Mohsen Moheimany

Mohsen Moheimany is a PhD student in Political Science and International Relations, Dublin City University, Ireland. His area of interest is civil society and political participation, with a focus on Iran's current politics. With a background of working in reformist political parties and NGOs in Iran, as well as cooperating with media for a decade, He is using his personal network and experience in order to study the policy role of advocacy NGO in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Education:

MA in Public Policy, Nottingham University, United Kingdom - 2012

BA Political Science, B Level, University of Tehran - 2010

Supervisor:

Prof Iain McMenamin

Research Topic:

Identifying Political Opportunities in Iran: Systematic variation in policy networks- the cases of women’s-rights and environmental-protection NGOs.

Research overview:

The trajectory of confrontation between civil society and state in Iran has gone through different stages of contestation and conflicts during last half of decade. The current Iranian political system, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a hybrid regime, creates political opportunities for advocacy NGOs depending on the level of government, the policy sector, and the ideology of the national presidency. Variations in these factors create fundamentally different types of policy networks in different policy sectors, which encounter advocacy NGOs with different constraints and chances. Within every policy networks, there is a different scope for political entrepreneurship by advocacy NGOs that can change the policies in a given sector. The policy actions, and influence, of advocacy NGOs within the policy sectors vary depending on the type of policy network in the policy area, which is largely set by the three factors mentioned above. This argument is sustained by case studies of policy networks at local and national levels, in the women-rights and environmental-protection policy sectors, and across the, politically, Liberal government of Khatami (1997-2005) and the Conservative government of Ahmadinejad (2005-2013). Other hybrid political systems are like Iran: arenas, rather than monoliths. Therefore, we might expect similar variations in the role of advocacy NGOs within them.

Areas of Interest:

The current politics of Iran, authoritarianism and democratization, civil society and advocacy NGO, public policy processes.

Teaching:

2013/2014: Tutor for 'Research Methods' module, 1st years BA students in International Relations.

Academic Presentations:

Academic Essay in BRISMES International Conference
Moheimany, M, “The Political Role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Context of Authoritarian Regime”, June 2013, University College of Dublin, Ireland.

Publications:

Moheimany, M. & Rivetti, P “Iran, onda verde e risacca" in Affari internazionali. Online journal of Affar Internazionally, 15/05/2013, http://www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=2312

Moheimany, M. & Rivetti, P “Upgrading Civil Society in Iran: Dynamics of Adaption” in Middle East Institute, 17th September 2015, http://www.mei.edu/content/map/upgrading-civil-society-iran-dynamics-adaptation

Interview:

Moheimany, M. “Powerful civil society does not lead to democracy” (in Farsi Language), interview with Etemaad (Iranian nation-wide newspaper), December 2014, republished at ISCA (Iranian Student Club Agency) website. Available at: http://iscanews.ir/news/168117/

Email: Mohsen.Moheimany2@mail.dcu.ie

Twitter: @m_moheimany