In the early 2000s, mainstream international news outlets celebrated the growth of Weblogistan—the online and real-life transnational network of Iranian bloggers—and depicted it as a liberatory site that gave voice to Iranians. As Sima Shakhsari argues in Politics of Rightful Killing, the common assumptions of Weblogistan as a site of civil society consensus and resistance to state oppression belie its deep internal conflicts. While Weblogistan was an effective venue for some Iranians to “practice democracy,” it served as a valuable site for the United States to surveil bloggers and express anti-Iranian sentiment and policies. At the same time, bloggers used the network to self-police and enforce gender and sexuality norms based on Western liberal values in ways that unwittingly undermined Weblogistan's claims of democratic participation. In this way, Weblogistan became a site of cybergovernmentality, where biopolitical security regimes disciplined and regulated populations. Analyzing online and off-line ethnography, Shakhsari provides an account of digital citizenship that raises questions about the internet's relationship to political engagement, militarism, and democracy.

"“Sima Shakhsari has crafted a superb account of the convergence of neoliberal governmentality, social media, and Iranian diasporic cultural productions. A critically compelling and rich narrative by a passionate and brilliant scholar, Politics of Rightful Killing is a significant contribution to the field of gender and sexuality studies, anthropology, and Iranian cyber studies.”" - Persian Carpets: The Nation as a Transnational Commodity

"“A rich on- and off-line ethnographic account of what is now the artifact of techno-optimism and its post-9/11 deployment to promote imperial democracy. Sima Shakhsari's sharp analysis of rightful killing pursued in the service of freedom is a crucial addition to the biopolitical theorizing of gender, sexuality, and empire.”" - The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability

"Sima Shakhsari's innovative new book is a welcome addition to… scholarship, and the most uncompromisingly pessimistic analysis of the politics of the Iranian internet to be published to date." - International Journal of Middle East Studies

"Mixing an exemplary mastery over theory with rigorous close readings of texts in an understudied area of research, Shakhsari’s Politics of Rightful Killing is a highly worthwhile read for anyone interested in the subtle workings of power in cyberspace." - Journal of Middle East Women's Studies

"Sima Shakhsari’s Politics of Rightful Killing is . . . a much-needed contribution to a growing body of scholarship examining the culture, politics, and identity of Iranians living primarily in the West and their relationship to those living in Iran." - GLQ