Tina Eftekhar
tek500@york.ac.uk
Believing in God, Morality and Humanity are my values in this unique life. So I've moved from the field of Mechanical engineering (BA in Iran) to "International Human Rights Law" (MA in UK) to protect and promote human rights esp. WOMEN’s rights and elimination of violation against them particularly in Iran. Now by doing my PhD research at Women’s Studies Centre on Iranian Women’s Empowerment in Inter-universal Mysticism, I am looking for opening a space for discussion among different groups of feminists, regarding women’s empowerment and emancipation under the practice of this Mysticism in Iran.
My research aims to investigate the self-perception of Iranian women in relation to Inter-universal Mysticism. Through a form of interactive discussions in focus groups and individual interviews, it will explore why some women choose this particular path of Mysticism. Inter-universal mysticism was founded by Mohammad Ali Taheri thirty years ago in Iran and the ideas have now spread to other parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, Canada, and America. As far as is known, women make up a large percentage of followers in Iran (make up nearly 8o% of the followers which is based on the last statics of its official institution in 2009). This path is thus significant because it helps human achieve perfection and transcendence; a move from the world of plurality to the world of unity. The aim of my research is to assess these women’s understanding of their spirituality, with particular emphasis on if, and how, the women see this spirituality as ‘empowering’ their lives. Therefore, this research gives serious attention to the different and sometimes contradictory voices of women inside this path. In this way, it is hoped to discover in what extent Inter-universal Mysticism may effective in empowering of women and in wider perspective in their both emancipation and union.