STATUS ASSESSMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL CLERGY BEFORE AND AFTER THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

The purpose of the present research is to investigate the historical, cultural, symbolic, social and economic capitals of the clerical class up to the Islamic revolution and compare it with the period of the Islamic rule formation by clerics using Pierre Bourdieu's theory. In this regard, the following question has been posed: What changes have occurred in the capital of clergy in various social fields (based on Bourdieu's school of thought) after the Islamic Revolution? To answer this question, various clerical capitals from Safavid period to the victory of the Islamic Revolution have been investigated. Traditionally, the functions of this class, such as education, training, judging, legitimizing governments, and holding ceremonies and religious rituals were informal and non-governmental, and based on the duties and obligations of clerics. The reason for the influence and legitimacy of their words among the masses as well as their economic revenues is also because of these same functions. From the constitutional period, and especially during the Pahlavi dynasty, their capitals were under threat. The efforts of the clergy to restore their lost capital were actualized with the victory of the Islamic Revolution. But taking over the power, significant changes occurred in the function of these capitals, most notably the tendency of the clergy shifted from cultural capital to economic capital, which poses potential threats to this class. The present study intends to investigate the changes occurred in the capital of the clergy after taking power through critical and pathological approaches, presenting suggestions and strategies in this direction.