Sociology
Elahe Abniki; Ahmad Ghiasvand
Abstract
This study sought to investigate the lifestyle changes of Tehran’s citizens. The method was survey. The statistical population was all citizens over 15 years in Tehran in 1402, and 404 were selected as a sample using a multi-stage sampling method. The findings indicated that the lifestyle changes ...
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This study sought to investigate the lifestyle changes of Tehran’s citizens. The method was survey. The statistical population was all citizens over 15 years in Tehran in 1402, and 404 were selected as a sample using a multi-stage sampling method. The findings indicated that the lifestyle changes of Tehran’s citizens have happened in three key dimensions: articulated panic, networked care, and the growth of social activism. Based on the dimension of articulated panic, the feeling of abandonment and pandemic panic has become a fundamental part of the lifestyle of Tehran’s citizens. Based on the dimension of networked care, medicalization of life, avoiding togetherness, virtualization of social life, and physical self-care have become fundamental parts of the lifestyle of Tehran’s citizens. Finally, in the dimension of the growth of social activism, environmental sensitivity and social responsibility have become vital parts of the new lifestyle. In general, the most remarkable change in the lifestyle of Tehran’s citizens has occurred in the indices of “avoiding together” (-0.418), “pandemic panic” (0.413), and “virtualization of social life” (0.283). The slightest changes were related to the indicators of “feeling abandoned” (0.096) and “medicalization of life” (0.114).
Sociology
Sediqeh Piri; Ahmad Ghiasvand; Mohammad Basirat
Abstract
One of the significant socio-political ruptures in Afghanistan occurred when the Taliban seized power for the second time. This development disrupted the country's political structure and social order, plunging society into chaos. Among the various social groups, military personnel experienced ...
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One of the significant socio-political ruptures in Afghanistan occurred when the Taliban seized power for the second time. This development disrupted the country's political structure and social order, plunging society into chaos. Among the various social groups, military personnel experienced particularly challenging conditions, as they found themselves facing those they had fought against for years, leaving them with no choice but to flee. This article aims to explore the narratives of this group's shifting social status and position. The research field includes 20 military individuals who fled to Iran following the collapse of the Afghan government. The study employs thematic analysis. Key theoretical concepts include stratification, status, status anxiety, habitus, and social trajectory. The overarching themes identified in the study are: the nightmare of retaliation; arduous and monotonous labor; the emergence of hysteresis habitus; longing for lost values; statelessness and the gradual demise of a soldier; feelings of helplessness and the loss of life's meaning; and displacement and social distress. Military personnel endure a wide range of psychological and emotional injuries that, while not fatal like war, are nonetheless traumatic. The profound collapse resulting from the erosion of their core values and status constitutes one such traumatic impact.
Keywords: Military Personnel, Afghanistan, War, Migrant, Status, Habitus, Iran.
Problem Statement
Afghanistan has experienced extensive political, social, and economic changes in recent decades. With the fall of the previous government and the takeover by the Taliban, fundamental changes occurred in social and political structures, pushing many social groups, particularly military personnel, to the margins. The military forces of the former government, who had fought for twenty years against the Taliban to secure the country, now face serious physical and social risks. These developments forced them to migrate. Upon entering Iran, they found themselves in a position lower than their previous social status. This research seeks to explore the status changes of these military migrants and examines how these transformations have impacted their lives.
Theoretical Framework
This study draws on Max Weber's theories of social stratification, the concept of social status, and Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus.
Research Methodology
This qualitative research uses thematic analysis. The study sample includes 20 military personnel who migrated to Iran after the fall of the Afghan government. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed in three stages: description, reduction, and interpretation.
Findings
The study identified seven key themes:
- Nightmare of Retaliation: Migrant military personnel suffer from threats to their lives and social standing from the Taliban. Many of them, even in Iran, do not feel secure and are fearful for their lives and their families.
- Hard and Monotonous Work: Former soldiers in Iran take on exhausting jobs such as construction labor, plastic recycling, and security work, which have no connection to their previous skills and status.
- Emergence of Incompatible Habitus: Losing their military jobs and entering new work environments with different expectations and values has created many inconsistencies for them.
- Longing for Lost Values: Participants consider the loss of social status and military ideals as the greatest blow to their lives.
- Statelessness and Gradual Death: The distance from their homeland and the lack of belonging to the new community has created a sense of identity loss and grief among the migrant military personnel.
- Feelings of Helplessness and Meaninglessness in Life: Former soldiers have lost hope and motivation to continue living due to unfavorable economic and social conditions.
