Iranian Journal of Anthropological Research
Year:2016 | Volume:5 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:15

During recent years, with the loss of economic, political, cultural and social structures efficiency, urban chaos is obvious in all its aspects. Urban crisis manifests in claims of citizenship and more and more people talk about- Right to the City". Actually, this approach provides an appropriate conceptual tool to criticize status quo of today's cities. In addition, to achieve an ideal situation we can extract very rich and creative ideas from the concept of- Right to the City". In other words, the- Right to the City" is both the issue of the current city (present city) and the issue of the ideal city (a city that should be). Present study aims to develop the philosophical origin of this concept from the perspective of its Lefebvreian origin. We maintain that accumulation of capital in modern capitalist societies occurs through urbanization but at the same time, monitoring and supervising the city get out of the control of the citizens and the benefits resulted from this urbanization will be seized in favor of capital (public or private). Right to the City, in general, seeks to take back the control of monitoring and supervising and taking advantage from urbanization of capital. Since nowadays the- Right to the City" is driving force of many social movements and legal reforms around the world, some practical experiences in this regard will be expressed briefly. Experiences that show- Right to the City" is a "civil and legal" demand. Consequently, it can be said that some failures of urban planning in Iran are the result of ignoring this Right. At the end of the article, after reviewing the content of Henri Lefebvre on the "Right to the City", some issues will be listed that cover this concept concisely and comprehensively in Tehran.

Leisure time is considered as one of the most important aspects of lifestyle in contemporary societies. The modes of spending leisure time are diverse and multiple in everyday culture. In this regard many people enjoy walking as a leisure activity in public spaces. Walking affords an experience of embodiment to the extent that is grounded in an inherently sociable engagement between self and environment. In fact, the sociability of leisure walking could be seen in convergence and divergence of individual and social bodies in their movement in situ. In this study we have sought to understand the cultural relations and social mechanism of leisure walking, embodiment and sociability. The field of research was neighborhood of Shahrake-e-gharb of the city of Tehran. The research method was based on walking ethnography that has been done by examining rhythms, gestures and interactions of walkers in public spaces. The results show that leisure walking in this field leads to arrhythmia; as a result, we observe the disembodiment of walking and disruption of pleasures in this mode of leisure activity.

Meaning is both the reference and the content and their concomitant mental associations. The current research aims to find the meaning of home and its constituents in the everyday life of house residents. In this perspective, we seek to investigate this meaning- making processes through exploring the represented houses in four Iranian movies in Tehran. Therefore,- Freeway"- Sealed Secret"- Sa'adat Abad", and- Here without Me", Iranian Home Media distributed four movies from 2008 to 2012, were selected and investigated through the grounded theory methodology. The findings demonstrated that home meaning-making order narrated in movies in Tehran experience included five components as- sensual perception",- sings and symbols",- social relation",- ownership" and- architectural shape". Domestic space internalizes home meaning once it relates to these constituents in the first place and experience such relation in a positive and non-abnormal configuration. Accordingly, it is revealed that in such represented order, social relation and its quality plays a significant role in home meaning-making processes, compared to other components. Whether in rituals or everyday life patterns, these relations can create and accumulate meaning for home. Contrary to that, the role of architectural configuration is less depicted while semi fixed spaces are highlighted.

Anthropology of Suffering concerned on addiction should have four features: 1. Ant reduction to addict, 2. Primary focus on lived experience of individual, 3. Critique of structures that create addiction, and 4. Ethical commitment based on humane relations. Labe Kaht in Tehran is an aggregate if many people with many sufferings, atmospheres with addiction, conflict and putrefaction. Labe Khat humans are those who migrated from other places in Iran, in search of money but involved in stupefaction and scorn, immersed in putrefaction and decay, captivated in illness and misery. I try through my anthropography make some images of alleys and rooms, along with moments of life of some Labe Khat people, in the form of written pieces and fragments. In conclusion, by developing a new concept "strong course of pain", will attempt drew macro, micro and personal politics dealing with corrosion of a Labe Khat woman.

The aim of this study is to scrutinize the daily lives of citizens of in Tehran subway, considered as a social space. The research method includes both documentary and ethno methodology, with emphasis on a theoretical approach to daily life. The emergence and construction of reality of subway in a city is something more than a mere means of transport that can contain environmental, economic, and psychological advantages. Besides, subway develops fundamental social changes on our behavior and daily routines. And essentially, it even affects urban geometric space, concepts such as near and far, the place value and property prices and subsequently human urban population. The results indicate that the Tehran subway has been the source of changes in people's everyday lives, since it has reduced social distances in positive and negative directions.

