How Did Mahsa Amini Become The Key?

From time to time, life takes some unpredictable turns that catch us all off guard.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl from the Kurdish city of Saqez in Iran traveled to the capital to have a few days of fun and visit her relatives. She was apprehended by Morality in Tehran and died under suspicious conditions while in custody.

The way the news spread and the heartbreaking nature of this death, gravely saddened millions of people in Iran. Nationwide protests flared and a full-blown crackdown ensued.

These are not unfamiliar scenes for many middle-aged Iranian people. Over the past 25 years, there have been a number of protests over various social, political, and economical crises. However, this time looks different to many observers. Here are a few points that in my opinion make this round unique by the standards of Iran's protests:

1- Generation Z: This is a fundamental factor, the demographics of this round of protests make it completely different. The majority of individuals on the streets are from Generation Z. This generation is well recognized for its particular characteristic and their different upbringing conditions. The main player is ubiquitous Internet access. The new technologies are the bedrock of their  There is a demanding aspect of societal management of movement. 

2- Woman, Life, Freedom

A central theme of this movement is women demanding their fundamental rights. They feel the regime has robbed them of their innate rights throughout the past four decades. The motive here is captured in the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom". This is a very modern, politically-neutral, and timid type of manifest encapsulating the core values of modern civil society. Coming out of decades of policies crushing middle-class society, facing such a slogan becoming the canonical point of protests is telling.  

3- A Leaderless Movement

This is massive without prominent leadership. The conventional conservative, reformist, and opposition fronts are completely out of the leadership picture and are actually catching up with the slogans and the mindset of protests.

4- The Role of Social Media

As global connectivity soars, the news of the Iranian protest broke despite strict censorship by the regime. The shocking footages, voices, pictures spread to the people, and news agencies in the free world. Social tools such as hashtags were decisive in attracting attention and most online activities were spearheaded toward promoting these hashtags with the canonical one of #MahsaAmini and later #NikaShakarami 

5- Diaspora and Expats joining Iranians Inside Homeland:

Usually, Iranian expats are demonstrating poor collective spirit, communicating and finding the common ground. This time is different. Probably scope and depth of human tragedy, affected people across the political and ideological spectrum alike, Large unprecedented marches in more than 150 cities across the globe with a consistent slogan (Woman. Life. Freedom) is a testament to this evolution.  

While there are some distinct characteristics in this "Woman.Life.Freedom" movement in 2022, there are similarities with the previous civil movements in 2009 and the students' unrest as in both we have the central role of universities and the security measures against these highly influential institutions, shows how much the authorities rate and deter the elites. While this is in continuation of 2009unrests, the government did its best to rattle the foundation of grass root institutions/organizations such as labor unions, or student groups. These were originally designated as valid roots for citizens to engage with policymakers and explain their concerns. The logical outcome of this is that society resorts to violence and a flurry of radical slogans. As a person who was closely witnessing 2009 unrests, I can notice the stark turn in the contents of slogans as they've become extremely radical with profane language targeting the supreme leader. Interesting is that the protestors do not address anyone below the supreme leader of Iran in their slogans and this may suggest the common consensus that all the rest of the political figures in the system are insignificant in deciding the main policies.