The realities of growing up under an Islamic Regime, as presented in Marajane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”, can seem a jarring contrast for readers who have grown up in Western countries never having experienced first-hand the impact of war and revolution. It is easy to read Satrapi’s recount of a troubling and traumatic childhood and to feel far removed from the realities of un-democratic or oppressive governments. Not that readers are necessarily apathetic—just that they may not be able to relate to what the author has experienced. I would like to argue however, that although many of the specific undertakings of the government (such as public execution) are not universal, the broader and more overarching themes are. More specifically, that this idea of government surveillance as it pertains to control is an issue present in western societies as well.
In the book, Satrapi recounts the sudden and quite drastic increase of surveillance and regulation that accompanied the rise of the Iranian Regime. As the party held much more fundamentalist Islamic viewpoints, they enforced stricter regulations in regard to Sharia Law. These included, but were not limited to, a ban of alcohol, parties and even picnics.[1] The enforcement of these regulations was dependent on an increase in government surveillance. The regime was watching its citizens to ensure adherence to the proper standards.
In North America, we often do not perceive this same kind of “watchman state” wherein the government consistently monitors us to ensure our obedience. We see ourselves as free from the confines of a “Big Brother” type government observance and regulation. Although it is true that western societies are generally less regulated than the regime Satrapi discusses, I would argue that we also endure large amounts of government surveillance and that that prevalence is a very pressing issue for the autonomy of citizens universally.
Not too long ago, the National Security Agency in the United States was put under fire for claims made by former employee Edward Snowden. Snowden disclosed disturbing realities of the ways in which the NSA was monitoring US citizens. He revealed that a program called PRISM is being used to intercept 600 million civilian communications daily[2]. These include, but are not limited to, phone calls, emails, texts, and skype conversations[3]. Citizens are being monitored on an extremely large scale regardless of whether or not they are even suspected of illicit activity.[4] This calls in to question what type of control over citizens could potentially be gained from the possession of this information. Even though this example pertains to the USA specifically, Canada is so influenced by the undertakings of the American government that this surveillance very likely affects Canada as well. The NSA is not barred from monitoring Canada, and there is nothing to say the Canadian government is not conducting similar surveillance.
One of the NSA’s documented areas of interest was the “WikiLeaks” website. The agency was said to be tracking the IP addresses of both authors of articles and visitors to the site.[5] Since WikiLeaks is a site that is very much concerned with government accountability, this interest has dangerous implications. Were the NSA to decide to in any way attempt to prosecute visitors to this site, they would have the information necessary to do so. These surveillance abilities place a concerning amount of power into the hands of the government. Millions of citizens’ faces, browsing data, and text conversations are being monitored every day. Even if the NSA strictly uses the data to prevent potential terrorist threats, they are using mass surveillance to impose authority and control over citizens, which was the goal of the Iranian regime as well.
A culture of mass government surveillance is a concept presented in “Persepolis” and it is a very real issue in North America as well as in Iran. Although the execution is different, the basic concept remains the same—governments watch citizens on a large scale in order to enforce dominance and assert control. It is easy to view western society as a stark contrast to the rule in Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”, however, we may not be as far removed as we think.
[1] “What Is It like to Live under Islamic State?” The Week UK, www.theweek.co.uk/middle-east/islamic-state/60078/what-is-it-like-to-live-under-islamic-state-rule.
[2] “Edward Snowden: Leaks That Exposed US Spy Programme.” BBC News, BBC, 17 Jan. 2014, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964.
[3] Aid, Matthew M. “inside the Nsa.” The Independent, 2013.
[4] Ackerman, Spencer, and James Ball. “Optic Nerve: Millions of Yahoo Webcam Images Intercepted by GCHQ.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Feb. 2014, www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo.
[5] Theintercept. “Snowden Documents Reveal Covert Surveillance and Pressure Tactics Aimed at WikiLeaks and Its Supporters.” The Intercept, 18 Feb. 2014, theintercept.com/2014/02/18/snowden-docs-reveal-covert-surveillance-and-pressure-tactics-aimed-at-wikileaks-and-its-supporters/.