Unpacking the Uprising in Iran
A MERGE discussion in cooperation with the Centre Marc Bloch
Date: 10.02.2026
Time: 18:00- 20:00
Place: Tillon-Saal, Center Marc Bloch, Friedrichstraße 191, 10117 Berlin
Unpacking the uprising in Iran
The recent uprising in Iran marks one of the darkest and most consequential moments in the country’s modern history. In January, millions took to the streets across hundreds of cities, only to face an unprecedented massacre carried out under an internet blackout that severed Iranians from one another and from the world. As fragments of testimony and images continue to surface—of mass killings, collective mourning, and everyday resistance—they reveal not only the scale of state violence but also a society that has reached a breaking point. This event responds to that urgent present by situating the uprising within longer histories of struggle in Iran, examining both the continuities of repression and resistance and the discontinuities that make this moment historically distinct.
Panelists:
- Firoozeh Farvardin is a university assistant in the area of Gender and Politics at the University of Vienna. She is also an associate fellow at the International Research Group on Authoritarianism and Counter-Strategies (IRGAC), hosted by Potsdam University and supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
- Maziar Samiee is a research associate at the Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex.
- Nader Talebi is a researcher at BIM, where he leads MERGE, a research group on the Middle East with a focus on mobility and mobilization.
Moderation:
Dana Abdel Fattah is a PhD researcher at Humboldt University and co-head of the Department of Migration and Health at BIM.
