Biography

Parand Danesh is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the School for Advanced Studies in  Social Sciences (EHESS, Paris). Her research focuses on the psychosocial effects of representations of sacrifice in contemporary Iran. Her thesis examines the normative role of the "martyr" figure since the advent of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and its influence on the construction of polarized political identities within Iranian civil society. She is affiliated with the Raymond Aron Center for Sociological and Political Studies (CESPRA) and is currently undertaking a Junior Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin within the Center for the History of Emotions until June 2024. Since 2021, she has been a member of the steering committee of the International Network of Researchers Struggling with Extreme Violence (RICEVE).

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Latest News
Current solo exhibition at the Center for the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin (MPI, Berlin) ⎥ June-October 2023.

Silent Vigils: Unveiling Necropolitics and Martyrdom in Iran-Iraq War Rituals

Silent Vigils was a solo exhibit showcasing my 2018 fieldwork photographs. Through a curated collection of 10 images, attendees were immersed in the gravity and complex dynamics of Muharram's commemorative rituals as well as the deliberate political stagings displayed at Behest-e Zahra necropolis. On the opening day, a discussion was organized to delve into the profound emotions these ritualistic practices elicit, and their role in reinforcing state sovereignty in post-war Iran.