Green Movement and the Myth of Shame of the Middle Class

Feminist School

A new movement called the “Green Movement” has recently been born in our country. This newborn movement has its own specific demands, its known representatives and ideological leadership, and a vast and specific network of executive forces and activists. It also has certain technological and digital capabilities and its specific mechanisms to connect its members and mobilize them. Considering the creativity and potential of this civil movement in creating “composite characters”, and since its demands are “more general” than other movements such as the women’s, students’, labour and teachers movement, and ethnic minorities, it certainly has the capacity to mobilize a more general public. Because the civil demands of this movement revolve around the direct relationship between the citizens and the government, in the long run it has this weakness (or potential) to turn violent as a result of injecting or changing its body with revolutionary “objectives”. Although the reality of its structure and nature of its demands, and in particular its anti violence stance taken by its activists, show that this movement, like women’s movement, is a reform movement because it pursues the “civil demands” of broad sections of the population (different layers of the middle class) to have the right to participate in deciding on the ruling administration within the frame work of lawful and civil struggles.

This movement took shape by publicizing these demands through the use of peaceful methods and imposing its demands on the government. Therefore, the foundation of this movement and its components make it one of the reform movements, just like the women’s movement. However, this movement is under threat from two sides; first, it is threatened by radical and extremist groups (right wing extremists) within the ruling circle that are trying to instigate more violence and shut down all breathing windows – by claiming the theory of velvet revolution – and push the Green Movement towards a “revolutionary/overthrowing attitude” which would provide the perfect ammunition for a “total and historical elimination” of the reform movement in the country. The second threat or danger is from another group who would like to impose revolutionary manners on the Green Movement. This group lies outside the ruling circle and incidentally is part of the opposition. The conscious part of this opposition group is a force that, despite the failure of radical revolutions and the costly and violent consequences of the governments that came to power through revolution, still believes that “radical revolution” holds the key to solving the problems in Iran and the entire world. Certainly my remarks are not aimed at this group who is conscious of its objectives. (Read more...) ...by Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani.