STRATEGY FOR CULTURE
Year:2008 | Volume:1 | Issue:3|Papers Count:8

The main argument of the present paper is that the identity conditi6n of Iranian society is not critical rather the society faces some identity problems. Some thinkers have offered eclectic and synthesized identity as solution to these identity problems - which are wrongly interpreted as identity crisis. The present paper is an attempt to study those solutions and critically evaluate them. The eclectic identification is compatible with the historical-social requirements of the recent stage of growth of modernism, that is, postmodernism. Hence, this kind of identification is incompatible with the truth of the historical-social identity of Iran which surfaced in the course of the Islamic Revolution and developed after the revolution.

Due to certain changes in the epistemological and philosophical bases of the scientific community, the concept of science underwent certain developments during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some of these changes without changing the meaning of science have limited the scope of scientific knowledge, while other changes have led to transformation of the meaning of modem science.The present paper is an attempt to reread the historical developments in the concept of science and the sacred and religious meaning of science. Also attempts will be made to offer some mechanisms for reconstruction of religious knowledge and also to review the related challenges.

In order to offer a necessary introduction to the issue of planned socio-cultural changes, attempts have been made in the present paper to elucidate the theory of rational choice through a sociological approach. Inspired by the instrumental rationality of Max Weber and within the framework of methodological individualism, the rational choice considers the action of those actors rational who among the existing possible choices within the framework of their beliefs and in the light of their consequences choose the option which is the best way to achieve their goals. The most important theories stemming from the rational choice theory are the decision theory, game theory, and collective action theory. Also the theories of rational choice are critically discussed in details which include the theories of Max Weber, John Harsanyi, James Colman, Reymond Bouddon and John Elster. Pure rational critics in this field have created a new approach to the theory of rational choice which is called social rationalism or rational-social choice, in which the values, norms and other social aspects have entered the rational action to show rationality in the everyday life on its basis and also analyze some of the limitations of rationality.

The generation gap is a problem that has mainly befallen the contemporary societies.This gap in some societies is small but is wide in the transitional societies. The generation gap is not merely related to the youth and the aged which has always drawn the attentions. Indeed, there are delicate social and cultural differences between different generations of adolescents and youth, which are normally overlooked. The present paper is an attempt to study the issue of generations and their relations with the cultural and communication changes across the world. Also attempts have been made to study the characteristics of the generations of X, Y and Z to offer a categorization of the young generations in Iran and also to enumerate their similarities and differences. Without aiming to make cultural policies, the present paper attempts to offer some useful hints to the cultural policymakers.

In order to shed light on the nature, evolution, development and dynamism of political culture of Iran, it is necessary to provide answer to the following question: why the Iranians are inclined to work hard in order to achieve the goals and targets that are not accessible in the normal circumstances? Through a cultural approach and by combining the discursive and constructionist methods in the field of human sciences, and also by relying on some existing doctrines within the framework of theories of sociology of knowledge, attempts have been made to identify the theoretical foundations and epistemological roots of idealism in the political culture of Iranians. It is presumed that idealism of Iranians in many cases inevitably pits them against the existing global order. The hypothesis of the preset study is: the continuous and simultaneous effects of the idea of Iranian utopianism (Iranshahr), the idea of Shia Islam and the factor of being a southern or a third world country in the collective conscience of the Iranians have led to idealist tendencies in their culture and beliefs. In order to test this hypothesis, in the first place the concept of idealism has been explained and then the operation and impacts of the said three factors on the emergence and dynamism of idealism in the Iranian political culture have been studied.

The present paper is the outcome of a research titled "meta-analysis of the condition of social capital in Iran: the second wave" which was conducted in 2008. The main objectives of the research were: recognizing the condition of social capital in Iran, studying the trend of development and the obstacles in the way of formation of social capital as well as offering some mechanisms to increase it. The research methodology used in this research is meta-analysis, analyzing the results of 6-2 research works (including M.A. and Ph.D. theses, field works and academic-research papers).The findings of the research indicate that the condition of social capital is not similar in different fields; among the elements of social capital, the level of trust in the family and political system and also the level of social communications are high. In the political field, the level of trust in the political system is high, the level of trust in political institutions is medium and the level of trust in political institutions and political actors is relatively low. Also the level of people's participation in different social fields is very low. The findings of the present research indicate that the level of such values as veracity, trust-keeping, and forgiveness among the people is low, but the level of prevalence of such counter-values as fraud and flattering are high. Also overall the level of total social capital in Iran is relatively high, but has been fluctuating in different years. The level of religiosity, education, the class status and age of the people are among the most important factors affecting the social capital. In conclusion some mechanisms for the improvement of social capital have been offered based on the findings of the present research.

The main thrust of the present paper is to assess the attitudes of the seminary and university scholars towards each other. The sample of the present study constitutes the seminary teachers and students as well as the university teachers and students of Iran in academic year 2001-2002. The sample constituted 5000 people from university and 1000 people from seminary. The data was collected through interview. The findings of the present paper indicate lb.at overall, the attitude of the seminarians towards the university is more positive. The seminarians are more inclined to be closer to the university compared to the latter's inclination towards the former. The m11eraction-and communications between the university and seminary are low, while the social gap between the two institutions is very wide. The following groups have more positive attitude towards the other institution: older university teachers compared to the younger ones, the married compared to the bachelors, university teachers compared to the university students, university graduates with higher degrees compared to those with lower degrees, the older seminarians compared to the , younger ones, and the married seminarians compared to the bachelor ones.