Social Sciences

Abstract Each form of religiousness grows at the heart of a “religious society”, and a “religious” society is always to some extent organized. In the “sociology of religion”, the study of social dynamics related to the religious society is defined under the concept of “religious organization”. From long ago, one of the concerns of sociology of religion has been to study and understand the various methods of organization in religious societies. Through an analytical-descriptive study of different approaches and the transformations in this field, the present paper aims to extract “the main criteria” of these typologies. Extracting “the main criteria” would familiarize us with the logic of these typologies, and it shall contribute to presenting alternative, domestic typologies in the framework of Islamic tradition. Therefore, the method of research is documentary, and the main purpose of the study is to understand the fundamental dynamics of the typologies of mystical organizations in theoretical literature. With this purpose in mind, we have examined the available literature through two general approaches: a) a formal approach to the typology of religious organizations; and b) a quantitative approach to the typology of religious organizations. The formal approach is mainly based on Weber’s theories, however, the quantitative approach has been put forth in critique of the formal approach. By studying various typologies and their theoretical principles, we see that the two criteria of a) the extent of organization and b) the extent of tension against the host culture enjoy central importance in the typology of religious organizations.

Abstract Affected by the spread of modernism and reconstruction in the global field, and subsequently with the self-awareness resulting from the conditions and features of life in the modern world, a major part of our society is traditional, while part of it is modern and another part postmodern. Such a situation is a cause for identity crisis, hence, the rising importance of identity and identity formation in sociology. Therefore, with the aim of the semantic reconstruction of the structure of the postmodern individual identity among the youth of the city of Bojnourd, the present study has employed a grounded theory method. The qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews, and theoretical coding was used in order to analyze the information and develop a final theory. Through purposive sampling and also based on the theoretical saturation measure, 27 young people participated in this study, and the information was gathered through in-depth interviews and their understanding with regards to the postmodern individual identity was analyzed. Based on grounded theory, the findings are classified into ten general categories of consumerism, relativism, fluidity, reflective thinking, reference group, belief in the expressive self, selective identity, mass media, satisfaction, and lifestyle. The core category in this study is “the postmodern individual identity” which includes in itself the other main categories. The developed grounded theory has been presented in the form of a paradigm.

Abstract One of the fundamental concerns in the political sociology of any society is the nature of government in that society. Governments have various economic, social, cultural and political natures. In the present paper, the effect of Iran’s peripheral position in the global system on the transformation of government-nation relations during the first Pahlavi reign is studied. The purpose of the study is to examine the necessary measures of the Pahlavi government with regards to its peripheral position, and to discuss its nature and features. Firstly, the assumption of the authors in this paper is that the economic reconstruction of the Pahlavi government has been in line with harmonizing Iran’s economy with the requirements of the global capitalist system. The second assumption also puts emphasis on the extension of militarism and supervising each and every field of society by Reza Shah. In total, this paper considers the transformations in the government-nation relations of the first Pahlavi reign to be a reaction to Iran’s peripheral position in the global system. The study was conducted with the historical sociology approach and through a documentary method. The results showed that both measures done during the first Pahlavi government, that is, economic reconstruction and the extension of supervision on every aspect of the collective life of the society, has been related to Iran’s peripheral position in the global system.

Abstract The functions of religion and the moral and behavioral teachings stemming from it with regards to the qualitative maintenance and promotion of the institution of family has been accepted by the majority of sociologists. The purpose of this study is to identify the extent to which the couples of Bandarabbas are oriented towards the Quran’s teachings regarding family and marital relations, and also to study the correlation of the aforementioned orientation with the variables of satisfaction in life, emotional relations, sexual relations, espousal incompatibility, and semantic formation of gender. These variables have been deemed important in the theories and studies related to women and family. The subjects of the study are 400 married people living in the city of Bandarabbas who were selected based on a probability cluster sampling method. According to research findings, the average of orientation toward the Quran’s teachings regarding family and espousal relations in the sample was 77%. Research hypotheses testing showed a significant relationship between the aforementioned variable with the other variables of the research. Furthermore, there is a direct significant relationship between family and espousal relations and satisfaction in life, emotional relations, and sexual relations. In contrast, this orientation has an inverse significant relationship with the variables of espousal relations and espousal incompatibility. The conclusion of the study is based on the theoretical analysis of the observed correlations.

