STRATEGIC STUDIES OF CULTURE
Year:2025 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Criticism of subject education in educational systems is important from two aspects; Both from the genealogical aspect and the historical evolution of the subject, and from the perspective of the ruling concepts of anthropology and the understanding of internal and external contradictions and inconsistencies in presenting this desirable image, which can in practice carry a hidden subject or subjects that even Sometimes it takes a different path with a desirable and explicit subject.Regarding the ideal subject and human being and the style of Iran’s educational system, which is specified in the upper level documents, it should be said that these documents seek to educate a faithful human being who, while having a religious orientation throughout his life, considers his desired goal to be close to God, serving God and living a good life, but, many academic, moral issues, social damages and indifference to religious and national values ​​that have made the society’s mind pessimistic about the outputs and performance of the education system, show that this system has not been able to find students in To guide a clear and consistent image of how to live and relate to oneself, society, culture and history, religion, ethics, modernity, etc.In finding the root of the above problem and reviewing and criticizing the upper level documents of the educational system, it seems that these documents, which came out after solving the problem of “ being imported” of the educational system, have some ambiguities and internal contradictions in compiling and including the requirements related to human beings, which causes confusion And increases his indecision.The purpose of the current research is to review and criticize the upstream documents and find points in them that can generate ambiguities and contradictions that often cause the subject’s confusion and have angles and differences with the subject’s inherent capabilities, and therefore, will figure reactions contrary to the expectations of the educational system in the subject Therefore, we seek to answer this question: “What kind of subject is supported by the documents and discourse governing Iran’s education system and which criticism is there on this subject?”Research method: The current research has been conducted with a qualitative design and its data collection is done by referring to educational documents such as the theoretical foundations of the fundamental transformation of education, the fundamental transformation of education, the national curriculum document as the main documents, as well as other contents and researches in Access to the state of the human education system or its desired subject and its criticism has been obtained.The main approach of the research is a critical approach and using the method of negative or internal criticism as well as external criticism, and in this regard, the inductive qualitative content analysis method has also been used.Results and findings: The findings of the present research lead us to the issue that although the desirable person of the educational system and its explicit image in the documents is a “faithful subject” and transcendent, but due to the inadequacies, contradictions and inconsistencies in the text of the documents, the outcome and output It will not be a believing subject (with all its belongings), but a human being who has a kind of “suspension” or in other words a “suspended subject”.The suspension of a subject who is surrounded by ambiguities and the lack of clarity and explanation about himself, the current realities of life and the feeling of non-self in the school discourse, and a child who is not the target of documents and therefore becomes a means of realizing ideology and does not have a full existence.This suspense and ambiguity is the result of the attitude and performance of the educational system, and although a small group of people, due to the favorable environment of religious life and the internalization of teachings and the adaptation of religious and mystical experiences to what they have reached their rational understanding, can manifest the subject and Be religious, but a large number of people, as a result of the continuation of the suspension, engage in active and passive resistance, and both forms of resistance are forms of the forced reaction of the subject due to his inherent agency and his desire to act and rebel against limitations and excesses.

Today, the importance and position of cultural heritage and its cultural, social, economic, and political functions are undeniable. It is due to this significance and fundamental impacts that various societies strive to preserve and promote their cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is also one of the most important and essential pillars of identity formation, cohesion, and national self-confidence in any country. Countries with this foundation enjoy high stature and respect in international forums. Iran, with its rich historical and cultural background, houses a vast heritage, making research in the field of cultural heritage in Iran even more necessary. Given this, the protection of cultural heritage is crucial, and in this context, establishing appropriate laws, planning, and taking proper actions to build a present and future based on historical experiences is an unavoidable necessity. Therefore, understanding the current situation of cultural heritage in Iran and seeking suitable policies for the future is the aim of this research. For this purpose, the current state of cultural heritage protection needs to be examined so that strategies can be developed based on this assessment. It is important to note that in this study, “protection” refers to safeguarding the “Iranian identity” of cultural heritage, rather than its “material form.” Achieving this goal requires attention and policy-making from cultural managers at the national level so that these policies can prevent interference, appropriation, or even claims of ownership over Iran’s cultural heritage by other countries. Additionally, this study specifically focuses on a type of cultural heritage referred to as “documentary and written heritage.”Documentary heritage, which gained global attention after the establishment of the “Memory of the World Programme” by UNESCO in 1992, symbolizes the cultural identity of various nations, forms an important part of national memory, reflects each nation’s contribution to shaping different periods of human civilization, and is a central subject of the Memory of the World Programme. In this program, works that have national, regional, and global significance and meet one or more criteria related to time, place, individuals, theme, form, style, and social or spiritual importance are registered in national, regional, and global lists. The reality is that registering works in the Memory of the World list significantly enhances the status of a heritage. This registration raises awareness among governments, NGOs, foundations, and the general public about the importance of their heritage and increases expert attention to a work from various perspectives, including both its content and its preservation quality. Many universities and research institutions have become sensitive to this and strive for the longevity of these works. Furthermore, World Heritage works are promoted globally in books and UNESCO catalogs. These factors have led different countries to adopt regular and targeted policies to register their documentary heritage in the UNESCO Memory of the World programme, using it as a tool for soft power in their international relations. However, in Iran despite its rich heritage resources-the necessity of such actions has not yet been seriously recognized, and if there is any awareness, it mostly comes from the public and civil society organizations. The written heritage in this research refers to manuscripts, books, journals, and maps, which constitute a significant part of Iran’s cultural, artistic, and scientific identity, or in other words, part of the historical memory of this country.Methodology: To understand the current state of cultural heritage in the country, the study used a content analysis approach of higher-level documents (including the Constitution, Vision Document, Cultural Policy Principles Document, and Five-Year Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plans of the Islamic Republic of Iran) and interviews with 10 experts in the field. After analyzing the content of the documents and interviews, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the Islamic Republic of Iran in cultural heritage protection (documentary and written) were identified. Finally, based on the findings, strategic frameworks were developed using the SWOT method. According to this method, the appropriate strategy is one that maximizes strengths and opportunities and minimizes weaknesses and threats. To this end, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are linked in four general categories: ST, WT, SO, and WO, from which strategic options are selected.Findings: Based on the results, 40 strategic frameworks were developed, categorized into four main areas: “Cultural Policy and Management,” “Cultural Institutions and Organizations,” “Social Awareness,” and “National Identity.”Conclusion: The results indicate that the opportunities and threats facing the Islamic Republic of Iran in the protection of cultural heritage are in balance, and Iran’s cultural heritage is primarily at risk due to internal strategic factors.

Frid ay Prayer is a significant Islamic institution with substantial cultural and social influence. This study develops a policymaking framework for Friday Prayer, grounded in Ayatollah Khamenei’s cultural thought. Using qualitative thematic analysis, it highlights the potential of Friday Prayer as a tool for cultural management through its core elements of remembrance of God, intellect-emotion integration, regularity, and communal participation. The prayer leader’s central role requires qualities such as paternal care, piety, and public engagement.Research Problem: There is a lack of a cohesive cultural policymaking framework for Friday Prayer rooted in systematic religious understanding. Despite its cultural potential, existing policies remain insufficient. This study addresses this gap by applying Ayatollah Khamenei’s cultural thought to formulate effective policies for Friday Prayer.Research Background: Research by Mirabedini and Motamednejad (2008) highlights Friday prayer`s function as a public and political communication tool, particularly during elections, emphasizing its role in societal management and tradition preservation. Ahmadpour (2021) explores its soft power in countering cultural invasions and mobilizing social problem-solving, drawing on the Supreme Leader’s directives. Tayyeb Hosseini et al. (2018) identify its enhancement of political legitimacy, social capital, and religious insight, while Ahmadi et al. (2008) link participation to religious commitment and attitudes, suggesting strategies to boost attendance.Amirmajahdi (2011) and Ebrahimi Kazemabad (2017) discuss its psychological, ethical, and societal impacts, categorizing its influence into political, social, spiritual, and ethical domains. Zaki (1997) analyzes sermon topics from 1991-1995, highlighting its role in cultural development. Additional studies focus on jurisprudential and historical aspects, such as its mandatory nature (Arefnia, 2008; Taghavi, 2004) and its establishment under the Supreme Leader (Zarvandi Rahman, 2020).The review identifies a gap in policy-oriented approaches and detailed analysis of Ayatollah Khamenei’s cultural thought, marking the novelty of this research in addressing these aspects.Research Method:This qualitative study uses thematic analysis to examine Ayatollah Khamenei’s cultural perspectives on Friday Prayer. Data were collected from his official publications and speeches, with analysis involving coding, theme identification, and thematic network construction for systematic insights.Research Findings: Friday Prayer is a vital cultural institution with potential for societal development. Key findings emphasize the role of the prayer leader, public participation, and innovative strategies for enhancing its appeal. Aligning policies with Ayatollah Khamenei’s thought ensures integration of religious values with social engagement, addressing contemporary issues and fostering community unity

