نشریه مطالعات جامعه شناختی
پیاپی 60 (بهار و تابستان 1401)

In recent years, social networks have become the main place for the exchange of news and information and have marginalized traditional news media. Traditional media have tried to withstand these developments by changing their news policies and maintain their authority and importance. In this direction, some controversial characteristics of the social networks space, and the issue of polarization at the top of them, are more visible in the field of news media than in the past. In this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the news coverage of one of the most important media active in the Persian-language virtual space, that is, BBC Farsi's Instagram page, with a preliminary theoretical preparation to measure the issue of polarization in the field of news media. For this purpose, we have semiotically analyzed 1200 photos and news headlines that have been published in this media for twenty days. The obtained results show that more than 74% of all the news that BBC Persian has published about Iran during this period contain polarizing elements.

Weber, in different places, tried to defend the objectivity of social sciences and sociology. This endeavor was in part to distance from moral relativity and also to stay away from epistemological relativism. He detached from epistemological relativism by the means of objectivity and distanced from moral relativity by the concept of scientific characteristic. In this paper we took a thorough and developmental look at the concept of objectivity in the idea of Weber. To this end we traced the effect of German southwest Neokantian school on Weber. Weber's idea of the ideal types was in debt to Windelband. He took the concept of value-relation from Rickert. Value-relation was in service for ideal types, which then made up the whole Weberian sociology. Although the ideal type is a concept free from any concrete and empirical content, to approach it, one will take his values into consideration. Social science is possible when these values are general and universal in the true sense. Or, it would be possible if those values become global, by non-discursive means (e.g. civilizational domination). Although some phrases from Weber direct us to the second hypothesis, taking Rickert's ideas into consideration strengthens the first one. This paper is an enquiry into the thought of Weber for the features and possibilities of ideal types for the social sciences.

The structure of the society and the composition of political elites have changed significantly in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Previous research has been less attentive to the relationship between the sociodemographic composition of the society and that of the elected members of the Iranian parliament. The current study utilizes the dataset on the occupational distribution of the general population and that of members of parliament (MPs) in ten parliamentarian cycles from 1980 to 2020. Using state-society relation approaches as well as the cultural reproduction theory, the mechanism of exchange between elites and society in post-revolution Iran are explained. This study observes strong representation of professional and managerial class, which lends partial support to liberal-pluralist theory of state-society relations. Evidence also supports a class-based approach in that the lower class is underrepresented in the parliament, and that education itself is class-based. Dissimilarity index reveals that while ethnic and recognized religious minorities are equally represented, women, Iranian lower occupational groups, and younger age groups are not fairly represented in parliament, which in turn, postulates that the revolutionary ideal of fair representation of various segments of the society, particularly socially disadvantaged groups, has not been fully realized yet in a parliamentary level.

Cultural Changes and Naming Girls in Tehran Province in 2010sIn this paper, the girls naming born in Tehran Province at the late of 2010s as a part of cultural changes in Iranian Society has been studied. The girls naming in different generation eras signifies the cultural changes among different generations. Secondary analysis has been applied to study and analyze statistic data presented by Iranian Statistic Centre, Tehran Province organization for civil registration, and data of National Survey of Cultural Goods Consumption. The studied component in this paper includes age, Mother education and rate of media consumption. Research Population includes the girls born on 2016 to 2021 and their mothers. The findings show that the age, education and media consumption of mothers are correlated to their inclination to name their children. The girls` names chosen by young and high educated mothers to name their children are different to the names chosen by previous generations.

The nature of fact in the social sciences and their relation to values has been one of the most important classical and modern controversies of the methodology of the social sciences. The present article addresses the question, "Is social fact value-laden? "If so, how is the objectivity of a valuable social fact possible?". In response to this question, the three approaches of positivity, anti-positivity and post-positivity of three competing theses are discussed.The present study argues through the content analysis of Max Weber's post-positive views, which are based on Kant's epistemology and the neo-Kantian school of Baden, that in the social sciences, first; The intervention of values in the collection, recording and construction of social fact is possible, legitimate and even necessary, and therefore, social fact is value-laden.Secondly; The value of social fact is not only detrimental to objectivity but also to the subjective condition of objectivity. In Weber's approach, the values of social actors play a " constitutive " role and the values of social researchers play a "regulating" role in constructing social fact.

Housing is one of the major concerns of most Iranian households today and is considered to be a social problem. Present paper aims to study the discourse of justice in economic, social and cultural development programs using Laclau and Mouffe's discourse analysis. This qualitative method of analysis aims to respond the following question: basically what approaches have been taken in post-revolutionary governments towards the issue of "housing"? Accordingly, the findings of the discourse analysis on the texts of the six economic, social and cultural development programs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which show the approach of construction (Sazandegi), reformist (Eslahat), justice-oriented fundamentalists and moderation (etedal) towards "housing", indicate that the floating signifier of "Social justice", under the general discourse of the Islamic Revolution, is blocked in the form of the central sign of "justice in housing" and in the articulation of this discourse, around the mentioned central sign, a semantic system consisting of the main signs of "mass housing", "retrofitting and optimization plan", "Mehr Housing" and "Social-Supportive Housing" have been formed.