Abstract The institution of temporary marriage in the social history of Iran has been an established institution. However, it has had different forms and functions in different historical periods. Although temporary marriage has never been widely accepted by the general public, this institution has prevailed in Iran to this day. Therefore, the question of why temporary marriage has been created and has endured in the social history of Iran has remained unanswered. In the present paper, the institution of temporary marriage has been investigated using the functionalist model (based on the integration of functionalist theories developed by Bronislaw Malinowski and Robert Merton). The findings of the research were interpreted through a comparative-historical analysis method and based on historical writings and documents. The findings have been classified and explained into four historical periods. These periods are: “The Ancient Iran”; “From Early Islam to the Safavid Dynasty”; “From the Safavid Dynasty to the Qajar Dynasty”; and “the Qajar Dynasty”. According to the findings, based on the patriarchal culture of society, generally the institution of temporary marriage had responded in a legitimate way to individual needs such as sexual needs, reproduction, security and livelihood, and to social needs such as the issue of heritage, solidifying social relations and establishing social connections. Nevertheless, this institution has had dysfunctions and hidden functions which this paper addresses in a comparative way.

Abstract Due to a lack of historical resources in the field of women and gender, women’s journalistic texts are invaluable sources which mirror women’s general conditions, situations, concerns, and demands in different time periods in Iran’s contemporary history. In order to investigate their social positions, the obligatory and necessary expectations due to their roles and also their role characteristics – as sociological categories in women’s journalistic texts during the era of modernization in Iran – the present study has examined the well-known and well-established monthly journal of Zaban-e Zanan in the period of the years 1942-1946, coincident with the onset of the second Pahlavi reign. Although the data of a few variables has been collected through a quantitative method, the main method of the study has been qualitative content analysis. The results show that although the writers of the journal had modernist orientations, the social status of women was only defined in the private sphere. The roles of motherhood, wifehood and maidenhood were each accompanied by obligatory expectations and role characteristics which were emphasized by the journal, and motherhood and wifehood were the preferred main roles for women. Furthermore, having these three-dimensional roles during that period, women were required by the sociopolitical conditions of the country to meet expectations such as receiving education and learning skills in line with patriotism and in order to raise men who were worthy and who would protect their homeland.

Abstract In the present paper, the theoretical approaches and opinions available in Iran after the Islamic Revolution regarding how religion enters social discussions and topics has been studied and critiqued. In the end, the author has selected one of the existing approaches based on his presumed principles and theoretical framework. The possibility or negation of religion entering the social field, and also how it enters the social field is one of the challenges raised in social sciences and particularly in sociology in Iran. In the current study, different narrations have been presented, all of which are grouped under three types or general approaches regarding the matter. The first approach is the “replacement of sociology with Islamic social thinking”. The second approach is the “negation or dismissal of Islamic social thinking”. The third approach is the “parallelism and exchange between sociology and Islamic social thinking”. With this approach, all of the rudiments and assumptions of sociology are taken into account and the science is not negated or replaced. This approach opens new doors into the science of society, in that non-scientific knowledge also receives an opportunity to enter social discussions and topics. Library studies as well as documentary approach are the method employed by the author. social thinking”. With this approach, all of the rudiments and assumptions of sociology are taken into account and the science is not negated or replaced. However, in addition to that, this approach opens new doors into the science of society, in that non-scientific knowledge also receives an opportunity to enter social discussions and topics. Finally, after analyzing and critiquing the three approaches, the author selects the third approach as it is more compatible with the principles and history of science, and it also gives way to new opportunities.