NAMEH-YE OLUM-E EJTEMAI
Year:2007 | Volume:- | Issue:30|Papers Count:8

This paper deals with the status of Pierre Bourdieu’s incorporating theory within the expanse of the social sciences. First, it describes the philosophy relational as a bridge between objectivism and subjectivism. Then, it tries to show the origins of this theory in the theory of physical field and the theory of psychological field. Finally, the paper focuses on Bourdieu’s theory and attempts at an explication of his theory of practice by illustrating the two concepts of habitus and field. Thus, the relational substances of these two concepts are discussed in this paper. Here, habitus and field are defined in relation to each other. Ultimately, we try to arrive at a deeper understanding of Bourdieu’s conceptualizations, in the form of a powerful theoretical apparatus, for the analysis and explanation of various subjects in different fields.

Modernity in its general and classic reading is regarded as the most important secularizing factor. It was expected that with the expansion of modernity, religion would be wiped out from minds and lives of modern humans. There is evidence, however, pointing to a lively presence of religion in the modern world. This casts doubts on the aforementioned theory and its predictions. Such skepticism has also provided some hopes for converging religion and modernity in some religious rethinking circles. This article emphasizes the distinction among "revival", "modernization", and modernity, and considering the differences in teachings of Islam and Christianity, thus challenges such hopefulness. This is done by, first, illuminating the contradictory relationship between religion and secularization and the undeniable effect of modernity upon the occurrence of such process, and second, by insisting upon non-correspondence of the most important manifestations of coexistence between religion and modernity.

Social relations are considered to constitute the most fundamental element of any society. Based on network approach, relations and ties are seen as social capital. It is through these relations that individuals find access to a variety of social resources and social support. Social relations, viewed as such, serve to facilitate the agency’s actions within the structure, to attain goals. This study aims at examining men’s and women’s network social capital in Tehran. The main assumption is that men and women differ in their social capital due to their different life structure and because of gender inequalities. The difference in network social capital can be explained by considering structural (size and composition), interactional (frequency of contact and intimacy), and functional (social support) aspects. This is a survey-method research which attempts to analyze the effects of gender and other control variables on network social capital. The population of the study consists of individuals above 18 years of age residing at different districts of Tehran. A sample of 320 persons was chosen through the multistage cluster sampling method. The findings indicate that one cannot differentiate sharply men’s and women’s networks in terms of structural components; however, these networks differ as far as the functional and interactional features are concerned. Women provide more feminine types of support, i.e., emotional; while men tend to provide masculine types of support, i.e., financial, practical, and information. The employed and married respondents enjoyed a higher level of social capital. The separation between men’s and women’s social networks is related to their opportunities and restraints, which is in turn the results of gender inequalities and of unequal distribution of facilities in the society.

In analyzing the relationship between tradition and modernity, while focusing on traditional and modern values, certain researchers believe that in the process of modernization some of the traditional values would break down and collapse. This happens because, it is said that, these two kinds of values cannot stay together in the process of modernization. Our society has taken the path of modernization and development with a rapid pace since several decades ago, this is why at this juncture, a discussion of the fate of the values seems necessary. We launch our basic question as “What will happen to the family and religion in the process of modernity?” This is dealt with at a micro level, and for the analysis of different values in the contemporary Iranian situation, we use the integrative perspectives (modernization and postmodern perspectives), and also utilize data produced by the World Values Survey about different societies, which is being treated at a macro level. Among all values, we have focused on family and religious ones and have compared these values with those of other countries. We have reached several results such as: 1) the elderly, lowly educated, and the poor care more for these values than do the young, the intellectuals, and the rich. 2) Among different issues, the level of education is more directly related to religiosity of people. 3) Among the challenges of tradition and modernity in Iran, religiosity is more important than the family. 4) At the macro level, there is negative relationship between values and human development in different countries.

This article deals with a specific question: Where can we see the Iranian women when they are out of home? To answer such a question three different but interrelated studies were designed. First, a historical study about changes in the Iranian women’s access to public places and spheres was conducted, from which two main factors affecting such access emerged: academic education and employment out of home. Based on these two factors, four different types were constructed: educated and employed, educated but not employed, not educated but employed, and not educated and not employed. Then a set of qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey research comparing the four constructed types of women were conducted. It was found that women’s access to public places related to their home activities and ‘public sphere of their own’ is generally common to all types. But access to public places not directly related to home activities and public spheres defined as “not their own”, was significantly higher in educated and employed type of women. It was also found that employment was more important than education and place of work was the most important public place toward which the Iranian urban women leave their homes.

The divide between the state and society is one of the main issues as reflected in literature pertaining to the sociological approach. In the analysis of the state’s role in industrial evolution, emphasis has been placed upon the fact that the nature of relationships between the state and society determines the state’s role in this process, meaning that their participation’s qualities and the nature of state’s autonomy from and its reliance on society plays a major role in the process of industrial evolution. The objective of this article is to identify these relationships by analyzing institution of the state, its internal structure, and the nature of its relationships with social groups. The Weberian bureaucracy concept and its particular indicators are seen as representations of internal construction of the state and social groups, and the entrepreneur sector is viewed as representation of social structure. Theories of social control (Migdal, 1988) and the rentier state (Beblawi and Luciani, 1987) have been in our attention for explaining the industrial and social evolutions. The state’s autonomy from society, its freedom from particularistic pressures of some social groups, and its established connection with social structure, and pursuance of national interests in concepts such as “embedded autonomy”, as stated in Peter Evans, Berkeley University’s professor, are assessed in this paper. Moreover, “joint projects”, as the basis for reciprocity and interaction between social groups and the state, have been placed in analysis framework. Finally, considering all opportunities provided through the mentioned theory for analyzing the relationship between the state and society, an attempt is made here to point out its limitations in studying the relationship between the rentier state and entrepreneur groups in Iran.