups fled countries that had become hostile to them. Both made new homes for themselves in new countries. Both found ways to survive. Through the analysis and the women's stories (told in their own words), I learned so much about what it feels like to fight for change - as these women did when they fought against the Shah's regime - experience disappointment at the betrayal of your ideals - and make a new home. Despite the fact that this book focuses on a narrow group of women, there are general lessons about activism, immigration, and survival. Two thumbs up! (That's all I have.)
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and compelling,
By Tori Egherman (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ways to Survive, Battles to Win: Iranian Women Exiles in the Netherlands and United States (Hardcover)
What amazed me most about this book is the insight it gave me into my own grandparents and great-grandparents who, like the women interviewed in Ghorashi's book, fled countries that had become hostile and dangerous for them. Some of the stories they told me about their own experiences immigrating to America were echoed by the women in this book. More than 80 years separates my relatives and the women here, but the experiences remain similar.In addition, I found the book fascinating because of its look at people in the grips of revolutionary change. Wow! Their experiences with the revolution in Iran, the great hope they had for their country, and the ways in which those hopes were betrayed make for fascinating reading. For people interested in immigration policy, the comparison of the women's experiences in the US and the Netherlands is really insightful. It makes me proud of America's dysfunctional system. I never thought I would say that. I recommend this book.
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