Sociological Review
Year:2015 | Volume:22 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:9

The main target of the present study is analyzing Bazaar as a field. Analysis of Tehran traditional bazaar was performed based on compound methodological approach and Bourdieu’s field theory, and through applying techniques such as observation, participant observation, interviews and so on. Moreover, credible sources and documents were studied. Based on the findings, it can be said that contrary to the conventional economic (neo-classical) approaches, Bazaar does not act based on spontaneous order; and the Bazaaris’ interactions do not occur in an ordered and coordinated manner. Rather, Bazaar acts like a field in which Bazaaris compete against each other relying on their different sources and capitals, and in accordance with their particular habitual traits. Furthermore, the findings show that during the previous half century, Tehran’s traditional bazaar has experienced structural changes in three stages. Bazaar’s internal forces have been displaced in each stage and the rules have changed accordingly.

Encounter with the Western civilization is the most complex issue in Iranian modern history. Understanding the logic of this encounter in different groups of Iranian society can play a key role in understanding the experience of modernity in Iran. Although generally studies on this encounter are limited to modern and traditional intellectuals, in this paper I have concentrated on two other cultural mediators from common people: one Ilchi or Legate of Qajar dynasty and one Indo-Persian Journalist. I have tried to explain the logic of understanding and confrontation with the West through Weberian approach.The results show that Iranian people’s mental conditions and cultural experience of the Other (the West and modernity) in the socio-historical context of Iranian society has had a powerful influence on this encounter. Iranian experience of encounter with the West has also been affected by the cultural and historical geography of modernity (European modernity and Indian modernity). As a conclusion, in understanding the history of Iranian modernity, it is necessary to differentiate and to consider the geographical routes of this exposure, and the main actors, as well as the historical conditions of modernity. Therefore, any account of cultural History of Modernity in Iran requires a deep understanding of this multi-dimensional and multi-layered experience.

Among different views on historical development in Iran, political economy has been the dominant approach. This approach deliberately disregards culture and social behavior of people in understanding the development process. It also believes in the political determinacy of all forms of concentration of wealth, social classes and cultural demands.Among the sub-theories of political economy paradigm, “Iranian despotism” (by H. Katouzian) is has more academic credibility than other theories. In his study, Katouzian puts emphasis on the absence of contract (lack of rights and ownership) and tyranny (absence of law) as important causes of underdevelopment in Iran.In the explanation it gives of tyranny, lawlessness, and lack of accumulation and of property rights, this theory ignores the social and cultural conditions of society -or, legal-normative system. Iranian despotism is the other side of the coin of western constitutionalism and it follows a model of economic development dominant in western society.The present article criticizes the concepts of despotism and dichotomy of nation-state in this theory, exposing the elitist aspects of its approach.

This article tries to examine the emergence of non-places in Kermanshah and its consequences. Article’s theoretical approach is based on the ideas of Marc Auge. In his view, Super modernity generates non-places, in which memory, stable social relationships, and identities cannot be formed. The research applies qualitative method. Results show that despite the fact that in the 1960s the city of Kermanshah was a place, the emergence of informal settlements, war and privatization of public sphere, disappearance of cinemas, decline of old neighborhoods, replacement of streets and squares with highways and non-same level intersections, have turned the city into a large non-place in which urban life has faded away. This phenomenon has brought the citizens disorientation, unwillingness to participate and violence. To date, neither developers and planners nor the people of Kermanshah have carried out the process of building place and regenerating urban life.

Drawing on Peter Berger's views on religious pluralism and John Hick’s typology of religiosity (pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism), this essay investigates the relationship between modernization and religious pluralism among the youth in the city of Sanandaj and six of its villages.This survey was performed in Sanandaj and six Kurdish village (Saraw Qamesh, Ajgarah, Doveyse, Tangisar, Niar and Meraw). The sample consisted of 583 young people (18-29 years old) who were selected through multistage cluster sampling.The results show that “inclusivism” is the most common type of religiosity among urban and rural respondents. The rarest type of religiosity is “exclusivism”. Results of multivariate regression shows that of the 17 components introduced to the regression program, the most effective variables on pluralism could be ordered as follows: Global orientation, independence orientation, quality of life and socio-economic status.

