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
siavash gholipoor; nader amiri; ziba ahmadi
Abstract
This article examines the process of construction of meaning in Jafarabad neighborhood in Kermanshah metropolis. The theoretical framework of the research is based on the opinions of Rob Shields about ‘social spatialization’. The research method is ethnography and data collection techniques ...
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This article examines the process of construction of meaning in Jafarabad neighborhood in Kermanshah metropolis. The theoretical framework of the research is based on the opinions of Rob Shields about ‘social spatialization’. The research method is ethnography and data collection techniques include interview and observation. The findings of the research show that the poverty of the infrastructure and service facilities of the neighborhood along with the various activities of the residents in their everyday life has caused a kind of ‘social spatialization’ around the neighborhood, which is supported by many images. 1. The Jafarabad peoples' encounter with the Lats at the beginning of the formation of the neighborhood led to the creation of the myth-space of "Bravery" and "Courage" in the neighborhood; 2. Repeated mass fights gradually added the concept of "violence" to it; 3. The lack of public spaces, along with women living in alleys, caused the emergence of a "rural" image in the neighborhood; 4. In the last four decades, a dynamic and self-sustaining economy in the field of waste, livestock sales and chicken sales started in the neighborhood, which made the face of the neighborhood ugly in terms of morphology. ".
Sociology
fateme namiyan; muhammad amirpanahi
Abstract
Numerous studies have been conducted regarding women's sense of social security; however, the findings in this field are scattered, isolated, diverse, and lack interconnection.Given the importance of this issue, an effort has been made to answer the question of what sociological factors generally ...
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Numerous studies have been conducted regarding women's sense of social security; however, the findings in this field are scattered, isolated, diverse, and lack interconnection.Given the importance of this issue, an effort has been made to answer the question of what sociological factors generally affect women's feelings of social security and to what extent these factors explain it, in order to summarize and align the results of the research. The research methodology is a quantitative meta-analysis using the CMA2 software. The aim of this method is to provide coherence, a systematic review, and standardization of studies conducted in a specific research field. The statistical population consists of 25 studies conducted in the 2010s, selected for meeting the statistical conditions required for the research, with the goal of combining and identifying the extent of the impact of variables. The findings of the study indicate that women's feelings of social security, as the main dependent variable, are influenced by factors such as media usage, social trust, cultural capital, social cohesion, social participation, poverty, and women's subordination. Each of these variables has been able to explain a portion of the changes in women's security.
Keywords: women's sense of social security, Meta-Analysis, Cultural Capital, Social Participation, Poverty, And Subordination.
Introduction
The sense of social security in women, as one of the important indicators of social development and quality of life, has attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers in recent years. In Iran, despite efforts to improve social security, women still face numerous challenges in this area. The feeling of security refers to an individual's experience and perception of the security situation in their environment. This feeling can be influenced by various factors, such as past experiences, available information in society, and the level of trust in social institutions and other individuals. Despite numerous studies on sense of social security among women in Iran, the results of these studies sometimes appear contradictory and scattered. These differences may arise from variations in methodology, sampling, or different definitions of the feeling of security. Therefore, conducting a comprehensive meta-analysis of these studies could help identify common patterns, influential factors, and research gaps.
Research Question(s)
What sociological factors have influenced women's sense of social security?To what extent do these factors explain it?
Literature Review
This study, as a meta-analytic research, does not follow a specific theoretical framework. Therefore, the discussions related to theoretical foundations and concepts associated with the research topic are primarily aimed at familiarizing and acquainting with the conceptual and theoretical space of the studies examined in this research. Consequently, a conceptual or theoretical framework is not relevant here. Concepts such as sense of social security, social factors, structural conditions, gender, etc., constitute the conceptual space of the research. Initially, in order to better understand the conceptual space of social security, we will examine its distinction from other forms of security. Then, by exploring the concept of social security, the most important theoretical approaches that have been used in the studies reviewed in the meta-analysis will be introduced.
Methodology
The present study is a (quantitative) meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is the combination, integration, and unification of studies conducted in a specific field. This method is used for systematic review. There are two major families of effect sizes, d and r. In the (d) family, there are three important and relatively similar elements, namely (d) Cohen (1977), (g) Hedges (1987), and Glass delta. The statistical population of the present study is all research conducted in Iran from 2011 to 2019 on the subject of women's security, which has been registered in the scientific databases (SID), (Noormags), and (Magiran). From more than 36 identified studies on "women's sense of social security", finally 25 research documents were selected that fit the criteria of quantitative meta-analysis (correlation coefficient, sample size, significance level, research quality, research validity and reliability, survey). After initial classification, typology, and description of the studies, research variables that were repeated more than twice in the studies were entered into the CMA2 software to determine the effect size and its correlation coefficient.
Conclusion
The factors identified in this study—media usage, social trust, cultural capital, social cohesion, social participation, poverty, and women's subordination—provide valuable insights into the complex outlook of women's sense of security in Iranian society. The conclusion of this meta-analysis indicates that women's feelings of social security in Iran are influenced by a complex interaction of factors, including the impact of media, social trust, cultural capital, social cohesion, participation, and economic vulnerability.
By addressing the multidimensional factors identified in this study, a society can be approached where women feel empowered, secure, and equal in shaping their own future.
Sociology
fatemeh Deralhshan; davood parchami
Abstract
Prostitution is a significant social issue present in all societies, characterized by various facets and influenced by numerous factors. Solutions often focus on addressing the root causes, which range from individual biological and psychological backgrounds to broader macroeconomic, social, cultural, ...
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Prostitution is a significant social issue present in all societies, characterized by various facets and influenced by numerous factors. Solutions often focus on addressing the root causes, which range from individual biological and psychological backgrounds to broader macroeconomic, social, cultural, and legal structures within society. This study employs a comparative method centered on capital-oriented social order theory, examining the experiences of several countries (specifically the Nordic model, South Africa, and India) that have successfully managed to mitigate this phenomenon. The proposed solutions aim to reduce the harms associated with prostitution by enhancing cultural, social, and economic capital through reforms in economic, legal, and social structures. The experiences of these selected countries indicate that many societies, particularly in the West, adopt a pathological view of prostitution. Consequently, governments, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and community members, are striving to control prostitution through legal and judicial policies while empowering vulnerable women across various psychological, cultural, social, and economic dimensions. A key focus is placed on reducing demand.
Sociology
alireza Haddadi
Abstract
Using meta-analysis of social capital surveys in terms of conceptual and methodological and meta-analysis of theoretical literature and expert analysis, this article presents a framework for measuring social capital containing three pillars, eight indicators and forty indicators. Also, the mathematical ...
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Using meta-analysis of social capital surveys in terms of conceptual and methodological and meta-analysis of theoretical literature and expert analysis, this article presents a framework for measuring social capital containing three pillars, eight indicators and forty indicators. Also, the mathematical logic of reaching the amount of social capital among multiple variables, which is based on the inductive method, is explained. Using the perspective of thinkers and experts in this field, instead of the traditional three-level model of micro, medium and macro, this article focuses on measuring the social capital of governance and the three pillars of "social trust", "improvement of the nation-state relationship" and "social participation". It has been introduced as the most important elements of its measurement. These pillars have been redefined in the relationship between the government and the nation and have been specialized for the governance of political systems. Due to the direct presence of people in the virtual space, this pattern can be monitored indirectly through the network traces of people. Therefore, each of the pillars, identifiers and indicators with theoretical weighting and contextual is effective in calculating the amount of the final social capital.
Sociology
Reza Safarishali
Abstract
The sustainability of any human society depends on the level of social capital. The present article analyzes the social capital among Iranian people according to the findings of national surveys (2015, 2018 and 2021). The results show a decrease in social capital in some dimensions (especially ...
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The sustainability of any human society depends on the level of social capital. The present article analyzes the social capital among Iranian people according to the findings of national surveys (2015, 2018 and 2021). The results show a decrease in social capital in some dimensions (especially in the areas related to institutional and organizational trust and satisfaction). The state of social capital in the mentioned areas in the range of 0 to 100 has reached an average score of 36.75 in 2021 from a score of 43.50 in 2015; According to the "contagion theory", such conditions are effective in reducing hope for the social future and lowering the positive outlook towards the future of the society, and therefore, according to the "compensation theory", people invest in individual and interpersonal fields and try to to invest for their individual or group future, which shows the formation of a kind of island social capital. Of course, the important point is that social communication for virtual space, as well as professional and union relations and common interests instead of kinship and clan social capital, etc., is showing a change in some forms and relations of today's society.Keywords: Social Capital, Social Trust, Institutional Trust, Hope for the Future, Social Relations. IntroductionA comprehensive understanding of the conditions, trends, causes, processes, contexts, and factors that either strengthen or weaken social capital is a fundamental and preliminary step in the process of assessing and strategically managing this social and political foundation. However, the main issue, according to studies conducted on social capital in our country, is that in recent years, the primary dimensions and components of social capital (such as participation, trust, and hope for the future) have decreased. For instance, social and political trust within the society in 1400 AH (2021 AD) has declined compared to surveys conducted in 1394 and 1397 AH. Despite this decline, the significance of social capital cannot be overlooked. An encouraging aspect is the emergence of new forms of social interaction based on virtual spaces, as well as professional, occupational, and shared interest-based relationships, which are gradually replacing kinship and tribal-based social capital. This shift indicates a transformation in certain forms of interaction and social relations within contemporary society.Literature ReviewThe Legatum Institute is one of the international organizations that measures social capital. The institute conducts global and regional assessments of countries. According to the Legatum Prosperity Index 2021, Iran ranked 89th globally (among 167 countries) and 8th in the Middle East in terms of social capital. Safari Shali and Ghafari (2017 and 2021) conducted two consecutive waves of a national survey titled 'Assessment of Social Capital in Iran'. The findings revealed that levels of social capital at the micro and Middle levels were more prevalent than at the macro level in both waves. The national-level assessment of social capital indicated a downward trend across all three levels, with scores (on a scale of 1 to 100) of 50.43, 36.25, and 36.75 in 2015, 2017, and 2021, respectively. A relevant foreign study by the UK Statistics Authority (2020) reported an 11% decline in trust in the national government in the UK by autumn 2019.MethodologyThis study employs a holistic, documentary approach to conduct a secondary analysis of social capital in the country, utilizing data from multiple waves (2015, 2018, and 2021) of national social capital surveys. While the findings, presented in subsequent sections, are categorized into broad themes, the study's statistical population encompasses individuals aged 16 and above, both male and female, residing in all 31 provinces of the country. Data was collected using researcher-developed questionnaires that adhered to rigorous reliability and validity standards, ensuring the robustness of the findings. The sample size for each wave ranged between 12,000 and 17,000 individuals, with a deliberate effort to ensure that each provincial sample was representative of its respective population.ResultsIt is noteworthy that, globally, countries rarely exhibit an average social capital score exceeding 50 (in the range of 1-100). To understand the trends in social capital findings within the country (in the years 2015, 2018, and 2021), we will first present descriptive findings of social capital at various levels.Table 1. Analysis of Social Capital Levels Across Different Waves in the CountryDomain (1-100)Average of Social Capital20212018201527.2533.2538.75Macro Level37.2539.7548.00Middle Level45.7535.2544.00Micro Level36.7536.2543.50OverallResults from the social profile of social capital, measured at the country level based on demographic variables, indicated that individuals residing in "smaller cities (less populated cities)", "women", those in the "55+ age group", individuals with "low literacy or high school diplomas", "retirees", and "married individuals" exhibited higher levels of social capital compared to other groups.DiscussionIn sum, the most critical role of social capital is to foster law-abiding behavior and a culture of order and security. This means that citizens are aware of their social rights and obligations and refrain from violating them. Such a practice ensures the survival of the law and prevents a tendency toward disorder, norm-breaking, and lawlessness. Nonconformity, as a social problem, threatens social health and erodes social capital, leading to the formation of distrust in institutions. Acceptance of social norms and regulations increases empathy, unity, and reduces social conflict.It can be argued that in the absence of social capital, civic ethics, community, altruism, and humanitarianism lose their credibility and prestige. If individuals and social groups are also morally dysfunctional, they become confused about identifying goals and means of achieving them. They experience a conflict between theoretical and practical ethics and do not act based on norms and rules. Consequently, they lose the motivation to participate in public affairs. Conclusionstrengthening social capital today requires social and cultural policymaking. Thus, governmental and non-governmental policymaking organizations in this area should make every effort to enhance social capital indicators (trust, sense of security, participation, satisfaction, joy and hope, sense of national belonging, etc.) in the process of socialization. Accordingly, fundamental actions should be taken in the following areas in a process-oriented manner:In a general overview, strategies and solutions for social capital can be categorized into three levels:Strategies and solutions aimed at formal institutions and structuresStrategies and solutions aimed at the community and civil societyStrategies and solutions aimed at intermediary social institutions and mechanismsAcknowledgmentsI would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Country's Social Affairs Organization and the Research Deputy of Kharazmi University, as well as to all project collaborators, from the scientific council to all field researchers in 31 provinces, for their invaluable contributions. Special thanks are extended to the project's scientific advisor, Dr. Gholamreza Ghaffari, and to the translator of this extended abstract, Mr. Pejman Barkhordari.
