Anthropology
Mohammadsaeed Zokaei
Abstract
Structural, value, historical and global transformations in the last 50 years in Iran have provided youths with new meanings and experiences and have posed them as an important player for understanding socio economic and political dynamics of Iranian society. Relying on large scale representative ...
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Structural, value, historical and global transformations in the last 50 years in Iran have provided youths with new meanings and experiences and have posed them as an important player for understanding socio economic and political dynamics of Iranian society. Relying on large scale representative surveys conducted in the last decades and also drawing on some historical documents, the present paper aims to present an analysis of changes in contemporary values and lifestyles of Iranian youth and to draw the trends it has gone through. Policies, strategies and important currents like adopting western styles of development, social differentiation, discursive and ideological conflicts, imposed war, globalization, expansion of new information and communication technologies are amongst major backgrounds transforming the status of youth in Iran. While suggesting the impacts of global youth culture, the above changes are also entangled with and influenced by historical and local conditions. In sum, an assessment of historical value transformations simultaneously manifests elements of change and continuity. IntroductionHistorical, structural and global transformations in the last 50 years in Iran have provided youths with new meanings and experiences and have posed them as important players in understanding socio economic and political dynamics of Iranian society. The current paper aims to draw a concise picture of youth culture transformations in the last half century in Iran and to explain the major trends according to a comparative analysis some national survey data on selective dimensions of values and lifestyles (reference points, national and religious identifications, leisure styles and participation values).Conceptual frameworkThe conceptual framework draws on major trends and transformations that have been occurring during 1340 and 1350 {1960-1970}. This period is a time when modern and powerful youth emerges in Iran. The relative establishment of political governance, expansion of commercial ties with the west, an increase in oil revenues, increasing migrations from rural to urban areas, formation of new institutions offering cultural and welfare services to the youth, the expansion of popular culture infrastructures (shopping centers, sport centers, cinemas, parks and recreational centers, public libraries and so on), are amongst the major developments that together boosted youths positions and enabled them to get more involved in the socio-cultural currents of the society.MethodsA systematic review of the both research literature dealing with youths’ values and lifestyles and youth periodicals in 1340 and 1350 along with an analysis of some national surveys conducted in the last four decades have been undertaken. The surveys both relate to those specifically designed for measuring youth attitudes and values (mostly by Iranian National Youth Organization/ Sport Ministry) and those designed for all adult age groups. In the case of the latter, care has been taken to take a sub samples as close to the youth samples as possible (those aged 15 to 29).FindingsThe findings rely on the trends of changes in the values and lifestyles of youth on themes and items like family and generational relationships, national-religious values, leisure values and participative values. On generational values, surveys suggest that generational contracts amongst age groups continues to be strong. These is no indication of severe tensions among generations and the relationships amongst youth and their parents instead tends toward mutual understanding and cooperation. The picture, however, is totally different when it comes to the judgements generations make of formal institutions and political officials.On religious and national values, the comparison of data suggests that national and religious identity categories are rather exclusively defined by youth. In general, despite the relevance of religious values, the ritual dimensions of religion are less important for youth. Similarly, a growth in nationalistic and cosmopolitan values can vividly be observed from the recent surveys. On leisure styles and values, trends suggest a rapid expansion in (new) media consumption from the 1380 onwards. In fact, digital leisure as the major time use of Iranian youth allow them to complement and compensate for some shortages or constraints they face in real life (particularly for some under privileged groups). On the other hand, social networks have rapidly changed Iranian youths’ leisure tastes, needs and emotional experiences. In spite of some opportunities obtained, excessive reliance on the network tends to deter youth from seeking entertainments requiring more skills and creativity.And finally on participative values, the trends amongst Iranian youth are much similar to the global trends. A decline in political trust, a sense of unpredictability towards future and a sense of exclusion negatively affect youths’ tendencies to engage into more participation.ConclusionStructural, value, historical and global transformations in the last 50 years have turned youth from a marginal and problematic category into a strategic, sensitive and crucial phenomenon in Iran. While suggesting the impacts of global youth cultures, the above changes are also entangled with and influenced by historical and local conditions. Diversities in choices, opportunities, interpretations and representations have provided youth with exceptional opportunities for crossing youth cultural boundaries and choosing personal styles. Fluidity and diversity in the choices and fields of action have potentially created diverse venues of practicing youth. However, cultural values in Iranian society continue to be dominated by structural forces and conditions.