- Displacement and Social Distress: Social pressures, negative labels, and feelings of rejection from the host community have exposed them to psychological and social challenges.
Conclusion
The political and social transformations in Afghanistan, especially after the fall of the previous government and the rise of the Taliban, have had profound and widespread effects on various social groups. These changes have specifically affected the military personnel of the former government, causing fundamental shifts in their social, economic, and psychological positions. Former soldiers, who once held high status in the previous Afghan government, lost their social status after the collapse of the government and were forced to migrate to Iran. In the host community, they are no longer seen as important or valued, and most of them engage in non-specialized and hard jobs such as construction labor, plastic recycling, or security work. This sudden change has led to an identity collapse and status anxiety.
According to Bourdieu's theory, the habitus formed during their military career has become ineffective in the new environment. Former soldiers, accustomed to order, authority, and respect, now face disorder, instability, and scarcity of resources in their new environment. This incompatibility between their expectations and the new reality has led to psychological, social, and emotional crises. For these military personnel, the concept of homeland is central and sacred, and losing it has brought a sense of statelessness and exile. This feeling, compounded by the distance from their families and concerns about the safety of their relatives from Taliban threats, has caused significant psychological distress.
Migrant military personnel, who once saw themselves as protectors of national values, now live without a homeland and without meaningful social identity. Former soldiers are facing a range of psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, and a sense of meaninglessness. These issues stem from difficult economic conditions, loss of social status, and the feeling of rejection by the host community. Negative social labels, such as being considered a deserter or traitor, further exacerbate these psychological wounds.
Exhausting and difficult work, low wages, and job insecurity have placed heavy economic pressures on the military personnel. Taliban threats against former military personnel and their families, not only in Afghanistan but also in Iran, have kept them in a constant state of fear. These threats, especially for those who served in elite military units, have turned into a "nightmare of retaliation."
Overall, this research shows that Afghan military migrants have fallen victim to broad political and social transformations that have stripped them of their previous social status and position. While the host community also faces numerous challenges, the implementation of coordinated programs to support this vulnerable group can help alleviate the consequences of the migration crisis and provide a foundation for their gradual reintegration into a meaningful life.
Ahmad Ghiasvand
Abstract
This study aimed to describe and explain the values and attitudes of women about gender behaviors in Tehran. The theoretical framework of the study has used Ajzen and his colleagues, Julian Rotter, and Chalabi's theory of behavior. The survey method has been used for research and its statistical population ...
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This study aimed to describe and explain the values and attitudes of women about gender behaviors in Tehran. The theoretical framework of the study has used Ajzen and his colleagues, Julian Rotter, and Chalabi's theory of behavior. The survey method has been used for research and its statistical population is "All girls and women of 15 years and more of Tehran in 1399". The data collection is done through the questionnaire tool and the method of sampling is multi -step sampling; According to Cochran formula, the sample size is estimated at 1200 people. According to the theoretical framework of the research, gender behaviors were considered as dependent variables and gender identity, meaning, opportunity and norms as independent variables. The findings of the study describe the attitude of marriage, the role of maternal, fertility, employment, and the tendency to educate women. Among married women the most important concern is maintaining family life; in contrast, the marriage is the least important for single girls. In the final analysis, it can be concluded that the extrabiological pattern of women's gender behaviors in the form of feminist and individualistic values and attitudes is overwhelmed by the biological pattern.
Rabee Ali; Saeedeh Amini; Ahmad Ghiyasvand
Abstract
Drawing on thinkers such as William Davis, Sarah Ahmad, and Sam Binkley, we have aimed to depict the characteristics of happiness discourse in Iran. So, by using the method of Fairclough discourse analysis, we examined the various issues of Success Magazine over the past thirty years at three levels ...
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Drawing on thinkers such as William Davis, Sarah Ahmad, and Sam Binkley, we have aimed to depict the characteristics of happiness discourse in Iran. So, by using the method of Fairclough discourse analysis, we examined the various issues of Success Magazine over the past thirty years at three levels of description, interpretation, and explanation. At the level of description, we found that frequently used words and concepts such as "happiness", "success", "stress", "peace" and the like are used in positive/negative friendships. Also, metaphors like "secret", "step", "way" and the like are used in these texts, which have a one-sided and preaching structure. At the level of interpretation, we found that in this discourse, man is reduced to mind and energy. The relationship between him and the world is explained through a unique combination of scientific discourses such as psychology and physics with a quasi-religious-mystical approach. At the level of explanation, we found the expansion of the market-based economy, the growth of the middle class, globalization, and consequently the emergence of "self" in its modern meaning as the leading causes for the prevalence of this discourse in Iran.
