Jafar Hezarjaribi; Reza Safari Shali
Abstract
Abstract The present study analyzes the discourses of social justice using Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory, with reducing poverty and deprivation as the central sign in the First to Fifth Development Plans Bills (approved in the three governments of Hashemi, Khatami, and Ahmadinejad). ...
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Abstract The present study analyzes the discourses of social justice using Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory, with reducing poverty and deprivation as the central sign in the First to Fifth Development Plans Bills (approved in the three governments of Hashemi, Khatami, and Ahmadinejad). It aims at revealing the differences in approach, policymaking, and function of the discourses through studying the main signs and specific articulations of each discourse and exploring the effects of non-discursive factors on every discourse. The results of the discourse analysis of the texts indicated that the Construction Government, with its hegemony over the political and social space of the country, attempted at othering of the government of Mousavi through criticizing the representation of social justice in the first decade ofthe Revolution, and its principles and indicators, especially with regards to the payment of subsidies by the government to the people. It presented a new representation of social justice, which was highly influenced by the post-war political and social space of the country, the necessity of reconstruction of damages caused by war, economic reform of the country, and move towards economic growth in order to obtain the financial resources required for the construction and reconstruction of the country. Accordingly, a new economic concept, with economic growth as its primary indicator, was introduced by the government in representation of the floating signifier of social justice. The reformist discourse, with an emphasis on political development, proposed the association of political and economic development necessary for the realization of the floating signifier of social justice with reducing poverty and deprivation as the central sign. The last hegemonic discourse in the Islamic Republic of Iran, known as the discourse of justice-oriented Principlism, attempted to implement the economic development plan through othering the previous discourses and proposing a specific definition of the floating signifier of justice. In this level, with regards to the represented concept of social justice in this discourse, which involves equal distribution of opportunities and facilities among people and regions of the country so that all parts of the country can develop together and coordinately, the government of Ahmadinejad placed on its agenda, alongside the targeted subsidy plan, a new kind of privatization, which involved the payment of justice shares, i.e. distribution of shares of public companies among people instead of transfer of those companies to individuals.
Hadi Khaniki; Hossein Basirian
Abstract
Abstract In recent years, virtual social networks, more than any other type of modern media, have provided a ground for activism. The discourse of power, which made scholars of humanities to interpret such acts from different perspectives, is now defined in the cyberspace in a very complicated and networked ...
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Abstract In recent years, virtual social networks, more than any other type of modern media, have provided a ground for activism. The discourse of power, which made scholars of humanities to interpret such acts from different perspectives, is now defined in the cyberspace in a very complicated and networked manner. Accordingly, the users’ activism gives a way to mobilization and unity of the followers of a certain belief in the virtual media culture. In the present paper, first, using the viewpoints of prominent scholars, different aspects of power especially in recent years are explained in order to present an analysis of the concept of power and the way it emerges and is applied in political, economic and social relations. Then, political, economic and social functions of virtual social networks are described and analyzed in three subjects, namely Tahrir square in the Egyptian Revolution, the Wall Street Movement in the US, and the Mock Combat, Water Guns Festival and support for working children in Iran, which are specifically related to the capacity of Facebook social network and the activism of its users in the real world.
Farnaz Nazerzadeh; Marzieh Moosavi; Hamideh Arakhi
Abstract
Abstract The present paper aims to study the relationship between intellectual property rights and social capital of author-professors of Iran. A number of hypotheses were developed and theoretical relationship among variables were established based on the theories of Putnam, Coleman, and Fukuyama as ...
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Abstract The present paper aims to study the relationship between intellectual property rights and social capital of author-professors of Iran. A number of hypotheses were developed and theoretical relationship among variables were established based on the theories of Putnam, Coleman, and Fukuyama as well as institutional and synergy views. The study population consisted of 310 AlzahraUniversity faculty members who had authored books, of whom 95 professors were selected as the sample of the study using simple random sampling. Likert scale was used to measure the variable of social capital, which consisted of the following components: trust in scientific environment, participation in scientific environment, expectations and commitments in scientific environment, and scientific interactions in the social network of authors. The components used in the measurement of intellectual property rights variable consisted of the existence of copyright law, authors’ awareness of the provisions of the copyright law, author's attitude towards the copyright law, and abuse of authors’ works. The results confirmed the primary hypothesis of the research, meaning that there is a positive relationship between intellectual property rights and social capital of author-professors with regards to authorship. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between the components of intellectual property rights and social capital of professors with regards to authorship.
Mahmood Jomehpoor
Abstract
The present paper aims to have a closer look at the level of development and imbalance in Tehran province using scientific methods. It was an applied research conducted through descriptive-analytical method. The data were collected using the library method. After the statistics, data and existing related ...
