Iranian Society between Tradition and Modernity: The Coexistence of Continuity and Discontinuity

The transition from tradition to modernity has been an important issue for many social thinkers since the rise of modernity in the West, and sociologists have proposed duals such as "Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft", "Feudal and capitalist society", "mechanical solidarity versus organic solidarity" and "traditional society versus modern society" to explain it. This issue was fundamentally pursued in the twentieth century, especially by some Western thinkers, to the point where a theoretical conflict emerged between the proponents of the "continuity between tradition and modernity" and the proponents of the "discontinuity between tradition and modernity". With the arrival and spread of modernity in Iran, the scope of this conflict has been extended among scholars. 

Methods and Data:

 Using documentary methods and analytical approach, the article highlights three theoretical positions based on the "discontinuity while continuity" model in the conflict between tradition and modernity. 

Three theoretical positions in the debate between tradition and modernity in Iran are separated by analytical method. 1) The group that propose the dissolution of the issue of tradition and modernity and talk about the necessity of setting aside the discourse of tradition and modernity, especially in social sciences in our country. 2) The group that talk about the crisis of modernity in Iran and emphasize the necessity of forming "Occidentalism" to create an independent tradition of social thought. 3) and the third group that assess the crisis in "tradition" in Iran and point out the necessity of rejecting "sociological ideologies" in Iran. 

In this article, the views of three of Iran's late social theorists are introduced and analyzed, and an attempt is made to find a solution to the conflict between tradition and modernity in Iran based on the model of "discontinuity while continuity". 

Key Message: 

Thinkers of each society should, while rethinking the tradition of their society and critique its epistemological logic, turn modernity into the epistemic and cultural elements of their society and into an endogenous phenomenon.