NAMEH-YE OLUM-E EJTEMAI
Year:2008 | Volume:15 | Issue:32|Papers Count:7

The role played by culture has always been under much disputation in the domain of social studies. Many theorists consider cultural explanations as fundamentally irrelevant. They generally either completely disregard or marginalize cultural variables as “minor” in the development of social events. This paper, however, attempts to demonstrate the increasing attention paid to culture particularly considering what has come to be called the “cultural turn” since the 1960’s as a result of which much attention is being paid to cultural components. The “cultural turn” influenced most of the social sciences. As a result, cultural theories found their place within the rival explanations as regards the social revolutions. Such a view culminates in considering the Islamic Revolution of Iran as a cultural movement. This paper attempts to succinctly trace the roots of the cultural turn and it then points out the theories which have shaped based on cultural variables. The authors’ ultimate goal is to show the cultural influences affecting the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

This article explores the feasibility of developing the Iranian nomads’ social life. Such feasibility is evaluated based on an integrated conceptual framework and by means of a multi-dimensional scale. The results indicate that overall the Iranian modern states have been treating the nomads politically rather than giving them a rational treatment. In the Pahlavi era the nomadic tribes and the tribal system as a whole generated their own solidarity and the nomads lacked inclination toward sedentarization. Many attempts were made to forcibly settle the nomads in villages. In recent decades along with deformation and the consequent demise of the tribal system the nomads have been volunteering for a sedentary life, both in rural and urban settings, in order to benefit from the modern amenities. This is probably the reason why the government has not taken voluntary and planned sedentarization much seriously. Today most of the nomads are facing the problems of anomie and its negatives consequences. The development of the nomadic life cannot be achieved under a deformed tribal system. Thus, the government should acknowledge such a situation and seriously pursue voluntary and planned sedentarization geared towards developing the nomads’ life under a new sub-system which is integrated in the national system.

The globalization theory is fraught with numerous problems and despite many theoretical efforts these problems remain unsolved. Ye less articulated is the origin of these problems. This article concentrates on this much neglected issue and tries to illuminate some vital aspect of it. In so doing, the article shows that the root cause of all problems the globalization theory faces is located in its attempt for blending two contradictory or oppositional sets concerning the contemporary West. The first narrative that is the theory of postmodernism concerns the crisis of the West, while the second one, post-industrialism, is a narrative on the Western progress. Thus, the problem inherent in such a blending is not a mere methodological or epistemological issue rather it has to do with ambiguities and historical contradictions present in the contemporary West, or what which can be referred to as the pure modernity.

The local management as an institution for policy making and implementation of plans and projects has an important role in reducing economic and social inequalities and improving the development situation in villages and cities. The performance measurement is the main tool for studying achievement in the local management organizations. The re are successful methods and measures for performance measurement in economic organizations but studies show that performance management is difficult and complicated in local organizations such as municipalities. We can identify two main areas for local management performance measurement in organizations studies and in sociology. The main concepts in the first area are efficiency and effectiveness. But the second sees the object of the study in social capital framework and in its effects on local organizations performances. The article reviews the main studies in the two areas and outlines their models of performance measurement. Based on a grounded theory research in some urban management organizations in Iran, the article proposes a model for performance measurement with adding some new and grounded concepts in previous models.

The number of social security pensioners is increasing. Such increase which is due to rising life expectancy, falling birth rate, lower retirement age, has necessitated a reconsideration of the situation the pensioners are in. This article attempts to answer the question: To what extent the pensioners are satisfied with the social security systems’ performance? The article is the result of a descriptive-analytic study conducted by the survey method. The society under study here is the pensioners under Tehran’s Social Security Organization which is estimated to include about 251520 persons. A representative sample of this figure is calculated by linking formula to be 210 persons. The variables relating to pensioners’ satisfaction are analyzed using regression and Pearson correlation coefficients. The results show that although the pensioners are satisfied with the discourse interactions conducted with the Service, yet since they lack any other source of revenue other than the pension, they suffer an imbalance for expenses incurred. Such imbalance is the source of their dissatisfaction which is oriented towards the Service.

In Iran and in courtiers similar to it, men are usually considered the bread winner of the family. In such situation, women perform the role of housewives. But neither the religion of Islam nor the Iranian traditions prevent women from working outside home and becoming the bread winner too. What constitutes a problem on the way of a woman in charge of heading a household are obstacles in the public sphere which make her vulnerable. These problems are social in nature. The aim of this article is to clarify these problems from the standpoint of bread winning women and to explain such issues through secondary data analysis. Finally, the article attempts to portray single parent mothers and illuminate the problems they face, problems which at times remain untold.