This research classifies different countries according to their official religion and then reviews and analyzes them with regard to different variables, including the level of happiness, the importance of religion, the attitude of the citizens about the level of democracy in their countries and national pride. The data is extracted from the World Values Surveys (2005-2009), which are carried out by Ingelhart. In this secondary analysis, the level of happiness, the importance of religion, democracy and national pride are studied in each class, and then, the correlation between these variables is examined. The results show that the highest level of happiness can be observed among the Protestants of Americas and Australian Christians. Shiites and North African Muslims attach most importance to their religious beliefs. In general, Muslims attach more importance to their religious beliefs than Christians. All classes have high scores in national pride, and in total national pride among Muslims is 3 percent higher than the Christians. The European Protestants, more than other people, believe that they are living in a country with high level of Democracy. Asian Christians (Russia) have the lowest rate in this regard. The findings show that in all examined regions, the correlation between the level of happiness and the importance attached to religion is significant. The same holds true about the relationship between national pride and importance attached to religion. About The correlation between democracy and the level of happiness, the findings suggest that this relationship is stronger in Christian countries than in Muslim countries.

This article analyzes the effects of Persian-Islamic medicine on Chinese medicine from a historical and sociological point of view. It suggests that the most important factors in this regard were the policies of ancient Chinese governments, wars and tributes, commerce and also the spread of Persian language. With Mogul Empire’s occupation of China and Iran (the establishment of Yuan dynasty and Ilkhanate), the cultural exchange between the two countries reached a peak. The Islamic medicine has affected the Chinese medicine through spreading Persian and Islamic drugs and prescriptions, medical theories and compiling medical books. “Hui Hui Yao Fang” has been regarded as a Chinese- Islamic medical encyclopedia and one of the perfect examples of the influence of Persian-Islamic medicine on Chinese medicine. The resources and master copies of the book were the works of Muslim physicians in medieval times, such the medical books of Avicenna and Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Razi. The contents of the book also embodied the Persian- Islamic medical theories, such as “four classical elements”. This article has applied comparative-civilizational sociology of science and has reviewed historical, especially Chinese, documents.

The purpose of this essay is to give an in-depth analysis of the meaning and significance of graffiti in academic spaces, which represent a constellation of cultures, attitudes, beliefs and approaches on social environment; multicultural spaces impregnated with a diversity of religious/ethnic tendencies and different lifestyles. The main idea of this research is that nowadays formal academic spaces, which are supposedly controlled through formal conventions and scientific discourses, have become a territory representing informal interactions, everyday habits and private affairs. Therefore, the social life of actors here convey some delicate aspects that are reflected in unpredictable ways. Graffiti is a main sphere of representation of hidden and excluded meanings, contradictions and communicative gaps between actors. Analyzing the texts written on tangible spaces is a way to interpret meanings and codes immanent in latent interactions. On a theoretical level, this research attempts to use sensitive concepts and critical statements to interpret these texts and make their latent codes clear. Then, on the methodological level, by using thematic analysis, it attempts to infer their main categories and themes. The field of study is University of Kurdistan, mainly the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the faculty of Natural Resources. The findings show that six main categories are outstanding: desire for the opposite sex, sexual aggression, sociophobia, loneliness, ethnic tendencies and political protest. The central category is the opposition of politics and everyday life.

Drawing on the importance of economy in new media, this essay introduces taboo-breaking as the main strategy of Iranian filmmakers for attracting audience. In the course of reviewing 25 bestselling Iranian movies from early 1990s to 2014, some signs and indications of breaking taboos were traced. This essay applied qualitative approach; first movies were analyzed by applying semiotic narration analysis, then taboo-breaking categories were extracted and analyzed through thematic analysis strategy. Through purposive sampling, five movies were selected from all the Iranian movies produced from early 1990s to 2014.