Sociology
Ardeshir Entezari; Fatemeh Derakhshan
Abstract
Cultural and artistic capacities are enhanced by utilizing the talents of vulnerable individuals, which strengthens their social skills and creates employment opportunities at both individual and community levels. Cultural and artistic empowerment programs have been successfully implemented in ...
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Cultural and artistic capacities are enhanced by utilizing the talents of vulnerable individuals, which strengthens their social skills and creates employment opportunities at both individual and community levels. Cultural and artistic empowerment programs have been successfully implemented in various vulnerable urban and rural areas worldwide, transforming these regions into well-known tourist destinations. This article employs a descriptive-analytical approach, utilizing available data and information to examine two case studies: one international and one domestic. The international example is La Rambla street in Barcelona, Spain, where the talents of marginalized individuals are showcased through live art performances. This initiative not only empowers vulnerable groups but also establishes La Rambla as one of the most attractive tourist centers. In Iran, similar initiatives have been observed, such as the empowerment of local women on Hormoz Island, who create art using the island’s colored sands. Additionally, the Yamal startup event on Qeshm Island has leveraged the region's environmental and cultural resources, fostering social participation among the local population and generating employment, particularly for women. As a result, these efforts have transformed the area into a popular tourist destination.
Keywords: Economy of Culture, Cultural and Artistic Capacities, Social Damage, Deprivation, Empowerment, Tourism.
Introduction
Social damage and congestion, along with their increasing trends, have created a worrying situation in the country. These issues arise not only from the abnormal or deviant behavior of individuals and existing weaknesses but are also often rooted in macro and structural problems, as well as a lack of attention to societal capacities and strengths. This neglect can lead to deprivation and various forms of social harm.
One of the most effective ways to prevent and control these harms is to leverage social, cultural, and economic capacities. By transforming the costs associated with social injuries into opportunities, we can utilize culture and art as key tools. Art provides numerous avenues to prevent and alleviate harms, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups. Many developed countries are investing in this area, drawing from their reserves and cultural heritage to harness the potential of art in reducing social issues.
The occurrence of social harms is influenced by various social and individual contexts. By identifying and utilizing existing cultural and artistic capabilities, we can purposefully empower vulnerable groups, enhance their employment opportunities, and ultimately generate income at both micro and macro levels, thereby fostering the cultural economy.
Our country possesses rich civilizational, cultural, and artistic resources that can be mobilized to support disadvantaged individuals and mitigate social harms. This can also attract tourism and strengthen the cultural economy. This article will examine both foreign and domestic examples, highlighting the role of culture and art in preventing, addressing, and reducing social harms, particularly poverty, while promoting tourism attractions within the framework of cultural economic development.
Therefore, the central question of this study is: How can we transform the threat of deprivation and the portrayal of social issues, which often elicits pity, into a capacity for sustainable alleviation of deprivation and the removal of urban blight?
Methodology
In this study, we aim to utilize the experiences gained from cultural and artistic empowerment programs targeting marginalized communities in vulnerable areas. A descriptive-analytical approach has been employed, utilizing library research methods. Various programs and policies for the cultural and artistic empowerment of disadvantaged groups have been successfully implemented worldwide, particularly in vulnerable urban areas and underutilized regions, such as villages, transforming them into renowned tourist destinations. One notable example is La Rambla in Barcelona, Spain. This street has been developed to harness the talents of economically disadvantaged individuals through live artistic performances. This initiative not only fosters social participation and income generation but also enhances the street's appeal as a tourist attraction.
In Iran, however, there are limited examples, especially in rural and marginalized areas, that could serve as models for broader societal application. One such example is the empowerment of local women on Hormoz Island through sand painting. This initiative, which leverages the island's environmental and cultural resources, has successfully engaged and employed women, ultimately transforming the area into a tourist destination. The necessary data, information, and images related to this topic have been gathered through documents, policies, reports, relevant websites, and the experiences and observations of researchers in both Spain and Iran.
Results
La Rambla is a prominent street in the center of Barcelona. Originally, the La Rambla route was a stream that often ran dry and was polluted. Today, it stands as one of the busiest centers in Barcelona, especially during peak tourist season. The street's popularity among visitors has transformed it into a vibrant hub for entertainment and sightseeing. As the most famous street in Barcelona, La Rambla exemplifies the city’s success in creating public spaces that encourage social interaction and walking as part of daily life. This has led to the creation of various job opportunities, making La Rambla a significant tourist attraction.
La Rambla has served as a lifeline for countless individuals seeking to earn a living through their art. Recognized as one of the most iconic pedestrian streets in the world, it provides a unique platform for street artists. However, alongside its advantages, the street also faces challenges that the government and municipality are working to address through various initiatives.
In contrast, two similar examples in Iran—Hormoz and Qeshm Islands—demonstrate their cultural and tourism potential. Hormoz Island, located in the Persian Gulf just 8 km from Bandar Abbas, is renowned for its geological diversity and has been dubbed a "geological paradise." A key strength of Hormoz Island lies in its local capacity for tourism and the attraction of visitors, which has been highlighted by Dr. Ahmed Nadalian in recent years. Local women have been trained to paint with the island’s-colored soil and sand or to create patterns on handmade objects, fostering their participation and employment.
The establishment of a museum on Hormoz Island has further influenced the island's tourism trajectory, transforming it into not just a tourist destination but also a hub for environmental and social artists. Additionally, the "Yamal" public events series, focused on innovation in cultural heritage, tourism, and handicraft development in Qeshm, organized by the startup Mammoth, plays a vital role in promoting sustainable development through local community participation. This initiative aims to reduce deprivation and generate income, aligning with land use and development planning that respects the local community’s cultural worldview and metatextual indicators, particularly emphasizing "native knowledge."
Such a community-oriented approach, aimed at reviving, preserving, and codifying the local knowledge of historical settlements, can help protect the limited natural resources and biodiversity that are at risk, while also supporting the often-marginalized residents.
Conclusions
Social harms do not necessarily require a pathological perspective; often, they need attention to the capacities and strengths that can help planners and implementers create conditions for overcoming these challenges. Cultural and artistic capacities in any society, especially those with a rich heritage, can not only prevent harm but also transform existing issues into strengths and opportunities.
Art, through social action, plays a crucial role in reducing social damage and alleviating poverty by changing the attitudes and mindsets of marginalized groups toward their circumstances and empowering them. Empowerment of the underprivileged is a process that enables individuals to organize themselves, develop self-awareness, and advocate for their rights, allowing them to make independent choices and gain control over resources, ultimately helping to eliminate their disadvantaged status.
On one hand, artistic abilities are essential for socializing individuals and fostering effective communication within society. On the other hand, by utilizing the cultural and artistic potential of vulnerable populations, we can strengthen their social skills, empower them, create employment opportunities, and provide conditions for income generation at both individual and societal levels, leading to economic development
Sociology
Mohammadtaghi Karami Ghahi
Abstract
The specificity of the coronavirus pandemic is indebted to the ironic fact of returning to the ancient tradition of quarantine at the threshold of the 21st century and the utmost progress of medicine and hygiene. Considering the gender aspects of home quarantine, this research aims at understanding ...
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The specificity of the coronavirus pandemic is indebted to the ironic fact of returning to the ancient tradition of quarantine at the threshold of the 21st century and the utmost progress of medicine and hygiene. Considering the gender aspects of home quarantine, this research aims at understanding women’s gendered experience of COVID-19. Under the verstehen interpretive paradigm, we analyze the experiences of twenty-three 30-52-year-old, married women who were interviewed during the first home quarantine in 2020. The content analysis of these women’s experiences gave us four conceptual patterns include crisis, female double subjectivity and endurance, feminine suspense and body management under the panic, and masculinity and the deconstruction of the dominant image by returning to the importance of fathers’ status. Overall, the calling of women to the center of the crisis and the disruption of the usual social order offers the Iranian women a historically subjective role and the opportunity to construct a different image of their feminine self in individual, family, and social levels. Meanwhile, the genealogy of pandemics shows that the centrality of the “housewife” as the dominant discourse under crisis is temporal, as the society returns to its misogynist origin with the passage of the crisis..
Introduction
COVID-19 as a critical global incident in the 21st century emerged in the utmost development of medicine and of global health metrics. The unknown nature of the pandemic and of the preventative and treatment methods, in addition to the fear of the high risk of contamination and death, added to the curiosity of the disease and the mismanagement of the whole condition. In consequence, the most they could do about it has been to apply the traditional Middle Ages method of quarantine. As the sole preventative and even treatment method, home quarantine turned home and family into the main alternative in front of governments in retreating COVIC-19. The social understanding of COVID-19 as a disaster in its primitive treatment framework finds additional gender orientations.
Research Question(s)
The current research answers two questions: 1) what is women’s gendered experience of themselves and the male other during COVID-19? And 2) how has the process of women’s subjectivity in their reflexivity of selves, the other, and the social world during COVID-19 been experienced?
Literature Review
Gender is the most important and original element in the construction and meaning of the self (Wharton, 2012: 37); thus, it provides the major source of knowledge for constructing the male or female self (Goffman, 1977: 301-331). It is constructed through the social process known as tenderization (Macé, 2015: 17-18), representing the social status, and the rationality and legitimacy of one of the fundamental divisions and various social orders that are observed in every society. It is the socio-cultural and micro-political produce (West and Zimmerman, 1987: 125-151) that is maintained in a body of gendered behaviors and expectations constantly obtained and lived as part of the socialization process (Holmes, 2010: 125-151). Understanding gender as a social phenomenon that has stood the test of time, adds to the significance of gender experiences in a crisis-relevant framework.
Disasters expose individuals to conscious action by interrupting the ordinary flow of everyday life and setting them free of the habitual norms of thinking and acting (Schütz, 2003: 19). Crisis is defined as a trial opportunity in terms of encircling people in painful situations that oblige finding new skills and creative problem-solving capabilities, mostly accompanied by pain and pressure (Martuccelli and de Singly, 2012: 73-80). The trial and the social experience that comes with it, are the intersection of individuals and the social structure, in which the rationale for action emerges during the trial situation and the social experience, itself composed of three segments: “integration”, “strategy” and “subjectivation” (Dubet, 1994: 136(. The social world is the context in which effective action takes place in the heart of experience and the knowledge of the surroundings. The individual’s knowledge of the social lifeworld is organized around the meaning of her actions under circumstances where she targets the control of her lifeworld and social relationships and locates herself at the center to recognize and utilize the elements that maximize this purpose (Schütz, 2003: 10-11). The social experience and the improvement of capabilities that are required for dealing with difficult situations are inclusive of the two processes of subjectivity and reflexivity.
Subjectivity is a fulfilled social process formed around the reflexive subject in which, in a process of working on the self, the subject attains new consciousness for the constant reflexivity, redefinition, moderation, and reformation of one’s consciousnesses and actions. In this process, personal life turns into a project open to new restrictions, worries, and concerns as well as new opportunities and untried experiences (Giddens, 2021: 22). Reflexivity is performed in a bedrock of the individual’s critical distanciation from and assessment of oneself, others, and the social lifeworld (Martuccelli and de Singly, 2012: 73-80). Therefore, reflexivity and “the narrative of individuation” in modernity are understood and experienced in the context of internal and external clashes (Bertucci, 2009: 43-55).
Methodology
After defining the individual and his conception of social reality as the prospects for understanding social phenomena (Martuccelli and de Singly 2012: 76), this research is conducted in the verstehen interpretive framework and constructivist epistemology. The method applied is basic qualitative research (Merriam, 2015: 46-48) and the techniques for gathering and analyzing data are semi-structured in-depth interview and thematic analysis. The sampling method is purposive while the population is made of 23 married women between 30-52 from Tehran and Alborz provinces while maximum diversity in age, appearance and class and religious affiliations has been observed in their selection. Due to the state of quarantine in 2020, the interviews were conducted via WhatsApp application and in the form of oral questions and answers that have been defined based on the research guidelines.
Results
Four dominant meaning patterns and their sub-meanings as identified in the thematic analysis of interviewee’s narratives include: crisis, subjectivity and double feminine resilience (the loss of the functionality of the concept of roles in explaining the complexity of feminine experience, the frustration with being oneself and the resulting duplication of crisis harms, the emergence of woman as the heroin subject), suspension of femininity and body management under disease panic (deference of femininity in the return to the natural body, the unbearableness of the lived time waiting for the disaster, the deferred gendered life in the panic of the moment of crisis), masculinity and the deconstruction of the dominant image in crises (the perplexity of masculinity in the entanglement of the spaces for social familial life, the lack of domestic work skills and men’s avoidance from the private sphere, expectation for disaster and the lack of masculine authority), and the return to the importance of paternal status in the experience of crisis (the absence of paternal emotional authority in waiting for disaster, gendered consciousness in the shared experience of disaster and the demand for the presence of father, financial support as the precondition for good fatherhood).
