Laboratory for Contemporary Iranian Studies

Publications

• Book

  Ravandi-Fadai S.

  Slavery in the Modern Middle East and North Africa Exploitation and Resistance from the 19th Century - Present Day

  What is the nature of slavery as practiced and at times reintroduced over the past two centuries in the Middle East and North Africa? In spite of the rich regional diversity of the areas studied – from Morocco to the Indian Ocean to Iran – this anthology demonstrates clear commonalities across the super-region. These include the regulation of slavery by Islam and local traditions, the absence of a rigid racial hierarchy as in North American slavery, the management of the sexuality and reproductive capacity of female slaves, and views on identity and heritage among descendants of slaves. Authors also examine the economic and theological underpinnings of contemporary slavery and human trafficking.
  
  The book is among the first to focus on slavery across the Islamic world from the 19th century to the present – a period constituting the endgame of institutionalized slavery in the region but also the persistence of forms of de facto enslavement. Each chapter scrutinizes from a different vantage point – institutions, economics, the abolitionist movement, literature, folklore, and the moving image – creating a multi-dimensional picture of the phenomenon.
  
  The authors have mined government archives and statistics, memoirs, interviews, photographs, drawings, songs, cinema and television. Not only are Arabic, Persian and Turkish sources leveraged, but a variety of materials in minor and endangered languages, such as Soqotri, Balochi and Sorani Kurdish, in addition to European languages.

  
  
  
  
  

  L.: Bloomsbury, 2024.

• Article

  Shishkina A., Voskoboynik Y.

  Legal aspects of Islamic education development in Russia

  This article examines the phenomenon of Islamic education within the context of the Russian Federation, focusing on its legal framework and institutional structure. It exam- ines the legal provisions governing the right to religious education and the regulations governing Islamic educational institutions. It provides historical insights, assesses the balance between religious and secular education, and analyzes the legal status of differ- ent levels of Islamic education, including maktabs, madrasas, higher education and postgraduate programs. By contextualizing these aspects within Russia’s broader educa- tional landscape, the article highlights key challenges, regulatory dynamics, and pros- pects affecting the development and future of Islamic education.

  Cogent Education . 2025. Vol. 12. No. 1.

• Book chapter

  Lana Ravandi-Fadai.

  'Ask Her, She is Not Afraid To Tell You': Sexual Enslavement of Yezidi Women by ISIS: causes and aftermath

  In bk.: Slavery in the Modern Middle East and North Africa Exploitation and Resistance from the 19th Century - Present Day. L.: Bloomsbury, 2024. Ch. 10.