Mehri Honarbin-Holliday is Senior Research Fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University and Fellow at the Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London. She is the author of Masculinities in Urban Iran (I.B.Tauris, forthcoming).

'This book will make a fresh contribution to the field of Middle East women's studies. It challenges prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions about Iranian women while providing an original and creative way of engaging with the material.' Nadje Al-Ali, The Centre for Gender Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 'This book, based on the lived and complex experiences of a number of women in Iran, is an important contribution to our wider understanding of women's lives in Iran today. The narratives presented give meaning to concepts of identity, agency, and autonomy in a dynamic way not previously seen in [the study] of Iran... timely, readable and well-informed...it is essential reading for academics, activists, and policymakers, and indeed for all women in both Muslim majority and Muslim minority societies.' Dr Elaheh Rostami-Povey, Centre for Media and Film Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 'The book ... gives a powerful sense of anticipation and of the collective ownership of broadened and shared horizons in the minds of Tehrani women. With profound integrity it illuminates Iranian women's intellectual preoccupations and aspirations under the Islamic regime.' Journal of Middle East Women's Studies

• PrefaceIntroduction1. Histories, Transitions and Continuities2. Making Meaning, Acquiring Identities3. Presences4. Visions of a Civil Society5. Arrivals and Departures