Demographic information table
City of Residence
Marital Status/Number of Children
Employ
Education
Age
Name
Number
Tehran
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
36
Sima
1
Damavand
1
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
36
Mehri
2
Tehran
1
Housekeeper/ Home job
Bachelor’s degree
38
Fatameh
3
Tehran
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
36
Saba
4
Karaj
2
Employee
Master
52
Hanieh
5
Mehr-shahr (Alborz)
2
Employee
Bachelor’s degree
48
Fahimeh
6
Karaj
2
Teacher
-
-
Mahoor
7
Tehran
2/ widow
Teacher
Master
44
Zeynab
8
Karaj
1
Employee
Master
38
Samareh
9
Tehran
1
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
30
Pariya
10
Karaj
1
Pharmacist
PhD in Pharmacy
38
Shamisa
11
Damavand
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
36
Sahar
12
Karaj
1+ Pregnant
Teacher
Bachelor’s degree
36
Sogol
13
Tehran
2
Employee
Bachelor’s degree
35
Mina
14
Tehran
1
Housekeeper
Master
38
Mehrana
15
Tehran
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
40
Azadeh
16
Tehran
1/Ddivorced
Teacher
Bachelor’s degree
40
Mahshad
17
Mehr-shahr (Alborz)
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
41
Asal
18
Roudehen
-
Employee
Bachelor’s degree
30
Soheyla
19
Tehran
2
Nurse
Master
39
Minoo
20
Kamal-shahr (Alborz)
1
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
37
Samira
21
Roudehen
2
Teacher
Bachelor’s degree
38
Mojgan
22
Roudehen
2
Housekeeper
Bachelor’s degree
37
Elham
21
Conclusion
The COVID-19 crisis as compared to other disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and war, has been experienced around the center of home and family, leading to the disruption of the normal, everyday life order of the house. Defining home quarantine at the core of controlling the disease brings women to the central position in crisis management. At this central position, women begin to work on their feminine self, learn new skills, and improve these capabilities due to the demand that is created by the crisis and the disruption of the previous order of social life. Meanwhile, and especially because of the absence of the government, further pressure, mental and psychological, put on women for appropriate reaction. Overall, in the dominant discourse of social sciences which is defined with pathological approaches, being under such circumstances of extra pressure makes people, especially women, more vulnerable. This is while the COVID-19 crisis has been a historical moment in women’s subjectivity and individuality, especially for Iranian women. Nevertheless, the historical accounts of pandemics as crises and disasters show that though women are the subjects called to the center in all these accounts, as a result of which house and household management around the discourse of the “housewife” turns into the dominant discourse, this centralization of femininity is temporal and restricted to those historical moments. With the return of society to its normal order, women are once again deprived of the central position; in other words, the misogynist genealogy is back there as the dominant discourse.
Acknowledgments
I am obliged to the Allameh Tabatabae’i University for allowing me to conduct this research. I extend my gratitude to Dr. Dabbaghi, Faculty of the ATU for her kind assistance in compiling the research proposal and completing the interviews, Dr. Shf'ati for joining the team in the initial analysis of data, and Dr. Khazaei, Faculty of the University of Tehran and the main colleague of the project.
Sociology
reza parsamoghadam
Abstract
This article employs an archaeological approach, drawing on the concept of "serious speech acts" and Althusser's "problematic," to examine the formation and consolidation of an archaizing discursive order within the cultural policies of the first Pahlavi government. The central question of this ...
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This article employs an archaeological approach, drawing on the concept of "serious speech acts" and Althusser's "problematic," to examine the formation and consolidation of an archaizing discursive order within the cultural policies of the first Pahlavi government. The central question of this research concerns the manifestation and objectification of this discursive order in the cultural policies of that era. Archaizing discourses of Iranian romantic nationalists of the pre-constitutional period, as the prehistory of this discourse, intertwine with post-constitutional nationalist historiography and materialize in the cultural policies of the first Pahlavi era. This discourse, particularly within the two organizations of "Cultivation of Thoughts" and "Iranian Scouting," becomes institutionalized and transforms into a practical model for the cultural policies of the Pahlavi government. The archaizing nationalist discourses, by referencing subjects from Akhundzadeh and Kermani to Pirnia and Pourdavoud, shape the main centers for guiding behaviors and social structures. In this process, the identification of "spiritual malaise" as an impediment to the "education of the nation" and efforts to remedy it through the "cultivation of minds" and the "cultivation of bodies" occur within the framework of strengthening the "spirit of society" and the "forces of the nation." This remedy materializes through the promotion of "patriotism," "loyalty to the Shah," and "God-worship," and the continuous reproduction of these concepts in the form of "moral education," within the context of the archaizing nationalist discursive order.
Keywords: Cultivation of Minds and Bodies, Spiritual Malaise, Education of the Nation, Archaeology, Archaism, Cultivation of Thoughts.
Introduction
Nationalist discourses infused with antiquarianism and racialism, originating from pre-Constitutional intellectuals, were actualized in the First Pahlavi regime's cultural policies. To legitimize itself, the regime employed a "romantic nationalism"—where antiquarianism and racialism were central. This nationalism, emphasizing nostalgia for "Ancient Iran" and othering the "Islamic era," dominated pre-Qajar intellectuals' rhetoric. These discourses, in continuity with nationalist historiography, were actualized, institutionalized, and became the state’s operational paradigm, particularly through the "Organization for Public Mind Cultivation" and the "Iranian Scouting Organization"—key sites for directing behavior. By diagnosing the "malady of the motherland" and advancing "national education" (mental and physical), these discourses were embedded within antiquarian-racialist rhetoric. Aimed at revitalizing the "spirit of society" and "strengthening the nation’s vigor," this process was problematized, and the organizations became arenas for materializing antiquarian discourses. Thus, the formation of an antiquarian discursive order within the First Pahlavi’s cultural policies is rooted in this. This article questions how this order was actualized in the regime's practices via these organizations. Existing scholarship largely identifies the core components of this ideology, but the concretization of this nationalist order, particularly through these institutions, is under-explored. This study demonstrates how antiquarian-racialist discourses—aimed at rejuvenating the "spirit of society"—were problematized as a remedy for a "spiritual malady," achievable through "patriotism" and "loyalty to the Shah," materialized in the rhetoric of these two organizations.
Research Question
How did the antiquarian discursive order within the First Pahlavi's cultural policies, using Foucaultian archaeology and Althusserian problematique, materialize and attain objectivity through the "Organization for Public Mind Cultivation" and the "Iranian Scouting Organization"?
Theoretical-Methodological Framework
This article examines the formation of the archaist discursive order during Reza Shah's reign using Althusser's "problematic" and "epistemological rupture" alongside Foucaultian discourse analysis (archaeology) with four categories: "objects," "enunciative modalities," "formation of concepts," and "formation of strategies." This order, centered on "nation-building," is reflected in "cultivation of minds" and "cultivation of bodies." From an Althusserian view, "problematic" is a network of assumptions enabling certain issues while marginalizing others. Thus, Reza Shah's racial archaist discourse is a product of a problematic where "Aryan race" and "ancient grandeur" become central. "Epistemological rupture" denotes a radical cognitive transformation; here, archaist discourse is analyzed as a rupture from preceding discourses.
Results
This study employs Foucauldian discourse analysis and Althusserian concepts of problematic and epistemological break to examine the racialized ancient-oriented nationalist discourse propagated by the Sazman-e Parvaresh-e Afkar (Organization for the Cultivation of Thoughts) and the Iranian Scouts Organization during Reza Shah’s reign (1925–1941). Key findings include:
1 .Hegemonic Reproduction of Ancient-Oriented Nationalism: Central concepts like "patriotism," "monarchism," and "national cultivation" were discursively constructed to forge a unified identity rooted in pre-Islamic glory, juxtaposed against the "degenerate Islamic era." Cultural institutions naturalized these tropes through lectures, radio programs, and literacy campaigns, framing them as remedies for the "spiritual illness" of Iranian society.
Medicalization of Society: Metaphors of "social pathology" and "therapeutic intervention" merged medical discourse with nationalist ideology, legitimizing state control over citizens’ minds and bodies. Narratives like the "ailing mother" (symbolizing the nation) and the "healing son" (Reza Shah) reinforced the Shah’s role as the savior of Iran’s "degenerate soul."
European Fascist Influences: The organization’s propaganda strategies mirrored European fascist models (e.g., Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy), blending concepts like "national unity" and "leader worship" with reinvented Persian imperial motifs.
Disciplinary Subject-Making: The dual focus on mental cultivation (via ideological indoctrination) and physical discipline (through the Scouts Organization) reflected a shift from punitive to biopolitical governance. Phrases like "monarchism inherent in Iranian blood" or "a healthy body as the foundation of national prosperity" constructed docile subjects aligned with state ideology.
Genealogy of Discourse: This discursive regime drew from 19th-century Romantic nationalism (e.g., Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani) and revisionist historiography by scholars like Pirniya and Nafisi, who ideologically reinterpreted Iran’s past to legitimize Pahlavi modernization projects. By analyzing archival speeches, policies, and institutional practices, this research reveals how the Pahlavi state instrumentalized cultural institutions to impose a hegemonic nationalist narrative, transforming citizens into disciplined subjects of a modernizing authoritarian regime.
Conclusion
This study examined the formation of the archaist discursive order during Reza Shah's reign, aiming at "nation-building," using Althusser's concepts and Foucaultian discourse analysis within four categories, through the "cultivation of minds" and "cultivation of bodies." Regarding objects, "patriotism," "devotion to the Shah," and "nation-building" within "racially archaist discourse" materialized in cultural policies, particularly in the Organization for the Advancement of Thought and the Iranian Scouting Organization, structured through discursive practices. In enunciative modalities, emphasis was on granting speech rights to nation-building cultural figures, organizing cultural institutions, and shifting their policy-making status. These figures, reproducing serious speech acts, shaped subjects' lifeworld. "Competence criteria" linked status to knowledge. Concept formation analysis examined discourse rules and speaker adherence as consolidation mechanisms. Strategy formation analyzed "returning to ancient Iran" as a tool to overcome the "Islamic era." Serious speech acts systematically shaped objects. "Patriotism," "devotion to the Shah," and "theism" in alignment with "nation-building," in these institutions, defined the Pahlavi I era's discursive order, reproduced and stabilized through concept chains. The determination of this order reflects the accumulation of romantic nationalist statements in historians' works, institutionalized in the Pahlavi I state's governance, functioning as a tool for "cultivation of minds" and "embodiment." These discourses, identifying the "spiritual malady" of subjects and attempting to cure it through concepts like "patriotism" and "moral education," problematized societal embodiment. The dominant discourse, through cultural institutions, reconstructed subjects' lifeworlds by strengthening the "spirit of society" and the "forces of the nation." Ultimately, the Pahlavi I state adopted archaist ideology as its directive, prescribing "patriotism" and a "return to ancient grandeur" as cures. This was implemented through institutions to transform society into obedient subjects. However, by marginalizing narratives, this discourse generated tensions within Iran’s cultural fabric, traceable to this day.
Sociology
Ali Feizolahi; Somayeh sadat Shafiei; khalil kamarbeigi; Zahra Raiisi
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the reasons and consequences of experiencing violence in the lives of battered women. The research is qualitative and based on the method of grounded theory. The target population of the research is the battered women who refer to the social ...