Objective: Throughout history, people with physical and mental disabilities have been separated from other members of society and have been affected by moral and social regulations that have invalidated their human and social values ​​(Hughes, 2019). Even though medical science is advancing every day, disability has not been significantly reduced. This issue has caused social thinkers to raise disability as a global issue. People with disabilities, like other members of the society, have the right to marry, form a family, conceive, and generally live healthy and away from exile in the society, but in practice, these people have limitations in exercising their rights related to marriage, forming a family, pregnancy, etc. Are facing People without an active and continuous presence in society will not have the possibility to experience a healthy and suitable life, even though the living conditions have evolved, so that people can make the most of their capabilities in social life (Halversen, 2017: 3). In general, people with disabilities are less present in society than people without disabilities, they often find their social interactions limited, even the existence of educational systems and health care and social services available to compensate for the limitations and physical defects in doing personal things. or they have had little effect (Shakespear, 2010: 268), and they have not been able to remove the social and cultural barriers of presence in the society (Baker et al, 2010: 148). Methods: The metasynthesis method is among the qualitative research methods. This method is used to identify, design and classify the results of studies related to a specific topic. It can be said that in the meta-composite method, such as the meta-analysis method, the researcher puts the analysis and integration of a set of previous studies on his agenda and tries to create a comprehensive set and provide an in-depth and integrated interpretation of the findings (Beck, 2002: 214). The meta-combination method has the characteristic of combining the researches related to a field by using a systematic approach, then identifying their hidden concepts and finally expanding the existing knowledge (Siau and Long, 2005). Disability studies in the country are almost two decades old. According to the ideas that were presented in the previous section, it should be mentioned that disability is a multi-dimensional and broad concept that has always faced obstacles and problems in the society of people who have been involved with disabilities. Based on this, it can be claimed that metasynthesis is a suitable method to achieve comprehensive findings from previous studies on disability; In other words, metasynthesis brings us a deep and broad picture of the studies conducted regarding the social barriers of disabled people in Iranian society and increases the generalization power of the research.Results: Among the number of 56 internal studies that were reviewed, 6 main headings were identified that previous studies in the field of disability were based on these headings. The most frequency of these headings is related to the heading of “cultural and social” topics, which means that in past studies, cultural and social issues have been discussed as drivers or obstacles for disabled people in Iran, then the heading of “individual and psychological” has the highest frequency. It is not hidden to anyone that psychological factors play an undeniable role in the ability of disabled people to overcome disability. On the other hand, the “legal” heading is also very important, basically, the rights of people with disabilities and especially women with disabilities are among the most controversial topics of the legal heading that have been mentioned by researchers in previous studies. One of the topics discussed in previous studies is related to “spatial access”this topic refers to the extent to which disabled people have the right to the city and urban space, finally two topics “economic” and “communication”. It was also determined based on previous studies. The economic heading has been raised mostly due to the weakness of disabled people in accessing suitable jobs and welfare and meeting livelihood needs, and the communication heading emphasizes a part of the capabilities of disabled people that through the media, disabled people can express themselves and represent their concerns in the mass media space.Conclusions: Finally, it should be mentioned that the examination of categories and concepts extracted from the backgrounds of internal research led to 68 conceptual codes, each of these concepts has played a significant role in the formation of the main categories of the research. The examination of these categories and concepts extracted from past research backgrounds was done in order to have a better and coherent understanding and image of the social life of people with disabilities in society and to know what are the major problems that people with disabilities and especially women are facing in society. and it is more important to know that the employment and empowerment of disabled women is one of the things that should be addressed.