Revitalization of the historical urban quarters are debated as a main issue on related commissions in recent years and different theories has been proposed on the past experiences. But in fact historical urban quarters faced many problems such as: Lack of knowledge in the process of forming and accurate information during decades, proper analysis of the relationship between the effects of different factors, lack of accurate intervention and the process obsolescence. So these conditions can be the main reasons for the failure of many the urban restoration plans. In this case, the first most important step is to comprehend the related variables and their mechanism on each other in order to shape it. In this study, an analysis of the impact of urban transportation technology to form tissues and historical activities with an emphasis on walking ability is covered. So emphasis on the development of implementation-oriented activities will be discussed in order to increase walkability in the historical urban quarter. The main research question is that how the tissue characteristics in general and in particular of the historical context form are subject to transportation change? The research method in this study, based on theoretical studies and reviews examples of successful global promotion of walking in the historical tissues to analyze the historical context of Tehran's region 12. The results indicate that increasing density, fine grain, mixed-use retail, pedestrian design details and reducing lane width help to reinforce the walking trails in the historical context.

Family studies draw an important attention on internal familial dynamics. According to recent findings the decision people make to live independently and the process through which they attempt to apply this decision have significantly developed in Iranian metropolises. Using grounded theory, present research examines different aspects of this style of living and seeks an enriched description of this social phenomenon. Using deep interview, I try to approach the attitudes of the people who choose to live in this way and to reach their life trajectories making the investigator to find out their identifications, different strategies they and their families use to cope with the problems of this life style, the ending trends, and the influential variables effecting this act.

This article discusses the formation and development of Khak-e Sefid Neighborhood in Tehran against the background of informal land and housing markets and within the framework of right to the city. Informal land markets are the common means through which low-income groups obtain shelter and access to some urban services across cities of the developing world. Slums formed by informal land transactions are manifestations of urban (or urbanization of) poverty and failure of urban policies. They feature low quality shelter and inadequate urban services as well as tenure ambiguity- at times due to squatting- which acts as an obstacle to investment, economic development, and physical improvements. Often exhibiting spatial disorganization and separation from the city proper, they are likely to be targeted for destruction or renovation. This article's case study, Khak-e Sefid in Tehran, has experienced various types of informal developments over the past three decades. It was created by squatters on public and endowment lands to further develop through increasingly denser plot subdivisions, common use of services, and most recently vertical expansion on rooftops.

Sofrey-e Nazri is a Persian collective religious ritual that is very common between Iranian women. This ritual is known as a female ritual and most of the time is performed inside the homes or sometimes in mosques, holy tombs and Huseynieh. This ritual is based on a religious promise that is named as Nazr that should performed by a person who made this promise- the Bani. This ritual is planned and started by Bani and will continued by women who are invited by Bani as guests to formed the religious community. The most important issue is considering about relationship between Sofrey-e Nazri and social constitution of women's agency. We did ethnographic fieldwork to study this female religious gathering (Sofrey-e Nazri) among middle class women of Tehran. As the main issue in this essay we want to consider that how women’s agency is constructed through this ritual communities? Sofrey-e Nazri makes a network of social relations that is very useful for everyday life and is helpful for solving any problem and crisis in women’s life. So this ritual is a multi-function ritual that supports both religious and social needs of Muslim women and make some opportunity and options to support the other problems of a female's life. This female agency constructed and practiced in collectively. Actually it is a kind of collective agency.

Hometown associations (HTAs) are grassroots and self-made institutions that formed by rural/town emigrants living in big cities. These associations are attended for the hometown and their current living conditions. Considering that the main part of Tehran's population are emigrants and part of them have hometown association, thus the aim of this study provides a typology of hometown associations in Tehran, as well as review characteristics, functions and mechanisms of internal communications. Research methodology is based on qualitative research method. The qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group and participatory observation techniques. Results show that there are three types of hometown association in Tehran. These types based on the type of attachment, appearance and the context/ base of formation. Special functions of these associations, maintain communications among themselves, maintain their cultural identity among themselves and their children and help fellow citizens in Tehran and in the towns and villages of origin. Internal communications mechanisms of these associations are based on regular and periodic programs and also subject to the ceremonies, rituals and special programs. Hometown associations (HTAs) are grassroots and self-made institutions that formed by rural/town emigrants living in big cities. These associations are attended for the hometown and their current living conditions. Considering that the main part of Tehran's population are emigrants and part of them have hometown association, thus the aim of this study provides a typology of hometown associations in Tehran, as well as review characteristics, functions and mechanisms of internal communications. Research methodology is based on qualitative research method. The qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group and participatory observation techniques. Results show that there are three types of hometown association in Tehran. These types based on the type of attachment, appearance and the context/ base of formation. Special functions of these associations, maintain communications among themselves, maintain their cultural identity among themselves and their children and help fellow citizens in Tehran and in the towns and villages of origin. Internal communications mechanisms of these associations are based on regular and periodic programs and also subject to the ceremonies, rituals and special programs.