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The purpose of this study is to identify the reasons and consequences of experiencing violence in the lives of battered women. The research is qualitative and based on the method of grounded theory. The target population of the research is the battered women who refer to the social emergency of the Behzisti⸴s organization of Ilam city, and a sample of 24 of them has been selected using the purposive sampling method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and then coding. Findings indicate the role of familial factors such as learned violence, problematic marriage practices; Social and Economical factors; and intervening factors such as mutual infidelity and deviancy have been two-way. Women's reactions are mainly actions containing passivity, and the usual perception of the role of a continuous victim for women is its consequence. The core category of "domestic violence against women is the product of the interaction of women's experience of economic deprivation and the social structure of men's idea of patriarchy" which is the result of family management in the context of maintaining the functions of patriarchal culture along with the structural transmission of violence in the cultural mechanism.Keywords: Domestic Violence, Patriarchal Culture, Aggrieved Woman, Ilam. IntroductionThe domestic violence against women has had a history in society in during of centuries. Thus domestic violence against women is one of the social issues that can be seen in all societies and numerous reports have confirmed this issue in Iran as well. in general, it has affected the institution of the family and the society. but it has been discussed mainly as a social issue in the last century. “Typically, social problems have been thought of as social situations that a large number of observers felt were inappropriate and needed remedying” (Eitzen, Zinn and Smith, 2012:9(.Some theories consider the subject of domestic violence to be problematic as a modern matter and consider it to be a problem arising from the perception and understanding of the society and important social groups of its problematic nature. The researches conducted in recent years about the different types of violence indicate that domestic violence against women is problematic. the main goal of this research is to understand the phenomenon of domestic violence from the perspective of women who have experienced violence. Therefore, the research questions revolve around the subject under which causal conditions and contexts have the subjects been victims of spousal violence? What strategies did they used to deal with these violent acts and what consequences did bring to them? Literature ReviewThe theories and theoretical concepts whose main core is to explain the matter of violence against women can be grouped into two main categories: some of them have emphasized the individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims of violence, and others have emphasized the structural characteristics of society. In this research, the following concepts have been selected to create theoretical sensitivity: resources and power imbalance; blaming the victim (Gracia & Tomás, 2014), learned violence (Jasinski,2001), the ideology of male dominance (Goode, 1971: quoted by Kim and Sung, 2000), feminist perspective (Renzetti, Edleson & Bergen, 2001), exchange theory (Turner, 2014), The Battered Woman Syndrome (Walker:1984), the concepts of forced control (Stark, 2007), resource imbalance, dependence and bargaining power (Kim and Gray, 2008) have been selected and have been considered in the analysis of research findings.MethodologyThe research is qualitative and based on the method of grounded theory. The target population of the research is the battered women who refer to the social emergency of the Behzisti⸴s organization of Ilam city, and a sample of 24 of them has been selected using the purposive sampling method. Acceptability criteria has been used for validation and being trustworthy was achieved through auditing method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and then coding.ResultsFindings indicate the role of familial factors such as learned violence, problematic marriage practices, Lack of familial support; Social factors such as the patriarchal image, erosion of social capital; Economic factors such as coincidence of Livelihood hardships; and intervening factors such as Interference of others, mutual infidelity and deviancy have been two-way. Women's reactions are mainly actions containing passivity, and Victimization of children, scared life and usual perception of the role of a victim for women is its consequence.ConclusionThe result of the process of domestic violence against women can be analyzed under the title "Domestic violence against women is a product of the incompatibility of the institutional interaction caused by the experience of economic deprivation of women and the social structure of patriarchy in the victim-blaming society". The incompatibility of institutional interaction indicates the malfunctioning of the social institutions of the family, economy and cultural system in the target society of the study. In other words, when the patriarchal postulate mixes with the lived experience of women's economic deprivation and immingled with the cultural approach of blaming the victim society, it causes the situational violence against women to be ignored. In addition, it should be noted that such a phenomenon occurs in a society where tradition and modernity are continuously interacting with each other. Tradition and modernity are co-integrated in this society in such a way that they form an interwoven mosaic society that is experiencing the challenges of modernization and types of individualization. The permanence and stability of the idea of patriarchy in this society is rooted in the way that women in such a society link traditional expectations with modern life. In other words, this particular type of social and cultural structure as well as women's selective strategies against domestic violence, along with the destructive consequences of violence on women's lives, leads to continuation of the cultural foundations of accepting domestic violence against women.
Sociology
Farshad Jamali tanha; Ismail Aalizad; Mohammad Hossein Panahi
Abstract
Political systems always impose demands on their educational institutions in the form of transformational documents and reform instructions . In this regard, examining the experiences related to the executive development of governments, the impact of conflicts in the political structure of the ...
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Political systems always impose demands on their educational institutions in the form of transformational documents and reform instructions . In this regard, examining the experiences related to the executive development of governments, the impact of conflicts in the political structure of the society, understanding the relations between the government-society-educational system on the development achievements of some selected countries became problematic for this research. . This work is an epistemological thing to show the deficiencies in the educational systems that are not on the path of development and to explain the political obstacles to achieving this goal. The research approach is qualitative, its method is integrated (documentary and comparative). The analytical strategy includes documentary analysis and George Brady's comparative model. Four countries are investigated (South Korea, China, Türkiye and Egypt). The results show that in terms of attention to institutional requirements in executive development and the implementation of proposed reforms for the education system, the level of this is higher in South Korea's political system than others; China has also been able to achieve success of the education system with development by applying some powerful policies; this is relatively evident with the participation of foreign actors in Turkey., Egypt is fragileKeywords: Developmental Education, Developmental Reforms, Institutional-Political Requirements of Developmental Reforms, Educational Justice. IntroductionPolitical systems that include an organized society with a specific ideology and a specific form of government; they always demand demands in the form of transformative documents and reform instructions from their educational institutions. It is in the form of these documents that laws are established for developmental reforms; to determine the role, structure and content of educational systems in the path of overall development; These policy-oriented demands contain special goals for the development and transmission of culture, reproduction and preservation of the social system and political structure of society. But in this context, paying attention to the ability and level of executive power of governments is a research-oriented necessity.Therefore, knowing and understanding the institutional-political requirements in some successful countries (South Korea) or those that have gone through a relatively favorable process in this field (China and Turkey) as well as countries that have not achieved much success (Egypt) in the order of the comparative study of this Research was done. The main indicators of the selection of these countries were, on the one hand, paying attention to the records of their efforts in the field of transformative policies or standardization of the consequences of educational policies at the national level; On the other hand, their applied reforms regarding policy making in educational systems have taken place after a period of political transformation. For this reason, according to the characteristic of the post-revolution political structure of 1357 in Iran, a kind of thematic convergence was seen in these countries despite the huge political, social, geographical and demographic differences with Iran, which convinced the researchers to prepare such a sample.Research Question(s)Now the central questions of this research are conceptualized as follows:1- How has the change in the political-institutional situation of the elected governments in recent decades affected the type of revolutionary demands for their educational system?2- In terms of the level of central development or anti-development, how can we compare the institutional-political situation of the government and the way of action of effective actors inside and outside the education system in the selected countries?Conceptual FrameworkThe conceptual approach of this research shows that the realization of developmental reforms in a part of the society, especially in the educational system, will not happen in a vacuum. Rather, how to formulate and determine the content of the goals and ideals of these policies within a cycle of mutual relationships between different elements of society and its political, social and economic context, and the process of implementation and realization of the aforementioned goals will depend on understanding how these elements and concepts interact. Especially in the field of government and society. Therefore, in order to explain the differences in the policy making capacity and the implementation of transformative policies, we are forced to examine the structural contexts and institutional conditions affecting the desired implementation trends. Because the ineffectiveness of educational policies is the result of structural weakness, tensions and inconsistencies in the political system and its relationship with society.MethodologyThis research is a qualitative-descriptive study with analytical and interpretative aspects. The method of doing it is a combination of documentary research and comparative method. Because the main issues of the research are such that it requires multilateral investigations. In this way, the need to understand the components related to historical-political developments and the desired wishes of educational policy makers in the selected countries along with the recognition of their political-institutional requirements dictated that we first use the documentary research method to prepare the necessary qualitative and background information. Then, to explain the differences in the different levels of the institutional requirements of the government and society to realize development-oriented reforms in the selected countries, let's use the "Beradi" comparative method. The method of analyzing the collected data is the thematic technique based on analytical induction.ResultsThe results of this research show that the field of education and the issue of development in it have complex relationships with other elements of society and the political system. Knowing the type of interests of effective actors inside and outside the education system, the way these social movements act is effective in understanding how control is distributed in the society and can clarify the path of development of the education institution. In the meantime, dynamizing the policy-making structure in overcoming the political and cultural dogmas of this field (the case of China, South Korea and Turkey), paying attention to the element of social participation (the case of South Korea, Turkey) and accordingly developing issue-oriented policy content along with the continuous convergence of demands Political elites and effective political currents reduce internal tensions and ultimately make the capacity and capability of the government suitable for cultural and executive development in the education system.In this regard, political-cultural obstacles appear for this dimension of development that cannot be overcome. For example, the political structure of the party-government of the People's Republic of China by applying authoritarian policies to industrialize education; The element of educational justice and equality in quality, which is one of the main indicators of development approaches as human empowerment, has faced a serious challenge. The attention of cultural policymakers to the fields and effective actors of the society is another important factor in the process of shaping the development of the educational system. For example, the way of distribution of cultural elements (Islamic and Confucian) as two effective forces in the societies studied in this research has affected the way of control by the government institution in this field. Facilitation of the mentioned elements in Türkiye and South Korea is the cause of harmony, cohesion and movement in the development path. The strictness of the mentioned religion in China and Egypt has sometimes created many challenges for the realization of reform policies.ConclusionFinally, reflecting on the evidence of this research showed the clarity of the theoretical vision of this project. Discussions that lie in the concepts and content of the critical view of some theoretical insights, around the critique of the development paradigms. Their emphasis on the necessity of passing these foundations and paying attention to the ability and capacity of the government to realize reforms is considered essential. This means that in the scientific investigation of the obstacles to the realization of planned reforms, it is not possible to simply describe or build a conceptual model of the institutions located in the cultural center of the society, such as the developmental education system. Rather, it is necessary here to examine structural-content requirements and obstacles in three dimensions: 1- formation, legislation and planning; 2- implementation and 3- follow the evaluation of the codified programs. Because each of the mentioned stages can potentially turn into conflicts and conflicts at the level of society in the political, economic and social arenas; Make the way for the implementation of the approved policies of that government, especially in the public institutions of the society.
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.
Sociology
Morteza Ganji; Mohsen Kermani Nasrabadi
Abstract
Social damages, have become a sovereign concern in recent decades; Therefore, policy makers have tried to think of measures to control and reduce these damages in the form of various policies and laws such as five-year development plans. This attention and effort has been done in a situation where ...
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Social damages, have become a sovereign concern in recent decades; Therefore, policy makers have tried to think of measures to control and reduce these damages in the form of various policies and laws such as five-year development plans. This attention and effort has been done in a situation where so far a very limited number of policy orders in these programs have been successfully implemented. One of the reasons for the failure of development programs is the lack of attention to the category of program evaluation. this article has been compiled while using the qualitative content analysis method with the aim of identifying the evaluation indicators of the judgments in the field of social damages in development programs. A review of the conceptual literature of policy evaluation shows that three types of evaluation can be distinguished; Pre-evaluation, process evaluation and post-evaluation. pre-evaluation can be focused on the process of formulating political rulings, the quality of the form of the rulings, and the quality of their content. According to the definition of social damages and the specific nature of society's involvement with it, it seems that among the three indicators of process, form and content, paying attention to process indicators is more important in the field of policy making in the field of social damages.Keywords: Social Damage, Program Evaluation, Pre-Evaluation, Development Programs, Social Situation.IntroductionConsidering the amount and severity of social damages in the last few decades has always been one of the concerns of policy makers and has been placed on the agenda as one of the priorities of development programs; Despite this attention and efforts, expert evaluations show that the success rate of development programs in controlling and reducing these damages has not been satisfactory. Experts consider one of the most important factors of this situation to be the lack of attention to the category of program evaluation and the lack of a clear and systematic mechanism to do it. Based on this, this article seeks to describe the category of pre-evaluation while identifying the types of programmatic evaluation.Research Question(s)What are the different types of evaluation of policy programs?What parts and elements does pre-evaluation of programs include?In the field of social damage, what kind of pre-evaluation is more important?Conceptual frameworkThe term evaluation, like many other concepts in the field of social sciences, faces a kind of conceptual confusion. This situation has been created in Latin literature due to the existence of words with the same meaning and equivalent in this field; And in the Persian language, due to the transfer of this conceptual ambiguity from the Latin language, on the one hand, and the use of different equivalent words for this concept in translation, on the other hand, it has become more complicated. For example, in this field, the concepts of evaluation, valuation, measurement and monitoring are also used, which are sometimes used jointly. Mikael Scriven, one of the pioneers of this field, defined 60 different terms, including measurement, judgment, assessment, analysis, evaluation, criticism, review, rating, inspection, judgment, rating, scoring, study and The test mentions in this context (Pourezat and Seyed Rezaei, 2018).MethodologyThis research is a type of basic research with a qualitative method, and the method of conducting it is a systematic literature review with a qualitative content analysis approach. One of the practical methods in the field of qualitative research is content analysis; Content analysis is a method based on which the linguistic features of a text can be known realistically and regularly. Content analysis means "applying a repeatable and valid method to obtain inferences from content in relation to situations or characteristics of its source". Qualitative content analysis is an experimental, methodical and controlled examination of contents using the rules of content analysis and the stages of its patterns without hasty quantification (Danesh Fard, 2016). For qualitative content analysis in this research, written and content sources in the field of policy making and law writing have been examined.ResultsEvaluation research can be divided into two parts based on whether it evaluates a program or its results. In the first type, the structure of the program and policy is examined; But in the second type of research, the results and effects are evaluated without paying attention to the structure of the program. For example, in the evaluation of a country's development plan, it is possible to focus only on the plan itself and its characteristics, such as the definition of development and whether the various aspects of development have been considered or not.But in evaluating the results of a program, the focus is not on the program itself, but the goal is to answer the question of whether the program has achieved its desired results or not (Haji Yousefi, 2021). Also, according to the criterion of the "stage of the policy-making process" on which the evaluation is based, it is possible to differentiate between three types of evaluation; which includes: post-evaluation, process evaluation and pre-evaluation (Ghorouneh et al., 2016). Pre-evaluation is an activity that starts at the beginning of the policy-making process, and post-policy evaluation is an activity that measures the realization of results during and after the implementation of the policy and deviations from the designed goals, actual time and additional costs. It identifies more than resources and other factors (Matti and Degaro, 2011). According to the investigations of this research, it can be said that the evaluation of plans and policies can be done in three situations:- Pre-evaluation: checking the status and quality of drafting plans and policies;- Evaluation of the process or during implementation: checking the status and quality of the policy implementation process;- Ex-post evaluation or evaluation of results: examining the success rate and various effects of programs and projects.ConclusionCompilation of the necessary indicators to evaluate the state of formulation and quality of policy rulings related to social damages requires paying attention to the definition of this concept and its components. Paying attention to the definition of social damage shows the collective and context-oriented aspect of this phenomenon; In other words, although the type and title of social damages occurred in different regions are similar to each other, each of these damages are still affected by the special conditions in the socio-cultural environment governing the said regions.According to the definition of social damage and the specific nature of society's involvement with it, it seems that among the three indicators of process, form and content; paying attention to process indicators is more important in the field of policy making. In this context, the argument is that policymaking is a cycle that cannot achieve significant success without considering the needs of the target community and considering their attitudes and tendencies; This issue is more important in the field of social damage, because if the policy maker puts an issue on the agenda that the society does not consider as a problem or damage, successful action in this field will not be possible. Also, putting social problems and damages on the agenda without attracting the participation and opinions of various elites and stakeholders will make it more difficult to control and reduce these damage and problems. Based on this, the process of identifying and determining priority issues and social damages and developing relevant programs and measures requires specific and clear indicators.
