Re-considering Environmental Activism in Iran: Materiality and Social Histories of Nature

Abstract Environmental problems have become increasingly evident in post-revolutionary Iran. As a result, the field of environment has come to be a focus of research studies and technical management in the country. The recent proliferation of scientific analyses of the so-called environment indicates that the schemes of modern science are developing to combat the problems therein. Research findings also suggest, however, that environmental discourses and practices are not entirely reducible only to the terms of the natural sciences; distinctively, differing ideas of “nature” are drawn on to conceptualize differing schemes of environmental activities. This article explores how the materiality of national symbols brings to light particular social histories that reflect on and unfold through environmental discourses and practices encountered in Tehran.