Cultural industries are among the industries whose main function is to create and commercialize cultural concepts in the field of various goods and services. Cultural industries refer to activities and goods whose primary economic value is separated from cultural value and play a significant role in economic growth and development. Therefore, the cultural industry is a commercial structure that is defined through the production and distribution of cultural symbols and texts for profit. Cultural industries play a very important role in enriching the material and spiritual lives of people, which is of great importance as a cultural and spiritual food for humans and is pursued with high sensitivity by government officials in different societies. Therefore, in this research, one of the goals of this research is to examine the challenges and mechanisms for promoting the cultural industries sector based on the People’s Government Development Document, which was analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method and the challenges were compared and finally ranked and weighted by Expert Choice software. The present study seeks to answer the question of which of the challenges of cultural industries, based on the People’s Government Transformation Document, is of high importance from the experts’ perspective and is considered the most important challenge, so that solutions can be provided to reduce those challenges. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of subject matter, and in terms of field research, it is a questionnaire-type study. In the first stage, challenges related to cultural industries were identified in a library manner using the People’s Government Transformation Document, and then, in the form of a questionnaire, the challenges were ranked by ten experts using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method using Expert Choice software. The most important challenges of cultural industries are 8 main challenges and 11 sub-factors from the perspective of the unsuitable business environment of cultural industries, the lack of national and global brands, and the inapplicability of handicrafts with lifestyle changes, the quantitative and qualitative weakness of national films, the uncertainty of music, and the disorder of the clothing market, and the weakness of the competitiveness of the animation and digital games industry, and the disorder of the book production, distribution, and promotion system, and the inefficiency of the Iranian healthy toys and stationery market. Today, cultural industries have been able to cause economic growth and development in many countries in the world. Cultural industries are considered to be activities and functions whose primary economic value is separated from cultural value, which have a significant contribution to economic growth and growth. Each cultural industry has its own impact on the economy, considering its function and nature. From the experts’ perspective, the quantitative and qualitative weakness of national cinema films is ranked first with a coefficient of (0.166), the inappropriate business environment of cultural industries is ranked second with a coefficient of (0.163), the weak competitiveness of the animation and digital games industry is ranked third with a coefficient of (0.145), the disorder of the book production, distribution and promotion system is ranked fourth with a coefficient of (0.125), the inefficiency of the clothing industry market is ranked fifth with a coefficient of (0.123), the lack of national and global brands of handicrafts and its lack of application is ranked sixth with a coefficient of (0.120), the inefficiency of the Iranian healthy toys and stationery market is ranked seventh with a coefficient of (0.095), and the uncertainty of music is ranked last with a coefficient of (0.062). Accordingly, the sub-factors under each challenge have also been ranked by obtaining the answers of experts and analyzing the Expert Choice software, which among Of the eleven factors, the weakness of hardware and software infrastructure for the production of professional products is ranked first with a coefficient of (0.128), and the lack of a clear strategy in the field of music is ranked last with a coefficient of (0.047). Considering the ranking of challenges and identifying the most important problems in the cultural industries sector to resolve these problems, supporting the non-governmental sector to create large cinemas and expand regional film markets, supporting investment in cinema markets to develop this sector, reforming and managing support systems and allocating resources in relation to cultural industries, and creating a comprehensive and comprehensive information system for cultural industries should be on the agenda of the country’s cultural and economic policymakers.

Resilience is defined as the ability to return to the original conditions, intelligent use of resources, networks and supporting structures. This issue has created a concept of resilience that is widely used by researchers who highlight conceptual inconsistencies in the analysis of resilience and its potential to justify certain ideological narratives.Therefore, there is a need to include the social foundations of resilience in its conceptual framework to unlock the dynamics of resilience. Based on this, Based on this, the aim of this research was to design the model of relationships between the factors affecting the improvement of community resilience in Tabriz city. The research method was mixed exploratory. In the qualitative part of the research, theme analysis has been used to identify the main and sub-themes of the causal model of improving community resilience with a mixed approach in Tabriz metropolis. The main tool of data collection in this section was interview. In this section, a group of experts has been used for interviews. Sampling in this section was done theoretically and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was reached. Accordingly, 12 experts participated in this section. In the quantitative part, while validating the results of the qualitative part, the pattern of relationships between the main themes of the causal model of improving community resilience with a mixed approach has been designed in Tabriz metropolis. The data analysis in the quantitative section is based on confirmatory factor analysis, interpretive structural modeling and path-structural modeling. The data collection was done in the quantitative part based on the questionnaire, which was distributed among the members of the statistical sample of the research after verifying the validity and reliability. The statistical population in the confirmatory factor analysis and test of the developed model was the citizens of Tabriz city. In this section, the size of the statistical sample is determined by using the Krejci-Morgan table of 384 people. In order to stratify and create a causal model for improving resilience, 12 experts of the qualitative department were also surveyed. The findings of the qualitative section showed eight main themes of economic, social, individual, environmental, health and hygiene capacity, urban facilities, learning capacity and institutions, and thirty-three sub-themes. In the quantitative part, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed the appropriateness of each of the confirmation patterns emerging from the qualitative part. The results of the structural-interpretive modeling show five levels of relationships between the main themes of the causal model of improving community resilience, in which economic factors were the most influential factors. Also, the results of the structural path modeling have shown the significance of all the relationships obtained for the causal model of improving community resilience.