Sociology
Somayeh Rahmani; aboutorab talebi; Mohammadsaeed Zokaei
Abstract
Subjectivity is the reflexive experience of awareness and individual agency in interaction with oneself and with others in the real, symbolic, and institutional realms. This study aims to comprehend the social and semantic complexities of the subjectivity of Kurdish women. The research employed ...
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Subjectivity is the reflexive experience of awareness and individual agency in interaction with oneself and with others in the real, symbolic, and institutional realms. This study aims to comprehend the social and semantic complexities of the subjectivity of Kurdish women. The research employed theoretical sampling and in-depth individual interviews with 43 Kurdish women, supplemented by the formation of a focus group consisting of six individuals, within the interpretive-constructivist approach and grounded theory method framework. The findings reveal that the subjectivity of Kurdish women can be grasped through the central phenomenon of suspension. This experience was categorized into four concepts: suspension of cognition and agency, suspension of lived experience, conscious suspension of fear, and suspension as a strategy. Contextual conditions and institutional relations encompass normative institutions, regulatory institutions, minority status, and economic status while intervening conditions include experiences of subjugation, social connections, and available resources. Three types of strategies emerged: protection strategy, resistance strategy, and negotiation. Ultimately, this study demonstrates the intricate nature of subjectivity in Kurdish women's experiences, depicting it as fluid, mixed, and multifaceted, and existing within three categories of female subjectivity, passive-unembodied-internal subjectivity vs. embodied/active subjectivity, and delocalized subjectivity.
Keywords: Subjectivity, Suspension Experience, Power Relations, Lived Experience, Gender.
Introduction
This study focuses on the subjectivity of Kurdish women in Iran This study focuses on the subjectivity of Kurdish women in Iran. There has been a noticeable shift in attitudes, roles, and gender relations within Iranian society, with women now taking a more prominent role in the public sphere and challenging traditional gender norms. The increasing utilization of transnational communication and social networks has reduced governmental control over social relations, leading to the emergence of new power dynamics and associated conflicts. The intricate intersection of gender, ethnicity, and politics poses a significant challenge in exploring the subjectivity of Kurdish women in Iran. This research aims to investigate how to comprehend, interpret, and transform the subjectivity of Kurdish women within a specific social context characterized by institutionalized social powers.
Theoretical Framework
This study relies theoretically and conceptually on social constructionism and interpretation. According to this perspective, subjectivity is socially constructed, dependent on time, text, and social context, and it continually evolves. It is intersubjective and closely linked to power dynamics and resistance to domination. Individuals actively interpret phenomena, assign meaning to them, and subsequently act based on this understanding. Concepts such as reflexive awareness, practical awareness, and rethinking in Anthony Giddens' theory, as well as concepts of capital, habitus, and social field in Pierre Bourdieu's theory, are instrumental in framing the concept of subjectivity. Additionally, from a perspective theory standpoint, women's subjectivity is constructed by their social and historical position. Those occupying marginal positions in society may offer unique insights into power relations and social structures. Finally, intersectionality theory offers valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of gender, power, and resistance within society. It underscores that women's experiences of hegemony and resistance are diverse and not uniform.
Materials and Methods
The methodology employed in this research is grounded theory, drawing from the constructivist approach outlined by Charms (1995). The primary focus of the inquiry is Kurdish women in Iran. Sample selection follows a theoretical and purposeful sampling method. Data collection comprised individual and focused interviews, supplemented in some cases by participant observation. The interviews were conducted in-depth and followed a semi-structured format. The final sample selection was based on the centrality of the recurring and pivotal phenomenon identified in this research, termed the "suspension experience." Subsequent analysis utilized open, focused, and theoretical coding techniques. The research's validity was ensured through triangulation, facilitating multiple perspectives, documenting interviewees' reactions, and reflections on initial interpretations. Care was taken to offer comprehensive explanations, incorporate quotations, highlight diverse viewpoints on topics, and meticulously attend to detail.
Results
Based on the findings of this research, Kurdish women's subjectivity can be comprehended through the lens of the suspension experience, which emerges as a central phenomenon. This experience is elucidated through four key concepts: suspension of cognition and agency, suspension of lived experience, conscious suspension of fear, and suspension as a strategic approach.