Sociology
Behnam Lotfikhachaki; Mansoureh Mahdizadeh
Abstract
With the aim of identifying and prioritizing the needs of the young elites and the typology of this group, the current research identified the needs of the elites in the framework of the Q method, while conducting in-depth interviews with the elites and examining the available resources. In the ...
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With the aim of identifying and prioritizing the needs of the young elites and the typology of this group, the current research identified the needs of the elites in the framework of the Q method, while conducting in-depth interviews with the elites and examining the available resources. In the second part, 62 young university elites completed the final questionnaire. Then, four mental patterns were obtained. According to the findings, the "supportive elites" are mostly looking for support and facilities for livelihood, research, recruitment etc., and they adapt themselves well to quantitative criteria to obtain support and facilities. "Participating elites" believe that the existing support should be appropriate to the dignity and special conditions of each elite. This group needs to provide the basis for their influence through interaction with different levels of governance and with other elites. "Individual elites" seek public support in the fields of livelihood, research, and equipment, and prefer short-term and economic support to long-term and targeted facilities. "Operational elites" are also mainly looking for specific and targeted support such as commercialization of products, creation of knowledge-based businesses and application of research. Finally, operational and policy proposals were presented to meet these needs.
Sociology
bahram nikbakhsh
Abstract
Physical appearance as a form of capital has been the focus of sociologists in recent years because "aesthetic capital," like other forms of capital, can be accumulated and utilized in social exchanges. The general purpose of this research was to collect information about the dimensions and meaning ...
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Physical appearance as a form of capital has been the focus of sociologists in recent years because "aesthetic capital," like other forms of capital, can be accumulated and utilized in social exchanges. The general purpose of this research was to collect information about the dimensions and meaning of appearance, and to do so, the questionnaire tool was used. The present research participants included all people between the ages of 15 and 60 in a statistical sample of 384 people in Ahvaz City. In this regard, statistical measures for both the "accumulation" and "utilization " dimensions of "aesthetic capital" were studied based on a parallel survey design using ordinal logistic regression (o-logit model). The findings showed that there are double standards based on specific norms regarding "accumulation" and "utilization " of "aesthetic capital." Furthermore, the existence of double normative standards depends on the "context" of society, in a way that these standards in "accumulation of capital" mean more approval of women's behavior, while the double standard in "utilization of capital" means more approval of men’s behavior. As a result, aesthetic capital, as something that depends on the context, regulates gender norms.
Sociology
Fatemeh Mohammadi; Tayebeh Farajzadeh
Abstract
The South Korean film business has captured the imagination of many young people nowadays, which disturbs many parents. This research seeks to understand the experiences of fandom in young Iranian women from Korean series and its relationship with virtual space. The current qualitative case study research ...
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The South Korean film business has captured the imagination of many young people nowadays, which disturbs many parents. This research seeks to understand the experiences of fandom in young Iranian women from Korean series and its relationship with virtual space. The current qualitative case study research was conducted using thematic analysis and semi-structured interviews, and the data were analyzed using coding. Twenty-three young girls between the ages of 19 and 27 who live in various places in Iran and are members of fan pages on Telegram made up the present research participants. Although many of them ascribed the start of their fandom to the period when popular Korean series were broadcast on TV, the results of this research confirm that their fandom is sustained thanks to the availability of virtual space. Furthermore, five main themes for the support of these young women were counted from their responses: a variety of genres in products, avoiding erotic scenes, fostering cultural similarities, teaching moral virtue, and attractive romances were among the reasons for their support.
Sociology
Mahdi Malmir
Abstract
Through a secondary analysis of three waves of the Iranian Values and Attitudes Survey, this article endeavors to depict the political, cultural, and economic facets of Iranian society through the lens of identity dimensions, including national, ethnic, and class identities. The findings indicate ...
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Through a secondary analysis of three waves of the Iranian Values and Attitudes Survey, this article endeavors to depict the political, cultural, and economic facets of Iranian society through the lens of identity dimensions, including national, ethnic, and class identities. The findings indicate a positive attitude towards national identity among all respondents. However, when this type of identity is juxtaposed with ethnic and linguistic diversity, varying relationships emerge between the two. While the interaction between national and ethnic identities has been synergistic in most provinces, certain vectors reveal a weakening of national identity and a strengthening of ethnic identity. Moreover, monitoring the trend of social mobility as an indicator of society's economic improvement reveals a declining trend in social mobility, leading to a shrinking middle class and an expanding lower class. The combination of this identity gap (national-ethnic) with economic deprivation and inequality provides an analytical tool for understanding and explaining the social and political actions of social forces and agencies in the current Iranian society.Keywords: National identity, Ethnic identity, Class identity, Social Status Assessment, Survey of Iranian Values and Attitudes. IntroductionSurveys have emerged as a pivotal tool for assessing social conditions. Their widespread application worldwide has made them indispensable for understanding social dynamics. More than five decades have passed in Iran since implementing the first national survey. During this period, numerous surveys have been conducted by both academic and governmental institutions. Among these, the Survey of Iranian Values and Attitudes stands out as the most renowned national survey, garnering significant academic acceptance among social scientists and policymakers. Since 2000, four waves of this survey have been conducted at the national level. This paper leverages the findings of this survey to study Iranian society, focusing on the dimensions of national, ethnic, and class identities.Research Question(s)This article endeavors to answer the following questions through an analysis of the results from surveys on Iranian values and attitudes:How has the social situation in Iran been theorized in these surveys?What are the main components and indicators used to measure Iran's social situation?How is Iranian society structured based on identity components?Conceptual FrameworkThe conceptual framework of value and attitude measurement (Chalabi, 2004) is essentially a conceptual map of society, aiming to provide a comprehensive and complete definition of Iranian society, including the entire society, its components, dimensions, and levels, and their interrelationships. This framework is influenced by general systems theory and consists of three levels of abstraction. The first level of abstraction shows the relationship between three components: action, actor, and the situation of action (the basic elements of the situation of action also include objects, goals, and norms). At the second level of abstraction, four types of action systems and their relationships are presented: the factual system, the preferential system (personality), the social system, and the cultural system. The third level of abstraction combines the four types of subsystems at the second level, forming the general concept of "action system" (Rezaei,2002:5-8). In conceptualizing "value and attitude" or value orientation and tendency, these two variables are considered to be the product of the interaction of the social and personal systems. Based on this, a list of data and outputs of the personal system is proposed for study in the present survey (Rezaei,2002:24). Ultimately, at the empirical level, considering some criteria such as the priority of social issues, theoretical importance, and the generality of the subject, this conceptual framework is limited to the levels of economic, social, cultural, and political attitudes.Materials and MethodsThis study employs a secondary analysis of aggregated data from three waves of a Survey on Iranian Values and Attitudes. The results are extracted and reported both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. For this purpose, aggregated data at the provincial level is utilized. Using a statistical weighting technique, a single score of -2 to +2 was calculated for each province's identity indices. These scales were then standardized on a 0-100 scale to enable comparison of results. A reconstructed table of scores for national, ethnic, and class identity components for all provinces is included in the article's appendix.FindingsData analysis of a two-dimensional vector encompassing national and ethnic identity indicates that a majority of the country's provinces exhibit a high degree of national identity coupled with a moderate level of commitment to teaching local languages. Nevertheless, there are specific instances that reveal an incongruity between these two components. Furthermore, an examination of class structure and mobility trends in Iranian society between 2000 to 2003 suggests a relative improvement in upward class mobility. However, this trend reversed in 2015, with a majority of the population experiencing downward mobility. Additionally, the class gap index reveals a consistent widening of the class gap over this period. This is attributed to a decline in the size of the upper and middle classes and a corresponding increase in the lower class. In summary, the data analysis indicates that over the past two decades, there has been a decline in individuals' class positions, a heightened sense of inequality, and an expanding class gap.ConclusionThis study suggests that Iranian society can be categorized into three types based on their national and ethnic identities. The first type includes provinces with a strong national identity and a moderate ethnic and linguistic identity, which is the majority. The second type consists of provinces with a strong ethnic and linguistic identity but a weak national identity. Lastly, the third type is characterized by a strong national identity and a weak linguistic identity. This categorization is based on subjective assessments and needs further validation through more rigorous studies and empirical data. The study also looked into the social class of the surveyed individuals and examined both the static and dynamic aspects of Iran's socioeconomic stratification system over time. The findings revealed a notable increase in inequality and class divisions within Iranian society. The combination of inequality, class divisions, and specific ethnic and local identities provides a useful framework for understanding and explaining the social and political actions of Iranian society.AcknowledgmentsThe initial version of this article was presented at the National Conference on the Social Situation of Iran, hosted by Allameh Tabataba'i University and supported by the Ministry of Interior's Social Affairs Organization in Murch 2022. The author would like to express their gratitude to the organizers and supporters of the conference for providing the opportunity to present this article and subsequently revise and expand it to its current form.
Sociology
Mahdie Mohammad taghizade
Abstract
"In Iranian society, considerable importance is placed on the family as a vital social and cultural institution. However, despite this emphasis, official statistics indicate a notable increase in divorce rates among families.""The family, as an institution in our country, is undeniably facing significant ...
