Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution
By Pardis Mahdavi
Stanford University Press £23.95, 344 pages

Since the revolution of 30 years ago, Iran’s population has exploded. Out of 69m Iranians today, two-thirds are under the age of 30 and this group, by sheer dint of numbers, will shape the future of the Islamic Republic. These “children of the revolution” are generally well-educated and plugged into global youth culture. The Islamic regime has provided education but scant employment opportunities; Shariah law allows them few sanctioned pastimes; and urbanisation and changes in the class system have altered the social landscape. Nowhere is Iran’s transition to modernity more obvious than in the challenges facing this generation.