Contextual conditions encompass categories such as normative institutions, regulatory institutions, minority status, and economic status. Intervening conditions are factors that accelerate, facilitate, maintain, or alter subjectivity through the experience of suspension, which serves as the central category in this research. Here, four main theoretical categories were identified: institutional relations (including family, educational, and governmental institutions), experiences of subjugation and oppression (with an emphasis on violence and discrimination), social connections (with a focus on non-family interactions), and available resources (with an emphasis on cultural, social, and economic capital).
Strategies refer to the methods that Kurdish women use to cope with their suspension experiences and optimize their conditions. The strategies of women activists are divided into three components: protection strategies, resistance strategies, and negotiation strategies. Social frustration, empowerment, and a reduced sense of social belonging emerge as consequences of the suspension experience.
The characteristics resulting from the suspension experience are multifaceted and intertwined. Kurdish women's subjectivity is divided into three areas: female subjectivity, passive-unembodied-internal subjectivity vs. embodied/active subjectivity, and delocalized subjectivity. Delocalized subjectivity requires the integration of pre-existing structural and identity elements with a rethought understanding by Kurdish women.
Conclusion
Given the prevailing social atmosphere in Iranian society and Kurdish women's self-awareness of their position, they undergo a form of suspension, which appears as a gap between action and reality, despite often clear boundaries. This gap, delineated by the women themselves in their narratives, seems to be widening over time. Centering on the experience of suspension is crucial for gaining insights into aspects of latent subjectivity or how it remains concealed before emerging. The properties stemming from the suspension experience are fluid and multifaceted, enabling individuals to navigate between various bases and social situations, offering opportunities for resistance at the intersection of constraints.
Simin Veisi; Ardeshir Entezari; Saeed Zokaei; Ali Akbar Tajmazinani
Abstract
Our purpose in this research is to identify the types, strategies and consequences of constructing of justice. Most of the definitions of justice are made by youth and in the Iranian virtual space. Therefore, the main method is virtual ethnography and the data was analyzed by semiotic reading and thematic ...
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Our purpose in this research is to identify the types, strategies and consequences of constructing of justice. Most of the definitions of justice are made by youth and in the Iranian virtual space. Therefore, the main method is virtual ethnography and the data was analyzed by semiotic reading and thematic analysis. Types include agentic/critical, responsible, utopian, individualistic and national/transnational justice. Distributive, procedural and interactional justice are the most represented. Although epistemic justice is not expressed directly, it is seen in most definitions. Similarities can be seen between some aspects of the Islamic definition of justice with the Marxist, human rights, and liberal definitions of justice, although the latest definition simultaneously emphasizes individualism. There are strategies such as integrating the definitions of justice, iconizing, the role of power with various discourses, and resisting it in virtual space which has led to elitist definitions of justice, virtual agency of users due to the lack of direct possibility to bargain with power, dual otherizing, resistance to otherizing, and the spread of negative emotions. There was a lack of space in the dialogue between the youth and the power around justice.
Mohammadsaeed Zokaei
Abstract
The interface of culture, politics and agency in global and transnational levels has turned diaspora studies into an attractive and important theoretical and empirical area. Analyzing diaspora requires employing multilayered analytical and conceptual levels and attending to diverse structural, historical ...
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The interface of culture, politics and agency in global and transnational levels has turned diaspora studies into an attractive and important theoretical and empirical area. Analyzing diaspora requires employing multilayered analytical and conceptual levels and attending to diverse structural, historical and technological contexts. Focusing on cosmopolitanism experience and thought as a core and strategic concept for understanding diasporic identity, the present paper aims to clarify on processes, mechanisms, diversity, obstacles and constraints of cosmopolitan experiences amongst migrants. It is argued that, post-structural cultural theory, post-colonialism and feminism by employing a wide range of concepts, methods and disciplinary premises have big potentials explaining opportunities and limitations with which international migrants encounter.
Alireza Salehi; Mohammadsaeed Zokaei; Ebrahim Ekhlasi
Abstract
The medical relationship between a physician and their patient is unequal. The patient is in an urgent need to make a contract with the physician which includes the acceptance of the treatment plan and the payment for such treatment. However, The physician does not have the same urgency. This unequal ...