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"In Iranian society, considerable importance is placed on the family as a vital social and cultural institution. However, despite this emphasis, official statistics indicate a notable increase in divorce rates among families.""The family, as an institution in our country, is undeniably facing significant challenges. The alarming surge in divorce cases over the past years serves as a clear indicator of the distressed state of family dynamics". "Divorce symbolizes the breakdown of the family unit, often resulting in enduring and irrevocable consequences. This phenomenon, akin to a lethal virus, infiltrates the foundational institution of society—the family—and claims a substantial number of victims on a daily basis". "The primary objective of this qualitative study is to explore the underlying reasons behind the decision to divorce among families in Tehran. It employs a descriptive phenomenological approach with thematic analysis as the research method.""Thematic analysis is a six-step methodology encompassing the following stages: familiarization with the data, coding, theme generation, theme evaluation and refinement, theme definition and naming, and report writing". "The study's statistical population comprises married individuals who sought divorce through Tehran's family courts in 1401. A purposeful sampling method was employed, leading to in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 37 participants". "In the data analysis process, initial coding was followed by the extraction of primary and secondary themes. The research findings are presented under two overarching categories: 'warning signs of divorce' and 'factors contributing to separation. Essentially, certain factors may serve as warning signs of impending divorce if experienced by couples at any stage of their marital journey. Conversely, specific events can escalate marital conflicts and increase the likelihood of separation, which can be categorized as triggers or catalysts for divorce.Keywords: Marriage, Divorce, Divorce Catalysts, Separation Decision- Making, Divorced Women. Introduction:"In Iranian society, considerable importance is placed on the family as a vital social and cultural institution. However, despite this emphasis, official statistics indicate a notable increase in divorce rates among families. "The family, as an institution in our country, is undeniably facing significant challenges. The alarming surge in divorce cases over the past years serves as a clear indicator of the distressed state of family dynamics.""Divorce symbolizes the breakdown of the family unit, often resulting in enduring and irrevocable consequences. This phenomenon, akin to a lethal virus, infiltrates the foundational institution of society—the family—and claims a substantial number of victims on a daily basis."Materials and Methods: "The primary objective of this qualitative study is to explore the underlying reasons behind the decision to divorce among families in Tehran. It employs a descriptive phenomenological approach with thematic analysis as the research method. "Thematic analysis is a six-step methodology encompassing the following stages: familiarization with the data, coding, theme generation, theme evaluation and refinement, theme definition and naming, and report writing.""The study's statistical population comprises married individuals who sought divorce through Tehran's family courts in 1401. A purposeful sampling method was employed, leading to in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 37 participants."Results: "In the data analysis process, initial coding was followed by the extraction of primary and secondary themes. The research findings are presented under two overarching categories: 'warning signs of divorce' and 'factors contributing to separation.' The first category comprises three main themes:" "The context of marriage formation encompasses the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the marital union. It involves three sub-themes:Moreover, it comprises 14 additional sub-themes that contribute to the overall understanding of the marital context :Escaping complicated family situations , Sacrificing family secrets to pursue marriage, Viewing marriage as a means to achieve dreams, Considering marriage as the sole source of happiness, Feeling pressured to marry to avoid being left behind by peers, Forming brief acquaintances at work and school, Developing long-term friendships that lead to marriage, Relying on family knowledge for spouse selection and trust surrounding marriage.Experiencing emotional love and believing in destiny (love at first sight), Focusing on beauty and appearance in marriage decisions, Sharing common dreams and goals in life, Achieving genuine compatibility between mental dreams and marital reality, Describing marriage as a packaged watermelon, symbolizing the union of two individuals, Entering marriage with an idealized image of the relationship.The second axis consists of three main categories: incentives and obstacles to divorce, igniting divorce by crossing boundaries, and the dissolution of "marriage" within a structured shared life. This axis encompasses 12 sub-themes, namely: Revealing the true nature of the spouse, Inadequate sexual life skills and dissatisfaction, Poor ability to navigate daily challenges in married life, Breaching moral boundaries, Substance abuse and addiction, Disregard for personal privacy, Protecting children from a stressful home environment, Experiencing disappointment in the marriage, Unsuccessful attempts at change and reconciliation, Losing the sense of partnership and shared life, Receiving counsel to pursue divorce and its legitimization Positive and negative influences from people in the couple's social circle.Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that in the analysis of warning signs leading to divorce, couples frequently entered marital life without establishing compatibility and understanding in crucial aspects such as age, education, culture, religion, appearance, financial standing, and family background during the initial stages of their relationship or courtship. This lack of compatibility in these areas heightened the likelihood of couples experiencing insurmountable challenges upon cohabitation, ultimately increasing the risk of marital failure. The study further revealed that discrepancies between marital reality and an individual's prior expectations could lead to doubts about the relationship's longevity. As couples grew more familiar with each other's behavioral patterns, communication styles, and genuine thoughts over time, they began to question the viability of their marriage. In such cases, the removal of the metaphorical mask, unveiling the true nature of their spouse, placed the individual in an unanticipated situation for which they were unprepared before entering the marriage. Under these circumstances, the revelation of previously unknown moral characteristics, such as mistrust, pessimism, immoral behavior in men, or obstinacy in women, can leave an individual feeling helpless. This vulnerability often fosters an environment of mutual disrespect and humiliation, changes in religious beliefs, dominance and selfishness, as well as feelings of jealousy and competition between spouses.
Sociology
Abdul Reza Navah; karim rezadoost; Saeed Moidfar; narges khoshkalam
Abstract
The spread of Corona, with emphasis on social distancing, caused social interactions within ethnic contexts to undergo changes in terms of quantity and quality. Based on this, the current research is focused on the phenomenology of the lived experience of Borujerd city Lak-speakers of ...
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The spread of Corona, with emphasis on social distancing, caused social interactions within ethnic contexts to undergo changes in terms of quantity and quality. Based on this, the current research is focused on the phenomenology of the lived experience of Borujerd city Lak-speakers of social interactions after facing the Corona outbreak. The current phenomenological research has used the Moustakas technique to analyze the data. The number of 16 samples was selected purposefully and until theoretical saturation, and the data was collected by in-depth interview method. Collaborative observation (10 field observations) was also used to collect more data. Based on the results of coding and field data analysis, the concept of "post-corona ethnic interaction" includes 8 main clusters, which are: 1) the opportunity to find human agency, 2) the socialization of interaction, 3) the continuity of ethnic members, 4 ) the digitalization of interaction, 5) the scientific-rationalization of the epistemic base of interaction, 6) the purposeful interaction, 7) the hyper-digitalization of interaction, and 8) the appearance of the role of inhuman agency. In general, the threat of Corona has acted as a shock that has provided the opportunity to express individuality for the members of the ethnic community of Lak tribe.Keywords: Corona, Post-Corona, Social Interactions, Lak Tribe, Phenomenology. IntroductionThe Corona epidemic, with emphasis on social distancing, suspended the current routine of social interactions in the first step. Although this danger has been curbed to some extent, it seems that changes have occurred in social interactions within ethnic contexts. The Lak tribe living in Borujerd city, although before the corona epidemic, it had experienced some changes due to the cultural encounter with modernity, but still the face-to-face ethnic interactions were very important for its members, which seems to be during the confrontation with the corona virus, the quantity and quality of these interactions have undergone changes. Based on this, the current research is focused on the phenomenology of the lived experience of the Lak tribe of ethnic interactions after facing the outbreak of Corona.Research QuestionWhat is the lived experience of Borujerd city Lak-speakers of the transformation of their ethnic interactions after facing the danger of Corona?Literature ReviewImani Jajarmi (2019) showed with a quick assessment that social distancing has challenged social solidarity. The results of Motamed Jahormi and Kaveh's research (2021) also showed that the reduction of direct interactions during the outbreak of Corona has had destructive effects on people's social capital. Some other researchers such as Mirzaei (2019), Kazemi (2019) and Sharaf-uddin (2021) have warned in quick assessments of the situation of the problem by sounding the alarm that the continuation of forced social isolation caused by facing the danger Corona will cause irreparable damage to social solidarity, but others such as Žižek (2021) and Davis (2019) believe that a kind of "solidarity in separation" due to the conditions caused by facing danger, which is definitely a new form of social interactions.MethodologyIn the current research, the phenomenological method with the Moustakas technique was used. The community studied in the present research included the Borujerd city Lak-speakers. The sampling method was purposeful, which means that the researcher deliberately went to those who had the lived experience of the phenomenon under study. The process of sampling and data collection continued until theoretical saturation; That is, until no new data was obtained, and finally 16 samples were studied. The method of data collection was in-depth interview and 10 participatory observation. The resulting data have been analyzed using the Moustakas technique, in such a way that first meaningful units have been extracted from the expressions and descriptions of the participants. In the second stage, the descriptive narratives of the horizons are coded with special terms under the title of themes. Then, in the third stage, the themes or horizons arising from the interview data are presented in clustering classes, and in the fourth stage, coherent descriptions of these clusters are presented.ResultsBased on the results of coding and analysis, the concept of "post-corona social interaction" includes the following clusters: 1) based on digital literacy, 2) based on solidarity in separation, 3) based on planning, 4) based on human agency. 5) based on the ego of the relationship, 6) based on the knowledge of scientific-rational dialogue, 7) based on inhuman agency.ConclusionIn general, facing the danger of Corona has caused the emergence of a new attitude towards the ethnic interactions between the members of the Lak tribe, and the nature of these interactions has been pushed more and more from the ethnicist state to the socialistic state, and with the approximate removal of racist elements. And based on its descent, the members of the tribe have witnessed more tolerance in their interactions. This tolerance is caused by the tendency to preserve individual values in parallel with collective values. Facing the danger of Corona has provided an opportunity to express individuality, an individuality that before facing Corona had no way but to disappear within ethnic relations. In addition to a research proposal to test the findings of the current research in future research, to recognize the inhumane factors in sociological analysis, and also to conduct ethnographic research in relation to the cultural consequences of exposure to danger. Corona in ethnic contexts (considering that the present research was a sociological research), the following practical suggestions are also presented: 1) Creating and strengthening media interaction platforms and providing easy and cheap access to these platforms for Residents of areas with ethnic background, instead of filtering social networks and popular and user-friendly messengers, 2) Digital literacy and media literacy training for different age groups, especially the elderly, in order to be resilient. Empowering and empowering members of ethnic communities against risks that may threaten and disrupt social relations in the future, such as the risk of the spread of the corona virus, and 3) providing a platform for people to access scientific knowledge and up-to-date knowledge in the field the pattern of preventive social relations and interactions (protecting one's own health and that of others) in order to eliminate social fear caused by facing danger and rebuilding social ties and generally reintegrating society members based on new scientific knowledge.
Sociology
Ali Ayar; Moosa Anbari
Abstract
Using the critical ethnography method, this research examines the effect of developmental interventions on the social space and economic activity of local communities in the Middle Zagros site (Ilam and Lorestan provinces). The findings indicate that the development has put the pre-intervention ...
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Using the critical ethnography method, this research examines the effect of developmental interventions on the social space and economic activity of local communities in the Middle Zagros site (Ilam and Lorestan provinces). The findings indicate that the development has put the pre-intervention life world, which was dominated by social issues, under the attack of economic issues. In the process of developmental intervention, the cultural capacities and traditions that connect and help local economic activities have been neglected. Instead, official and capital-oriented government programs have been expanded in objective and subjective dimensions. The result of the weakening of popular traditions is the rise of new pseudo-technocratic groups that consider local cultural values such as hard work, contentment, cooperation, and generosity as symbols of backwardness. In fact, native activists, as new self-directed productive managers, have become those who are caught in the trap of donations, loans, and hires to market their labor force and provide their livelihood. In order to show this reduction, the metaphor of the walnut tree as a symbol of a hardworking, connected, and diligent nature-oriented society, and the eucalyptus tree as a symbol of borrowed intervention, a consuming, pretentious, and discrete society have been used. With the deterioration of the local community, cooperative economic actions, hard work, and contentment have been limited, and consumer-oriented, discrete, and completely profitable economic competitions have taken their place.
Keywords: Critical Ethnography, Intervention, Developers, Local Community, Economic Action, Social Existence.
Introduction
Developmental interventions have been associated with positive achievements and improvement of some welfare and social indicators. However, in cases where these interventions have been implemented disproportionately with the social existence, they have also had a negative side. Local communities in Iran have experienced various interventions and authoritarian changes in the name of development since the beginning of the Pahlavi period. This research is an attempt to explain how, with developmental interventions, the whole existence in collectivist and ethical communities was reduced to an economic matter, and altruistic, cooperative, tolerant, altruistic, and hospitable people turned into relatively selfish and profit-seeking people. How, in a paradoxical situation, despite the dominance of the economy, need and poverty have spread?
Conceptual Framework
In order to create theoretical sensitivity in understanding and interpreting developmental interventions, the following theoretical concepts have been used. According to Durkheim, society is an independent reality that moves and evolves according to the coordinates of its existence, which cannot be changed from the outside or by force. Therefore, the forced division of labor is considered to be the cause of social disorder. By presenting an understanding of society as a system, Nolan and Lenski provide us with the insight that interventions by changing some components of a system provide the context for changing other components. Habermas' system- life-word conceptual system relies on the proposition that with the separation between the life-world and the system, the life-world is colonized by the system.
Materials and Methods
The present research has used the multi-sited ethnography method by adopting a qualitative approach. Critical ethnography goes behind the scenes and disrupts neutral and certain-considered assumptions. To collect data, observation, in-depth interviews, group discussions, situational conversations, and site notes have been used. The analysis has been done by repeatedly reviewing different data, going back and forth to the site in order to saturate the theory and extract the main themes. The studied site is generally Middle Zagros, i.e., Lorestan and Ilam provinces, but six places, including two cities and four villages in Ilam and Lorestan provinces, have been selected. According to the multi-sited ethnographic approach, the researcher has explored one event, which is developmental interventions in several sites. To check the ability to confirm and transfer research or qualitative validity, on the one hand, organized themes with experts. On the other hand, propositions extracted from qualitative data have been shared with participants. Furthermore, the long-term presence of the researcher, multi-dimensionalization of data, rich description, and triangulation have been used for validation.
Findings
In this research, in order to understand the effect of developmental interventions in the local communities of Iran, a multi-site critical ethnography method in the Ilam and Lorestan provinces has been used. After analyzing the data, the authors were able to extract six comprehensive concepts to understand the effect of these interventions. These themes are: from accompanying the social matter to the dominance of the economic matter, from cultural capacities to cultural programs, the arrival of developmentalists, draining the social life-world, and the emergence of snobbism: from work as an identity to work as a disgrace, from the traditions of helping charity and being hired, and from the connected society to rival communities.
Conclusion
Although developmental interventions have had undeniable achievements for local communities, in many cases, due to the lack of fit with the environment, they have ultimately harmed the social entity because it has placed the society in which the social matter was dominant and its economic actions were managed and understood with altruistic and communal social logic in the onslaught of the economic matter. Developers with subjective and objective interventions, including symbolic violence centered on media and education, first introduced and humiliated the huge cultural reserves, institutions, and systems that help economic action as a hindrance and obstacle to development and then provided the ground for their destruction. Due to their interventions in different aspects of life in local communities, the opportunities for native economic activity were reduced day by day. As a result of these interventions, activists are experiencing forms of poverty by destroying the social context in the absence and collapse of supporting institutions and systems. The metaphor from walnut to eucalyptus is employed to show the change of direction from an industrious, interconnected, and belonging society to one's fellows and the environment to a discrete, consuming, and indifferent society to one's fellows and the environment.