Interest is a rich concept that can be applied to a variety of areas and paradigms. But economists with narrow-minded reductionism always refer to a certain kind of interest (ie, utility). Sociologists, on the other hand, emphasize different types of interests. In this article, I intend to explore the characteristics of women's interests in the field of modern handicrafts in the digital age, beyond the mainstream approach of economics, with the help of the new economic sociology approach. In this qualitative-exploratory research, I will answer the fundamental question of whether women in their entrepreneurial action in the field of modern handicrafts seek to gain a kind of interest  (mainly economic) or a variety of interests? And by answering this question, I will also address the various dimensions of female interests.Thus, the present study shows that productive women in this field have started entrepreneurship not for economic deprivation and desperation, but for various interests  (including independence, emotional interest, self-fulfillment interest and network interest).They also reinforce a variety of interests through networking in the context of virtual networks, thereby spreading the implications of women's discourse among the craft community. Accordingly, entrepreneurship for women is not a need arising from despair and urgency, but a conscious choice for independence and affirmation of the subjectivity of women in contemporary society.Entrepreneurship provides an opportunity for intersection of loyalty to the private sphere on the one hand and participation in the public sphere on the other, while at the same time bringing individual and collective interests to women.

Rural development, both in terms of approach and policy implementation, has been one of the development concerns of developing countries. In terms of approach, the question has always been whether rural development should follow the techno-bureaucratic approach (from above) or the participatory approach (from below). Which approaches have been sound and valid has always been overshadowed by intellectual-ideological debates. Because the revolution paved the way for the following of alternative approaches to development beyond conventional pre-revolutionary approaches, which relied on less successful experiences with top-down approaches, and this was better reflected in the establishment and evolution of Jihad-e Sazandeghi. Therefore, this article studies the experience of rural development with regard to the ups and downs of the Jihad. Having Explained the Jihad's formation, the article concludes that, first; the top-down approach has gradually given way to the down-top approach, which has been at odds with its existential philosophy. Second, inspired by Michels's theory of bureaucratization, it argues that the Jihad's development goal has gradually been overshadowed by non-developmental functions such as maintaining organization and governing relations. Third, inspired by Ferguson's theory of being consequential of any action or development plan, it argues that the extensive measures of the Jihad in implementing rural projects, especially infrastructure, have had various impacts such as reducing urban and rural gaps and integrating rural communities in society. Therefor these developmental initiatives have provided more macro and qualitative effects that should be regarded as long lasting.

Edward Albee (1928-2016), an outstanding American playwright, is one of the authors who tried to represent the social relations of individuals in his plays. The reflection of these relationships can be viewed not only in the characters' words, and in their silence, as well as their physical encounters. This characteristic reminds us of the attention to the visible and hidden aspects of behavior in the theory of symbolic interaction. The purpose of this study is to apply symbolic interactionism focusing on the viewpoints of George Herbert Mead (1931-1863) in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance. In this study, the method of directional qualitative content analysis has been used. Findings show the changes occurred in the beliefs of Americans after the middle of the twentieth century through the confrontation of two groups of characters. On the one hand, parents who are subject to the bourgeois patterns, values, and standards of traditional American society, and on the other hand, their significant others have lined up against them. The second group, despite transmitting from the traditional values of society, have not been able to continue their social life independently and are therefore dependent on the first group. This parasitic dependence that gives rise to conflicts and tensions of the characters; upset the delicate balance of the family. It Eventually leads to the evaluation and rethinking of the dichotomy of social responsibility vs. individual rights.

Housing is one of the areas that has become one of the most important areas in social policy making. In Iran, after the Islamic Revolution, general policies and policies on housing provision in economic, social and cultural development programs have been envisaged and have been approved and implemented by the relevant governments in the form of development plan legislation. There have been attempts to turn them around.The present article, using qualitative content analysis, seeks to examine the policies of governments in the field of housing in the context of post-revolutionary development plans in Iran.The statistical population of the research is the texts of the laws of fourth and fifth development plans in the country and the data gathering tool is the use of an encryption and categorization system or a checklist.The findings indicate that in the fourth development plan, housing policy was developed in line with the policy of organizing worn-out tissues and providing low-income housing (Mehr Housing). In the context of the Fifth Development Plan, government officials have focused on Islamic-Iranian urban development patterns, "Mehr housing".

This paper is an attempt to study two groups of young and old politicians from two perspectives. First, it will examine the mechanisms of entering and exiting the field of politics. Second, the paper will look into similarities and differences of strategies that young and old politicians used in order to perform their political actions. The necessary research data and materials have been gathered through documentary studies, as well as the memoirs and notes remained from active politicians in the field of politics. The timeline of the research extends from the 1900s to the 1960s. Using Bourdieu's approach, some of the research findings indicate that young politicians had to have priorities such as possessing symbolic capital, political capital. Besides, their origins should have gone back to a family with high social status and political credentials. Such qualities had to be followed by the young politicians and consider themselves as being deserved to enter the politics as well as being able to deliver a speech and knowing the political language. Moreover, it can also be mentioned that functional strategies used by young and old politicians, as well as the status of the individual in the field of politics and their size of political and symbolic capital, were influential factors that could take one into the field of politics. The factor of Age had much less significance. There is, however, a difference between the old and young political approach in terms of political and symbolic capital, as the old politicians had more.