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The medical relationship between a physician and their patient is unequal. The patient is in an urgent need to make a contract with the physician which includes the acceptance of the treatment plan and the payment for such treatment. However, The physician does not have the same urgency. This unequal situation may lead to misuse of power by the physician. The results of this critical ethnographic study, extracted from semi-structured interviews with a number of patients and physicians in the city of Tehran, show that five models for physicians' authority may appear in a doctor-patient relationship: Personal authority, being the extension of physician's authority in social sites other than medical practice. Coercive authority, constructed by neglecting the lived body. Authoritarianism, which is the result of manipulating patients' cognition. Juridical authority, which relies on doctor-patient protocols and civil rights, and finally, empathetic authority, which is based on a personal connection with the patient.
Sociology
Mohamad Saeed Zokaei; Mehran Solati
Abstract
One of the fundamental concerns in the political sociology of any society is the nature of government in that society. Governments have various economic, social, cultural and political natures. In the present paper, the effect of Iran’s peripheral position in the global system on the transformation ...
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One of the fundamental concerns in the political sociology of any society is the nature of government in that society. Governments have various economic, social, cultural and political natures. In the present paper, the effect of Iran’s peripheral position in the global system on the transformation of government-nation relations during the first Pahlavi reign is studied. The purpose of the study is to examine the necessary measures of the Pahlavi government with regards to its peripheral position, and to discuss its nature and features. Firstly, the assumption of the authors in this paper is that the economic reconstruction of the Pahlavi government has been in line with harmonizing Iran’s economy with the requirements of the global capitalist system. The second assumption also puts emphasis on the extension of militarism and supervising each and every field of society by Reza Shah. In total, this paper considers the transformations in the government-nation relations of the first Pahlavi reign to be a reaction to Iran’s peripheral position in the global system. The study was conducted with the historical sociology approach and through a documentary method. The results showed that both measures done during the first Pahlavi government, that is, economic reconstruction and the extension of supervision on every aspect of the collective life of the society, has been related to Iran’s peripheral position in the global system.
saeed zokaie
Abstract
The increasing leisurization and consumerization of lifestyles in metropolises have huge impacts on gender identities. A combination of local and global conditions alongside the physical features of urban sites, produces diversity and fluidity in gender behavioral patterns. Drawing on a tradition of ...
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The increasing leisurization and consumerization of lifestyles in metropolises have huge impacts on gender identities. A combination of local and global conditions alongside the physical features of urban sites, produces diversity and fluidity in gender behavioral patterns. Drawing on a tradition of cultural studies and reviewing the urban experiences of young girls and women in Tehran, the present paper aims to show the different impacts of leisure and consumer spaces on feminine identifications. The results show that the girls’ gender displays within the city are variable and conform with a pattern ranging from more autonomy and agency in consuming space to passivity and caution. Social differentiation and physical transformations in Tehran together with the emergence of new lifestyles have produced new behavioral templates which could be called “thin femininities”. Thin femininities which require equalitarian and challenging spatial participations, will inevitably change feminine values and involve important connotations both for their rights to the city and the way they understand it.
saeed zakai
Volume 9, Issue 17 , May 2002, , Pages 41-69
Abstract
Research tools are not neutral. They are based on a theory, a philosophical anthropology, and a conception of social order. The research methods adopted represent the nature of research subject. Theory and method are inseparable. Qualitative approach to social research implies that what appears to be ...
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Research tools are not neutral. They are based on a theory, a philosophical anthropology, and a conception of social order. The research methods adopted represent the nature of research subject. Theory and method are inseparable. Qualitative approach to social research implies that what appears to be external and objective, is in fact socially constructed. Rather than considering objective social structures as the standard basis for social interpretation, a qualitative approach emphasizes the role played by human action. Grounded theory as a kind of qualitative research aims for discovering theory from empirical data and is based on empirical induction. The main elements of grounded theory in elude concepts, categories, and statements. Theoretical sampling and category comparison are the methodological bases on which grounded theory is established. The oretical sampling allows researcher to simultaneously collect, code and analyze his/her data. This all, while demanding researchers' self-consciousness and self• criticism, provides qualitative research with more flexibility in adopting new ideas and in the research process per se.