Acknowledgments
This article is extracted from the corresponding author's postdoctoral research project. Therefore, the authors consider it their duty to acknowledge and thank the honorable heads and respected staff of the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) and the Institute of Social Studies and Research of the University of Tehran, as well as all the participants in the research.
Sociology
Tahereh Khazaei
Abstract
The expansion of the virtual space and communication networks has changed Iranian society by providing a sphere for constructing personalized narratives of the social lifeworld. Physicians are a social class with a dubious presence in the virtual space, especially on X. The genealogy of medicine ...
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The expansion of the virtual space and communication networks has changed Iranian society by providing a sphere for constructing personalized narratives of the social lifeworld. Physicians are a social class with a dubious presence in the virtual space, especially on X. The genealogy of medicine is known as an institution professionally entwined with ambiguity, authority, and authenticity. On the other hand, the modern world is characterized by deconsecrating and demystification. The current research is a netnography that relies on verstehen to understand the physicians’ twits on the X social medium in 2023. The four dominant conceptual patterns extracted in our thematic analysis include the emergence of the patient subject and the interpellation of the doctor, fearfulness about the emergence of traditional medicine that de-monopolizes health, the physician’s constructs from mafia to the martyr of health, and the unactualized alienation of the physician. Overall, the expansion of virtual social media has accelerated the physicians’ disempowerment and demystification as a result of which the sacred, ambiguous aura around the physician has encountered a call to the center, providing the reflexive narration of the physician, his lifeworld, and his problems.Keywords: Reflexivity, Virtual Space, Physician’s Lifeworld, X (Twitter), Iranian Society. IntroductionToday, social media and the virtual space compete with the physical world as one of the main spheres of modern life. Providing people with shared interests to gather around each other via the possibility of visual and written dialogue, the virtual space has introduced new experiences of constructing and narrating the self. Despite their widespread filtering, Telegram, Instagram, and X are among the most popular social media in Iran. Among other social classes in Iran, physicians have a distinct presence in X as an elite social medium.As an expert institution, medicine is of high status, authenticity, authority, and income. In cosmologic worldviews, disease and medicine are connected to mythical and metaphysical beliefs as well as concepts such as destiny, magic, and enchantment, while in the theological worldview, they pertain to God’s wrath and atonement of sins, and in popular culture, they are connected to healing and miracle (Salehi, Zokai & Ekhlasi, 2019; Adam, Herzlich, 2006; Masoudnia, 2010; Svenaeus, 2021). In Islamic beliefs, the physician is revered as God’s hand that heals (Mohaghegh Damad, 2016; Sadr, 2011; Kiyani, 2012). With such a genealogy that rivals bordering professions such as Traditional medicine, medicine finds mysterious, latent characteristics that distinguish it from the non-physician others while even the emergence of modern medicine has not removed the sacred, metaphysical, mysterious aura that it is traditionally endowed with. Following widespread social changes, medicine and physicians have faced a call to the center and to self-narration in the communicative sphere that social media provides. Though the process is global in scope, it pertains to specific Iranian particularities that go back to the simultaneous paradoxical claim of traditional medicine to scientific and Islamic originality and the duality of the science/medicine vis-à-vis culture and politics in the Iranian polemic society.Research Question(s)In this research, we answer two questions: what is the physicians’ narrative of medicine and their lifeworld in the X (Twitter) social media? How is this narrative framed and in what conceptual pattern is it interpreted?Literature ReviewFollowing the deinstitutionalization and detraditionalization of all traditional and premodern institutions, and the limiting and threatening of the validity and authority of meaning and images constructed by them (Martuccelli, 2002; Martuccelli and de Singly, 2012), the physician and medicine as the legacy of both tradition and modernity that carry an aura of ambiguity, magic, and sanctity are no exempt from rethinking and reconstructing their images and narratives. The process of disempowering medicine found momentum with the initial attempts at understanding it as a science with material, earthly, and learned skills around the body (Salehi, 2019) that in the late 20th century faced uncertainties about the novel medicalization methods (Starr, 1982), critics of the pathogenicity of modern medicine (Illich, 1976 and 1975) and the capability of modern medicine in healing in contemporary society. With medicine’s authority under challenge, the subject of medicine was interpellated in the sense that the physician was summoned to give an account of himself as an opportunity open to the once impossible experience of realizing the individual self as the reflexive self (Martuccelli de Singly, 2012). With the physician called to the center to self-narrate, social media turned into a major context for the narration of the physician’s social lifeworld.Materials and MethodsThe theoretical approach of this research is verstehen, the field and object of the research are chosen using netnography (Kozinets, 2006), and classic thematic analysis is used for the analysis of findings. The field includes the twits of 50 Iranian general practitioners and professional doctors (male and female) in 2023 in the X social media that center on narrating their experiences and analyses relevant to medicine in Iran.ResultsThe emergence of the patient and the interpellation of the physician (the increased medical knowledge of the patient, state’s intervention in providing cheap medical services, insurance agents and the evaluation of the physicians’ merits), fearfulness of the emergence of traditional discourse and the demonopolization of medicine (criticizing the university for legitimating traditional medicine, criticizing the state for defining policies in favor of Islamic medicine, delegitimizing the outdated methods of traditional medicine as the instance of fraud), the construction of the physician’s image in the two extremes of mafia and health martyr (the profit-making nature of medicine and its desanctifiication, self-interested medicine as against the historical and cultural genealogy) and the physician’s unactualized self (the experience of medicine in the cleavage between reality and the constructed image, boredom in the experience of medicine, the lack of context for practicing the learnt knowledge and the resulting alienation in the personal experience of physicians) are the dominant meaning patterns in the analysis of twits. Information Table of Doctors and their Pages in X Communication NetworkMedical Verification/ Medical NumberMedical ExpertiseGenderX AccountNumberFollowers - content of tweetsNeurosurgeonMale @kazemo_sarp1Followers - content of tweetsSurgeonMale @pedipayam2n.m.: 134915General Physician Male @RLaripour3n.m.: 21194NeurologistMale @drbabakzamani4n.m.: 22513Vascular and Trauma SurgeonMale @MrZafarghandi5n.m.: 91913OncologistMale @OmidrezaieDr6Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @k_md_297Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Female@Drshahrzad808Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @drcitalopram9Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @sheykholtabib10Followers - content of tweetsOrthopedistMale @Mahmouddream111Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @khodesheh12n.m.: 149053General Physician Male @smmirkhani13Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @Azimut140014n.m.: 77415General Physician Male @SMoattar15Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Female@thecatloverrr16Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @MahdiR8638832417Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Female@negarmr9618Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Male @litt_lebowski19Followers - content of tweetsKnee SurgeonMale @rasulghm20Followers - content of tweetsInternistMale @Dr_reza_safaei21Followers - content of tweetsGeneral Physician Female@faryadbseda22n.m.: 104691AnesthesiologistMale @e_bastan23Followers - content of tweetsGeneral SurgeonMale @RPORED4/ RPO24Followers - content of tweetsNeurologistMale @Naseh Mohi25Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @rhamed3226Followers - content of tweetsNeurosurgeonMale @sm_sinuhe27Followers - content of tweetsSurgeonMale @Mahmouddeream128n.m.: 31395NeurologistMale @JavadAmeliMD29n.m.: 108208Breast SurgeonMale @drhamidahmadi30Followers - content of tweetsRadiologistMale @legendoffall_31Followers - content of tweetsCardiologistMale @rezaaa198632Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @NimaValiollah33n.m.: 129155AnesthesiologistMale @Amirhos1009613434Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @poetofdoctors35Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @ehsan7j36n.m.: 140597InternistMale @dfereydoonzadeh37Followers - content of tweetsInternistMale @cinnora6038Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @CardiacTabib39Followers - content of tweetsRenal SurgeonMale @father6469902940Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @abolfazl_hm41n.m.: 55904Renal SurgeonMale @aliboskabady42Followers - content of tweetsEye SurgeonMale @mojtaba8130551743Followers - content of tweetsEndocrinologistFemale@Drabandokht44Followers - content of tweetsGeneral PhysicianMale @sarmadnou45n.m.: 129153OphthalmologistMale @abdulrahimami1146Followers - content of tweetsUrologistMale @monsoeursepehr47n.m.: 118864General PhysicianMale @mahdiarSaeedian48Followers - content of tweetsGeneral SurgeonMale @usiriss49n.m.: 161611General PhysicianFemale@Kamranifaeze150 ConclusionWith the expansion of the virtual space, the presence of doctors for protecting their authority, constructing meaning, and maintaining change in social intersubjectivity is inevitable. This presence is a shift from a monologue communication, neglecting and not listening, to dialogue with oneself, threatening others, and limiting the power of medicine. In a metaphoric sense, the physicians were, in their cultural and historical genealogy, the inhabitants of impenetrable fortresses whose doors were closed to outsiders. The hegemony of medicine entwined with myth, magic, and metaphysical matter had made the physician needless to speak out himself. With the advent of social changes and the demystification and desanctification of medicine and the physician, however, the foundations of the fortress trembled, and the physician was summoned to the center. He should have come down from his castle to an equal footing with others to narrate his medical lifeworld and himself. The expansion of the virtual space has led to the formation of the network society which is an accessible, non-hierarchical, intimate, and equal space against the traditional society. Talking of himself in the virtual space and criticizing medicine in the intersubjectivity of Iranian society, the physician attempts to preserve his authority while at the same time presenting a more real image of himself to give a diverse, varied image of medicine that dismantles the traditional homogenized image.
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.
Sociology
Fatemeh Havasbeigi
Abstract
The purpose of the current research is to identify the components of national Solidarity for use in the content of textbooks. The research paradigm is interpretive, the approach is qualitative, the research strategy is qualitative content analysis (induction), and the field of study includes teachers ...
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The purpose of the current research is to identify the components of national Solidarity for use in the content of textbooks. The research paradigm is interpretive, the approach is qualitative, the research strategy is qualitative content analysis (induction), and the field of study includes teachers of ethnicities and experts. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data. The sampling method was purposeful and continued until the theoretical saturation stage, and interviews were conducted with 14 experts and 18 teachers. The data format was based on audio and for data analysis two steps of open and axial coding were used. In the first step of coding, 451 initial codes, and 87 subcategories were obtained. In the second stage of coding, 16 main categories were obtained after categorization. The extracted categories are language homogeneity, diversity in introducing celebrities, territorial symbols, legitimizing cultural pluralism, rethinking and writing women's texts, strengthening trust, distributive justice, merit-based, strengthening national identity, paying attention to the multicultural economy, introducing ancient artifacts, consolidation of political legitimacy, redefining educational policy, strengthening National-transnational compatibility, creating social security, and reforming media policy. Based on the findings, the necessity of a review and a more comprehensive look at the components of national cohesion is felt.Keywords: National Cohesion, National Solidarity, Education, Textbooks, Teachers, Ethnicities.IntroductionNational cohesion is not formed in a vacuum. It is a constructive category, and the type of programs, actions, and strategies that governments take can be the source or destroyer of national cohesion. Considering the heterogeneity of population composition in Iran and the existence of different cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds, it is necessary to take a new look at the category of national cohesion and its components. Therefore, the research question is raised as follows: what are the components of national cohesion from the perspective of experts and teachers of Iranian ethnic groups for use in the content of textbooks?Literature ReviewThe review of the research done in the country shows that some research regarding national solidarity; the place of the national identity in the education system; and the role of textbooks in the formation of national identity have been conducted and the findings of these studies point to the lack of textbooks and the neglect of textbook designers and authors towards national identity and national solidarity. In 2022, a piece of research was carried out regarding the place of national cohesion in Iran's primary education textbooks by Havas Beigi and Sajjadi, and the findings of this research showed that in the textbooks, the only component on which national cohesion revolves is the component of religion and other components of national cohesion have received less and less attention. If it is necessary to pay attention to the various components of national unity, a state of balance and equilibrium should be established so that the ground of national harmony and national unity in Iran is provided more than before. But regarding the components of national cohesion, it can be said that experts have proposed components in the literature of sociology and political science, and in some cases, common components can be extracted between their opinions, which are from literature, poetry; cultural heritage; religion; flag and anthem; common land; language; customs; common history; National and religious holidays; music and art; and heroes and national pride. These cases are actually presented in a theoretical form from the point of view of experts, but still, considering the role and importance of education in national cohesion and maintaining solidarity, a comprehensive study on identifying the components of national cohesion to be included in textbooks from the point of view of experts and teachers of Iranian ethnic groups has not been done.Materials and MethodsThis research is placed in the category of constructive and interpretative paradigms, and accordingly, a qualitative approach has been used for inductive reasoning in order to solve the problem. The research strategy is qualitative content analysis (inductive), and the field of study includes ethnic teachers and experts in the fields of social sciences, political sciences, and education. The researcher has considered variables such as gender, ethnicity, and work experience for the group of teachers, ethnic groups, gender, specialized field, and academic rank for the group of experts. In this research, since national cohesion is one of the most important constructs of social sciences and political sciences, and on the other hand, it is one of the sources of determining needs and formulating goals in curricula, the opinions of experts and experts are related to that phenomenon, along with teachers. Different ethnicities, opinions, and views of experts in the fields of sociology, political science, and education were used in this research. The data collection tool is the semi-structured interview and the sampling method is purposeful. Sampling continued until the theoretical saturation stage and 14 experts and 18 teachers were interviewed. The data format of the research was audio-based. Two stages of open coding and axial coding were used for data analysis. To check the validity of the data obtained from the analysis of the interviews, the acceptability criteria including the review of external observers (at least 4 observers), long-term involvement, and continuous observation were used.ResultsIn the first step, the coding of 451 initial codes and 87 subcategories were obtained. In the second stage of coding, 16 main categories were obtained after categorization. The extracted categories are language homogeneity, diversity in introducing celebrities, territorial symbols, legitimizing cultural pluralism, rethinking and writing women's texts, strengthening trust, distributive justice, merit-based, strengthening national identity, paying attention to the multicultural economy, introducing ancient artifacts, political legitimacy, redefining educational policy, strengthening National-transnational compatibility, creating social security, and reforming media policy.ConclusionThe necessity of a review and a more comprehensive look at the components of national cohesion is felt because national cohesion is one of the most important issues of the countries of the past and present in the world, a very important and vital issue that has a very deep connection with the education system of each country and the preservation of the territorial integrity of the country. Moreover, the process of socialization of students depends on how the educational system reproduces and republishes the components of national identity and national cohesion. The educational system, as a carrier of cultural, religious, national, social, political, gender, ethnic values, etc., can play the most important role in this regard. Sixteen components that were discovered based on the opinions of ethnic teachers and experts in sociology, political science, and education can be used in the compilation of content related to the category of national cohesion in textbooks used by educational designers and planners. The results of the current research, if applied correctly, rationally and scientifically, both at the macro level and at the micro level (educational system), can provide the means to realize national cohesion as much as possible.AcknowledgmentsHere, it is necessary to thank and appreciate Dr. Seyed Mahdi Sajjadi, professor of the Department of Philosophy of Education, Tarbiat Modares University, Dr. Yar Mohammad Ghasemi, professor of the Department of Sociology and Cultural Studies, Ilam University, and Dr. Abdolrahim Navehebrahim, professor of the Department of Educational Management, Kharazmi University, who helped me in conducting this research. I am also very grateful for the financial support of the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).
