'Kindred Citizens: Food and the Making of the Islamic Republic of Iran'
In Iran, ideas and practices of the family are integral to religious nation making. State elites and supporters (or members of the Basij, Iran’s paramilitary organization) tie the blood of kinship to the blood and sacrifice of Iran-Iraq War martyrs. They harness blood’s relational and sacred properties in museum displays and commemorations to delineate and sanctify an Islamic nation composed of pure, kindred citizens. But blood is not the only substance of kinship that figures in the making of the Islamic Republic. Food, as a substance that is central to Iranian family life, also infuses the grand rituals of state power, helping to create “what should be”—that is, kindred citizens who embody Islamic familial piety, purity, and closeness to God. This lecture draws from 15 months of research in Iran to examine how public and pious food rituals work alongside blood in Iranian state rituals to make the nation and its politics seem “natural,” inevitable, and God given. Dr Wellman will argue that a full spectrum of kinship’s substances, ineffable qualities, acts, and processes can shape and naturalize religious nation-making and query how and why the model of Islamic government advocated by Khomeini remains compelling to a significant portion of Iran’s citizens.
See the following link to book and for more details: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kindred-citizens-food-and-the-making-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-tickets-45287644564.