This study attempts to investigate the phenomenon of prostitution from a structural perspective and based on the views of relevant social actors. An in-depth interview and observation techniques were used to collect the data, and the grounded theory method was used to analyze the collected data. Systematic analysis of the data collected through observation and in-depth interviews depicted that the prostitution has been grafted with a set of meso and macro level factors and conditions. “Failure in achieving the inclusive economic development” is the first macro level factor which is affecting on “the continuous decline in household income levels and diversity”, and “Losing existing job opportunities and no replacement of them”. The second effective factor is “delay and imbalance in cultural and social development” which leads itself to “the gradual collapse of neighborhood life structure”, “decline and failure in family institution”, and “decline in public ethics culture” as an output instances for second factor. The third effective factor is “human and environmental instability of development plans and programs” which leads to “ecological decontamination” and “rural-urban migrations”. The fourth factor is “failure in the efficiency of macro level operating systems” which has leaded to “the prevalence of useless bureaucratic procedures”, “organizational parallel works and overlapping”, “Permanent waste of resources due to a Stacked and swollen bureaucracy”. The consequence of this process is to involve vulnerable people in a cycle of poverty, homelessness, and all kinds of exploitation. Finally, based on the results of the study and in order to empowering the prostitute women, while accepting the "individualist" and "family-centered" strategies, the "community-based" strategy is emphasized as the most important and main strategy for empowering these women.

Man always seeks to invent ways to beautify and make his body look good, and by making changes in his body, he seeks to satisfy the natural, spiritual, and social need for beauty, which in the current era is one of the examples of encroachment. In the body, it is considered for beautification. Humans attempt to build a social body by manipulating the physical and visible features of the body and distancing themselves from the concept of the natural bod. The present research was carried out following a sociological study on the tendency to cosmetic surgery among women in Ahvaz city. The theoretical framework of the research is based on the theories of Goffman, Turner, Giddens, Featherstone, Baudrillard, Douglas, Veblen and Bourdieu and the feminist approach. The present research was conducted using a survey method and using a questionnaire tool, the statistical population of which includes women aged 18 to 60 living in the city of Ahvaz, and a stratified sampling method was used. The sample size after calculation using Cochran's formula is 384 people. The data were analyzed in two sections of descriptive and inferential statistics, and SPSS and Lisrel statistical software were used to process the information, and for the sociological study of the factors affecting cosmetic surgery, Pearson's test was used to measure the research hypotheses. Finally, we used multiple regression to explain the dependent variable with independent variables. The research results showed that the variables of body perception 87%, social acceptance of the body 70%, level of religiosity 71%, social pressures 81%, self-confidence 89%, media-cultural consumption 65% and socio-economic base 73% and age have a significant relationship with cosmetic surgery, but a significant difference was observed between marriage, education and income. Also, the results of the research hypotheses and the structural model showed that the independent variables of the research (60%) explained the percentage of the variance of the dependent variable (cosmetic surgery).

The present study was conducted to investigate the ratio of ethnic identity to identity dimensions among students in Zahedan, Iran. The sample of the study consisted of 400 male and female students studying in Zahedan. The data were collected through questionnaire. The data analysis has been performed by SPSS software and we have used descriptive statistics, such as cross-table, and inferential statistics, correlation coefficient, and two-variable and multivariable regression analysis and also path analysis techniques. In this study, symbolic interactionism was used to illustrate the relationship between ethnic identity and other dimensions of identity. Considering the theory itself, it can be shown that identity is social in its nature and subject-matter; accordingly, ethnic identity and identity dimensions can be adequately explained. The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between ethnic identity and its dimensions, namely national identity, religious identity, and global identity. This relationship is indeed positive and direct, and also religious identity has the highest relationship, followed by national identity, and global identity has the least relationship. In this study, boys had higher levels in having the above-mentioned identities than girls.

Health reform plan in iran was considered as the most important achievement of the Rouhani government until the last days of his presidency. Considering the international and internal conditions of the country in the field of health and treatment, as the main program of the 11th government in the field of internal politics, this plan was launched immediately after the government started working and was able to provide a suitable field for the government's identity. This article tries to draw this relationship at the theoretical level by adopting the conceptual framework of health and politics. The historical discourse analysis method has been used to analyze political relations in the implementation of the health reform plan. The findings show that, through the strategic framework of the current unfavorable situation, progress and development, the 11th government was able to provide the necessary discourse support for the approval and implementation of the health reform plan and create a successful impression of the implementation of the plan. But later on, he used it as a tool to legitimize the actions of the government in the field of foreign policy, to criticize the political and cultural structure in the society, to eliminate competitors and critics, and to build a positive self and build a negative other in the political field. An action that gradually caused the divergence of the discourse and the loss of necessary support for the implementation of the health reform plan and brought serious obstacles in the field of health and treatment.