Today, the concept of citizenship culture has become of particular interest to urban management. Citizenship as a social and political phenomenon is the important characteristics of democratic systems and a key indicator for modern society. Therefore, direct involvement of people seems necessary in developing policy, priorities and targets for creating and spreading citizenship culture. Accordingly, this paper has studied the citizenship culture in urban management of Tehran. The method was qualitative using interviews with municipal managers. Besides, "content analysis" (thematic) study was used for semi-structured interview. The results show that the multiplicity and diversity of legislation in the field of town and civil affairs authorities and the rules and regulations concerning to duties of municipalities caused important effects. On the one hand, the municipality carried out a series of actions that are not so clear in the framework of legal authorizations. On the other hand, the set of work in the municipality do not carry, and the legislative do not specify it, but the municipality do it. Finally, it can be concluded that the laws and regulations in force categorize in three classes of citizenship culture elements that relating to city, citizens and the municipality, these are challenged with each other. Thus, it could be considered three basic problems: Lack of enforcement of laws and city regulations, the ambiguity in the laws and city regulations, and gaps in the laws and city regulations. Each of problems has its consequences.

This article explores the participatory development potentials of Farahazad as a major recreational neighborhood and tourist destination of Tehran. It first describes settlement patterns/ built environment, social characteristics, and the recent expansion of tourism- related businesses in Farahzad and identifies key stakeholders in the neighborhood. It then examines the context for and obstacles to developing tourism- and recreational- related activities in Farahzad by focusing on operational-structural and socio- cultural factors. Specifically, it analyzes all the existing public-sector plans prepared for Farahzad as well as the views of stakeholders expressed in a set of interviews conducted by the authors in the neighborhood. Results from interviews with public- sector officials and field observations augment the analysis. Findings indicate that public- sector plans prepared for Farahzad, which stress the residential- recreational characteristics of the neighborhood, have given little attention to social aspects of development, including community participation. Furthermore, low levels of awareness among residents about their assets and opportunities as well as underdeveloped sense of community, lack of coordination among various public- sector goals and initiatives, and problems of land tenure faced by many households have reduced the possibilities of community participation in the development of tourism and recreational activities.

economic fields. Bazzar forces are considered as powerful and effective social and economic actors in contemporary development. During the past half century and facing modernization of Iran’s society, this field has witnessed new changes. The compulsory and unwanted acceptance of consequences of such processes᾽ logic has been the internal fragmentation of Bazaar. This study pursues the aim of providing an answer to the question that what are Bazaar features as a form of traditional economy in transition to new situation era as form a of modern economy? To deal with this question, attempt has been made to determine and analyze the traditional and modern Bazaar formations using the ideal type analytical framework and the transition process. The findings indicate that the present situation is a transitional and constitutes a critical condition for Bazaar. The crises can be analyzed in five layers including institutional, ritual- spiritual rationality, embeddedness, traditional habitus and urban identity. The result of such fragmentations is mostly formation of hybridity forms than establishment of clear and bounded distinctions.

This paper attempt to give a Socio-psychological model for facing a hypothetical earthquake in Tehran. The model advances 4 steps for the disaster: discontent, crowd, riot and plunder. In any step we have tried to imagine by our meta-analysis data to argue about possible social and psychological interactions: shock, fear, distress, hatred, insecurity, depression etc. The model shows how social fear push the population, and in which ways, to a clash with the security forces. Our analysis continues to foresee the days, months and years after the earthquake. Tehran will be a dead city at least for 2 years and huge immigration have to be organized. The paper finish with concrete suggestion to reinforce the resistance against these negative effects by a social plan of collaboration within the population and authorities.

Industrial archeology is a branch of archeology that despite the widespread rejection of the academic community in the last 20 years, could provide valuable aid to the study of history of industrial societies. Here we have tried to make an introduction to the theoretical basics of this branch of archaeological studies with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary approaches. For this purpose, the history of industrial systems and related theoretical and analytic frameworks have been expressed. In this sphere, we have presented the history of industrial archeology and its methodology. This representation is accompanied with a critical approach toward the theoretical framework of traditional studies in industrialization. Finally, in the main part of the paper the possibilities of industrial archeology in Iran have been discussed. Here, the case study is the cement factory of Ray, which its history and structural change has been discussed in the context of first half of twentieth century.