Ahmad Ghiasvand; Zeinab Hajilu
Abstract
In the last three to four decades girls in the social and cultural change of Iranian society have experienced different opportunities and restrictions to start life. In this regard, what can be proposed as a general issue of this research is to understand single lives experienced by girls, and their ...
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In the last three to four decades girls in the social and cultural change of Iranian society have experienced different opportunities and restrictions to start life. In this regard, what can be proposed as a general issue of this research is to understand single lives experienced by girls, and their contexts and challenges, so that it can be theorized through the method of grounded theory. Participants in this study were girls of 30 years and older in Tehran in 1397. Sampling was based on the theoretical sampling and purposive sampling and, 22 individual interviews were conducted with two groups of individuals. According to coding processes the main category is extracted as a central phenomenon is "Girls Pantomime in marriage'' and also, the decision-making process of girls exposed to marriage opportunities is categorized In four scenes as: not recounting marriage, not involving girls in marriage, delaying marriage. Such attitude of marriages provides synchronicity of decision, hesitation, delay for marriage. In turn, it provokes strategies with themes "experiencing separation and segregation" by girls. Such experiences, as well as strategies, have consequences and challenges in the form of continuing the social breath by pursuing professional advancement, praising piety, abandoning the cactus of life and the horrors of old age.
ahmad ghyasvand
Abstract
دین در جامعه ایرانی با توجه به شرایط تاریخی، اجتماعی و سیاسی آن، از جایگاه بالایی برخوردار است. پژوهش در حوزه ارزشها و رفتار دینی مردم، در جهت درک تحولات و از سویی پیشبینی ...
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دین در جامعه ایرانی با توجه به شرایط تاریخی، اجتماعی و سیاسی آن، از جایگاه بالایی برخوردار است. پژوهش در حوزه ارزشها و رفتار دینی مردم، در جهت درک تحولات و از سویی پیشبینی تغییرات آن، متضمن انجام مطالعات مستمر در طی سالهای مختلف میباشد. مطالعه حاضر به روش تحلیل ثانویه انجام پذیرفته و سعی دارد یافتههای حاصل از پیمایشهای ملی مختلف طی سالهای 1353 تا 1390 را مورد تحلیل قرار دهد. بنابراین با عنایت به دادههای پژوهشهای قبلی موجود، دو بعد رفتار و باور دینی در چهار سطح فردی، جمعی، سیاسی و اجتماعی مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. در این مطالعه برای تحلیل رفتار و باور مردم ایران از دو رویکرد سکولار شدن جامعه با تکیهبر نظرات «پیتر برگر» و نیز تعبیر کارکردی و عملکردی دین از نظریه «لوهمان» استفاده شده است. در مجموع یافتههای حاصل نشان میدهد که چندان تفاوتی مبنی بر افزایش یا کاهش چشمگیر در رفتارها و احساسات دینی ـ فردی مردم ایران مشاهده نمیگردد. به عبارتی، جامعه دچار نوعی «تثبیت کارکردی» شده و از این حیث افراد جامعه همانقدر مذهبیاند که در گذشته بودهاند. بنابراین تلقی سکولارشدن جامعه، قضاوتی ناصحیح است. البته تفاوت در میزان دینداری جوانان با بزرگسالان و مسنترها را میتوان ناشی از اقتضائات سنی آنها دانست. در سطح باورها و رفتارهای جمعی، عیلرغم عدم وجود دادههایی مبنی بر مقایسه آن با دهههای گذشته، ولی در مقایسه با آنچه در اوایل انقلاب و دوران بعد از آن ملاحظه میگردد، نوعی «تغییر کارکردی در حوزه رفتارها و باورهای دینی ـ جمعی» را میتوان استنباط نمود. در واقع کاهش در رفتارهای دینی جمعی آنهم از نوع رسمی بیشتر بازتاب تغییرات دوران و کارکردهای خاص خود، بهویژه در زمان انقلاب و دوران جنگ است که نوعی نمونه آرمانی «دین دوران» را بر اذهان و آرمانهای مذهبی به یاد میآورد. در نهایت مقایسه رفتارها و باورهای دینی سیاسی و اجتماعی نوعی «قطبی شدن عملکرد دین» را در دو حوزه سیاسی و اجتماعی نشان میدهد. به عبارتی نوعی «سیاستزدایی از دین» یا «سیاسی شدن دین» و نیز «اخلاق زدایی دینی» یا «اخلاقی کردن دینی» را شاهدیم. ازاینرو، تعبیر سکولارشدن در این دو حوزه برداشتی دوگانه است.