The main objective of this research is to compare the role and strategies of contemporary intellectuals in the political development of Iran, and the intellectual movements of the last 200 years in the constitutional, first Pahlavi, second Pahlavi and post-Islamic Revolution periods, and intellectual discourses with various intellectual lines have been examined.Method: The method of this qualitative research is based on a content analysis approach and using library tools and articles, in which the political thoughts and strategies of contemporary Iranian intellectuals have been investigated, and the researcher has extracted and analyzed the required materials using an inductive approach and triple coding.Findings: The research findings indicate that the intellectual movement in contemporary Iranian history has suffered from two fundamental weaknesses that have caused the strategies they mentioned in policymaking to not be effective: A. Lack of theoretical foundations and correct analysis of the objective conditions of society B. Internal differences and fragmentation of the intellectual community and intolerance towards each other.Results: The results of the research also indicate that contemporary intellectuals have had different roles and strategies, which can be referred to as secularism among intellectuals of the Constitutional era, industrialization among intellectuals of the first Pahlavi era, progress in science and technology among intellectuals of the second Pahlavi era, and the elimination of dependence on the West among intellectuals after the Islamic Revolution. The conclusion of the research also indicates two exogenous approaches (modernist attitude and attention to Western ideas) and endogenous approaches (localization attitude and reliance on Islamic ideas) of contemporary intellectuals to political development. Malcolm Khan considered freedom and equality to be the source of the country’s progress, and his strategy was legislation and the rule of law. Foroughi considered intellectual development important and promoted modern ideas and familiarity with the principles of democracy, his strategy was awareness and transparency. Shariati, based on Islamic ideas, pursued political development, and his strategy was religious development. Soroush believes in civil society based on rights and pluralism, and his strategy is ethics and law to achieve political development.The lack of institutionalized connection between science and practice, resulting from the lack of practicality of intellectuals’ science and the lack of scientific practice of political elites, has slowed down the process of political development in the country, and the need for ideological approaches and an appropriate development model with an emphasis on identity foundations seems essential. Solving the crisis of political development requires redefining cultural and identity concerns to new issues. In addition to addressing some of the opportunities and threats existing in intellectuals’ strategies by criticizing discourses and presenting policy proposals, the present study is a kind of simultaneous recognition of all phenomena and areas that shape the life world of a society.

Objective: “ Adolescence, as an important period in human life, is facing many changes in modern societies. Also, in the process of political socialization of individuals, numerous groups and organizations are effective; one of these factors that plays a role in the socialization of individuals is the means of mass communication (Sarokhani, 1991: 548), whose ubiquity is considered its most important feature; so that it has also covered other institutions that are effective in political socialization, such as family and school. These media have penetrated the depths of society and among the masses of people and have become the cause of an explosion in time and space; so that they spread messages and information in the fastest time in all parts of the world (Sarokhani, 1992: 13). Therefore, today, as a result of the emergence and expansion of the Internet and virtual social networks- which are the result of progress in communication media - we live in a different society than before, which according to some scholars such as Manuel Castells is an information society (Castells, 2001); since adolescents are among the most active groups in social networks, the influence of reference groups in non-native social networks on their political attitudes and behaviors is of great importance. Purpose: Therefore, this study aims to extract a model of political role modeling of Iranian adolescents from reference groups in non-native social networks (with an emphasis on the views of experts). Methods: The qualitative research method, the data collection tool were interviews, and the statistical population were professors and experts in political science and social media. Upon reaching theoretical saturation, 12 people were selected and interviewed.ResultsThe results emphasize the importance of understanding the multiple factors that influence the political socialization of youth, and show that youth actively participate in this process and cannot be considered simply as recipients of political views. The qualitative research model resulting from the analysis of expert opinions includes 5 main factors and 8 sub-factors: the role of social media characteristics (content), individual variables (contextual), family, school, peers, celebrities (intervention), trust in the media (functional), and structural; societal conditions are the factors that alone or together affect the formation of political role models of youth.Conclusions: Political role models of Iranian adolescents from reference groups in non-native social networks are a complex phenomenon with multiple factors and aspects. This role model is influenced by five basic components, eight sub-factors, and twenty-six indicators. Therefore, research on adolescent political and civic participation focuses on a wide range of social factors, including parents, school, peers, and the media.