Sociology
Seyed Mahdi Etemadifard; Abdollah Bicharanloo; Nooshin Safaeian
Abstract
The most basic issue in this article is to understand how the hierarchy of authority in the family and its changes are represented in social melodrama films with family themes that were best sellers in the period from 2008 to 2018. In the current study, based on contemporary approaches in the ...
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The most basic issue in this article is to understand how the hierarchy of authority in the family and its changes are represented in social melodrama films with family themes that were best sellers in the period from 2008 to 2018. In the current study, based on contemporary approaches in the field of sociology of gender, an attempt has been made to consider power and culture as the key elements in the analysis of films, beyond male and female, to understand power relations in the Iranian family. To analyze this issue in the period mentioned in the research samples, John Fiske’s semiotics model has been used so that while describing the distribution of family authority in these films, we can take a long look at the hierarchy of family authority and its changes. The results indicate that during a decade, we initially see the presence of hegemonic and less hegemonic masculinity and emphatic femininity in these films. In the middle of the decade, the presence of resistant women is more visible, but at the end of this decade, i.e. from 2016 to 2018, hegemonic men and emphatic women are the most important pattern of distribution of authority in the family in these films. What is important in this article is to pay attention to a different aspect compared to the results obtained from previous studies.
Keywords: Family, Femininity, Hierarchy of Authority, Iranian Cinema, Masculinity.
Introduction
The issue of how to divide tasks and perform roles in the family has been ponderable since the past. The hierarchy of authority in the family is based on the core relationships between men and women. It should be said that the most basic purpose of this research is to study "the hierarchy of authority in the family." The importance of the current issue is that the understanding of how the hierarchy of authority is represented in the family and the changes that have occurred in the field of sociology have been mainly focused by studies according to the status of women and the relationships that are created for men based on it. This research is trying to investigate the power relations among all family members using a comprehensive reading. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to analyze how the hierarchy of authority is distributed in the family and its changes in the movies of a decade from 2008 to 2018.
Main question: How is the hierarchy of authority in the family represented in movies, and what changes has it undergone?
Sub-questions: Do we see changes in the levels of authority in the family? Which position for women and men is more frequent in the hierarchy of family authority?
Literature Review
After reviewing the studies related to this field, the Persian researches in this field are categorized into two distinct categories. The first category is based on studies that have studied the hierarchy of authority in the family, which have been studied in different social, economic, cultural, etc. areas, regardless of the media dimensions of the family. The second category is related to studies that emphasize the media representation of the family or women as one of the important elements in the family. In this category, the representation of the family has been explored either in general or based on a particular issue. Foreign studies have paid more attention to the male dimensions of family hierarchy.
Theories Review
The modern theory of sociology of gender, which may have become famous for men's studies, has tried to provide a comprehensive and innovative intellectual system that can be used to examine the type and ranking of authority and power of all members of the family and recognize the traces of power. In this research, we are trying to go beyond the mere gender reading based on the theory of hegemonic masculinity of R. Connell, the theory of second sexism by Benatar, and the theory of expendable men by Baumeister. According to the theory of hegemonic masculinity, there is a cultural ideal type in society based on which the position of men and women is redefined. The second sexism theory and expendable men jointly address the idea of discrimination against men and believe that the problems that men struggle with have been neglected.
Materials and Methods
In this research, the purposive sampling technique has been used. According to the topic and purpose of the research, bestselling movies and dramas were selected. The best-selling social melodrama movies, including family themes have been selected based on the statistical calendar of the sales of cinematographic films published by the Vice-Chancellor of Technology and Cinematic Development of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. In the films in question, the sequences or sub-sequences that describe the linguistic interactions between men and women and other family members are selected for analysis. From 6 to 12 sequences, a variable for each movie, sequences that were purposively selected and analyzed based on John Fiske's triple codes. In John Fiske's view, semiotic analysis seeks to identify encoded semantic layers, and all codes have meaning. Codes have three layers: real or social codes (appearance, clothing, facial expressions, environment, behavior, speech, hand gestures, and voice), Technical codes (camera, lighting, equipment, dialogue, etc.) or representation, and finally, ideological codes (the main concepts and meanings hidden in the text).
Discussion and Conclusion
After analyzing each movie based on John Fiske's triple codes and examining the information obtained through the theory of modern gender sociology, a clear picture of the distribution of authority in each movie emerged. The most frequent masculinities and femininities were identified in 4 specific types: 1. Hegemonic man - emphatic woman 2. Less hegemonic man and emphatic woman 3. Hegemonic man - resistant woman 4. Less hegemonic man - resistant woman.
The most important issue represented in all the movies was protecting the cultural type of hegemonic masculinity. By studying the hierarchies of authority and the signs and elements of hegemonic masculinity of families in the movies, it became clear that the family members tried to maintain the family based on hegemonic masculinity despite the crises and hardships they faced. In a society or in historical periods, there may be different types of masculinity that are valued differently. So, hegemonic masculinity changes over historical periods (Connell 2005: 208-210). In fact, the main expectation from the research was that in the early years, we would see hegemonic men and emphatic women, and in the final years of this decade, we would see fewer hegemonic men and more resistant women. But the process of changing the hierarchy of distribution of authority in the family, in the movies from 2008 to 2018, has not only gone towards a more democratic family, but it has also become more hegemonic and authoritarian. As mentioned in the family typification section, the structure of hegemonic man - emphatic woman is the most frequent structure that has been represented in all the movies and in the last three years, i.e., from 2016 to 2018, it is the dominant and final structure. The initial impression was that by the passage from the 2000s to the 2010s, families in movies have taken a more democratic step; even the aforementioned studies have shown this issue at real levels, but the trend of bestselling movies shows something contrary to the social trend stated in other studies. This indicates a general picture that is being repeated in the studies, but it requires a more detailed investigation and the use of valid indicators in order to measure the authority relations in the Iranian family so that in the study of the construction of authority in the family, the process of becoming participative is not repeated and be sensitive to the occurrence of resistances, conflicts and also interactions that may arise between members.
Sociology
Hamid Sarshar; Javad Kashi; Ali Janadleh
Abstract
The present article aims to trace the understanding of Iran's collective identity in historical reference to the rationality of schools. The theoretical guide of the research is derived from the conceptual apparatus of Michel Foucault, and the methodological logic of the research is through the ...
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The present article aims to trace the understanding of Iran's collective identity in historical reference to the rationality of schools. The theoretical guide of the research is derived from the conceptual apparatus of Michel Foucault, and the methodological logic of the research is through the genealogical approach and Foucauldian discourse analysis. The findings of the study indicate that "historical events" and "multiple developments" during the "confrontation" at the beginning of the confrontation with the civilization of the West made Iran susceptible to multiple situations. Modern education, on the one hand, arose such a desire from within the society that here education is mainly focused on progress in the socio-economic fields and does not have a relation with the collective identity. On the other hand, the structural encounter with the Western world, the mainly military necessity of the government, and the health crisis led to the understanding and "technical rationality" of knowledge. The rationality that later at the end of the century, with the rebellion of the "progressive discourse" from its initial principles and the problematization of collective identity, put modern education at the service of "the impossibility of open collective identity."IntroductionA redefinition of society as “a land and political territory in the modern rational and center-oriented form” has brought about a new stage for human collective settlements. Having had a theory/idea whereby a society is perceived as a state-nation concept as required by modern historical rationality, the problem of collective identity has been raised. Now, with the break of boundaries of “time-space” and the possibility for “a direct action towards the place”, once again our perception of “society” is about to be historically broken. However, the question of the “collective identity of Iran” still remains as one of the serious issues. The simultaneous intermingling of good and evil in modern political rationality has been the source of many misunderstandings and sufferings by confining our understanding of our identity in the form of geographical-political boundaries. But, understanding the collective identity beyond good and evil in history requires a transition from a moral point of view and a focus on historical circumstances.Literature ReviewStudies of collective identity in Iran have mainly focused on the issue of whether Iranian collective identity is a new phenomenon or a late phenomenon. In fact, the main controversy is whether collective identity is "discovered" or "constructed" in the contemporary world. Based on this, the three dominant approaches in the study of Iran's collective identity have been the "nationalistic" narrative, the "modern" narrative, and the "historical" narrative. The nationalist narrative considers Iran's collective identity as a pre-modern phenomenon. The modern narrative considers collective identity as a phenomenon related to the modern world and the formation of state-nations. The historical narrative considers collective identity as a pre-modern phenomenon that has changed over time and has emerged in the modern world in the form of national identity. Dominated by modern rationality, socio-historical studies on Iran which have assumed the collective identity as a sacred affair of fact within a state-nation framework, have been searching for the reasons for collective identity formation, often from a rationalistic and subject-oriented standpoint; so, the question on how such a phenomenon is realized in modern institutions which function as an area where the relations between dominant forces and rationality play the most essential role in organizing modern societies, seems to be the missing part of such socio-historical studies.Research ObjectivesThis research aims to examine the collective identity of contemporary Iran with reference to history in educational practices. This article intends to map the current history of Iran's collective identity with a genealogical approach, in order to record the evolution and heterogeneity of the collective identity outside of a uniform finality by refusing to look for origins. In analyzing the collective identity in the discursive and institutional fabric of contemporary Iranian history, our focus in this research is on the institution of education and educational practices.Theoretical FoundationsThis research is theoretically placed in the postmodern epistemological paradigm, and specifically, the theoretical guide of the research is derived from the conceptual apparatus of Michel Foucault. The author has aimed to trace back the contemporary collective identity of Iran by making historical references to scholastic rationality and educational acts within Foucault’s genealogy, conceptual framework, and logic. From the perspective of Foucault's genealogical approach, the possibilities and impossibilities of social phenomena and their nature can be deciphered in the knowledge-power system.Materials and MethodsThis research has been done using genealogical methodological logic and Foucauldian discourse analysis. Genealogy does not provide a precise methodological logic, but rather an insight to understand the phenomena. An insight that explores the logic of social order, social developments, and the actions of social agents in relation to power-knowledge. An exploration that looks for traces of today's events in the past. Genealogy goes back to history to investigate and understand phenomena, and in this regard, its main emphasis is on dominant rationalities and the formation of power relations.ResultsThe findings of the research indicate that "historical events" and "multiple developments" during the "confrontation" at the beginning of the confrontation with the civilization of the West made Iran susceptible to multiple situations. Modern education, on the one hand, arose such a desire from within the society that here education is mainly focused on progress in the socio-economic fields and does not have a relation with the collective identity. On the other hand, the structural encounter with the Western world, the mainly military necessity of the government, and the health crisis led to the understanding and "technical rationality" of knowledge. The rationality that later at the end of the century, with the rebellion of the "progressive discourse" from its initial principles and the problematization of collective identity, put modern education at the service of "the impossibility of open collective identity."