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The present paper aims to have a closer look at the level of development and imbalance in Tehran province using scientific methods. It was an applied research conducted through descriptive-analytical method. The data were collected using the library method. After the statistics, data and existing related documents were collected, a group of variables were selected to describe the current social, economic, cultural, welfare, production, and infrastructural conditions of districts or counties, and to reflect the level of development in the region or province. The criteria in the selection of variables were their reliability and validity in explaining the subject as well as the accessibility of information. Then, index construction was performed by using statistical models to analyze the condition of districts in terms of the level of development and balance. The indices and coefficients were analyzed using methods of inferential statistics, including numerical taxonomy method, correlation coefficient method, and Williamson coefficient of variation. The results of index construction and inferential statistics were formatted in charts by using GIS and a spatial data analysis was performed. The results of the statistical and spatial analyses showed different groups of districts with different levels of development and increasing balance. The findings indicated that not only development in the province is imbalanced, but also the trend of imbalance moves towards more inequity. It is only paying attention to small and average towns that can stop this trend and help improving equity and balance in the development of different regions. Achieving this goal requires a regional planning and acting in that framework.
Mohammadmahdi Forghani; Mahdieh Hamzeei
Abstract
The present paper aims to study the way material and immaterial components of modern culture were reflected in Qajar era (Naseri era) newspapers. The contents of two newspapers Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh and Akhtar were analyzed using a conceptual framework based on material and immaterial components of culture, ...
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The present paper aims to study the way material and immaterial components of modern culture were reflected in Qajar era (Naseri era) newspapers. The contents of two newspapers Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh and Akhtar were analyzed using a conceptual framework based on material and immaterial components of culture, the theoretical studies based on the theories of diffusion of innovation and cultural lag, and the quantitative content analysis method. Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh was the only Persian newspaper in Iran during the first decade of Naseri era (1848-1858). Akhtar was randomly selected from among the newspapers published in the third decade (1871-1881). Using systematic sampling method, 12 issues of each newspaper were selected. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, and the relationship between variables was examined using Chi-Square test. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the two newspapers in terms of different variables. First, although the contents published in both newspapers were mostly news items, there were more reports in Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh and more analytical contents, such as articles, in Akhtar. The variety of styles was more common in the latter. Second, the contents of Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh were mostly social, while those of Akhtar were mainly political. Third, the elements of modern culture had a low share in both of the newspapers, where material elements were predominant. However, there were some differences in the details. In Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh, military equipment and sites, and in Akhtar, mostly material elements in politics were reflected. The number and variety of immaterial elements of modern culture had a higher presence in Akhtar than in Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh. In most of their contents, both newspapers merely had a function of giving information on the elements of modern culture, and rarely took orientations. However, in cases where the newspapers had taken an orientation, it was positive or neutral in Vaqaye-e Ettefaqieh, while Akhtar took negative orientations and rejected some of these elements.
Nezam Bahrami Komeil
Abstract
Many scholars, especially sociologists, believe that the contrast between tradition and modernity is one of the most important challenges our society faces. In other words, in addition to issues such as distrust, addiction, generation gap, sex and lack of responsibility, the conflict between tradition ...
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Many scholars, especially sociologists, believe that the contrast between tradition and modernity is one of the most important challenges our society faces. In other words, in addition to issues such as distrust, addiction, generation gap, sex and lack of responsibility, the conflict between tradition and modernity has turned into a fundamental and costly problem which has affected our society over the past century. There are three main viewpoints regarding the confrontation between tradition and modernity: (1) considering tradition as the basis and believing in rereading of it; (2) considering modernity as the basis and accepting its basic components; and (3) integrating tradition and modernity and creating a conditional modernity i.e. local modernity. In Iran, those in favor of the first viewpoint are known as ‘reactionists’, and those supporting the second one are known as ‘westoxified’. There are also some people who wish to be labeled neither reactionist nor westoxified, and want to prove that they think beyond that. Therefore, they talk of integration of tradition and modernity. Jalal Al-e Ahmad is a follower of this view, who believes that relying on the local culture and tradition, some aspects of Western modernity can be ‘adopted’ and some other components can be ‘established’ based on the domestic capacities. In other words, he believes that without the necessity of changing the Eastern epistemological foundations, we can appropriate the material and technological dimensions of the West. In the present paper, the viewpoint of Jalal is analyzed by presenting an analytical model, in which ‘innate control’ and ‘constructed control’ are distinguished.
Masoomeh Qarakhani
Abstract
Health policy is an aspect of social policy, and its development is considered a responsibility of governments. This policy, which is related to personal and social welfare, can be affected by the orientations and approaches taken by governments. However, there is no precise understanding of the orientation ...
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Health policy is an aspect of social policy, and its development is considered a responsibility of governments. This policy, which is related to personal and social welfare, can be affected by the orientations and approaches taken by governments. However, there is no precise understanding of the orientation of different Iranian governments regarding health policy. In the present paper, we attempted to understand the effect of the approaches of governments on health policy in Iran. Therefore, we studied health policy from two aspects of law input and health expenditure in four Iranian governments from 1981 to 2009. The data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods as well as qualitative content analysis and variance analysis methods. The results showed that the health policy was not considerably affected by the political approaches taken by the governments. In terms of health expenditure, too, the governments did not affect the health policy.
