Iranian Journal of Sociology
Year:2002 | Volume:4 | Issue:3|Papers Count:7

Reaching adulthood is a complex and multidimensional process, which the status and associated with it are socially constructed. Thus, the changes and phenomenological differences in transition from one group to another, and from one generation to another, imply value and normative changes. The present study, which is based on a representative survey in Tehran, demonstrates that transition to adulthood does not occur as a series of unrelated events, subject to a given temporal sequence, and that its conceptualization should basically be attributed to the ability of independent thinking, commitment, and mental aptness of the youth for making personal choices and designing their favorite life style. The findings also show that, the cultural context of adulthood has changed and that as the impact of social forces diminishes, youth"s expectations become increasingly individualistic.

Michael Gibbons distinguishes between the academic and the new mode of knowledge production. The academic mode can be explained with reference to Roben Merton"s ideas. Merton"s model considers science as an activity independent of other social institutions, and holds that the normative structure of science results from the independent activities of scientists. Gibbons and his colleagues speak of a major shift in mode of seeking and producing knowledge. The most significant feature of this new mode of knowledge production is that it leaves knowledge open to innmences from other social institutions. Discussing the theoretical models presented by Gibbons and Merlon, the present article examines the relationship between these two and the cultural and strategic norms of larger society. The main hypothesis here is that the above-mentioned theoretical models renect ,to some extent, the reality, and, to some extent, the normative and ideological bias of the scientific community both before and after the cold war, and that the recent theoretical shift in sociology of science and the development of the "new mode of knowledge production" as an explanatory model, is parallel and symmetric to the normative shift of scientific community. The final part of the article explores our relationship with academic knowledge and the new mode of knowledge production, and deals with the questions of how to explain conditions of knowledge in Iran with reference to these two models, and what doctrines can be concluded from these models in order to improve the conditions.

Citizenship is one of the most important socio-political concepts of the present age, which has gone through a complex maze in its historical evolution. The concept reflects the range of expectations, rights and duties of members of a given society in relation to one another, institutions and the society itself. Citizenship signifies two major principles; one is the position people attain through their rights and duties, and the other is the conditions the society creates for people to attain or be granted the position. The concept has developed not merely for the purpose of enjoying rights or performing duties, but, as well, for achieving certain goals, such as social development. Drawing on the findings of a research conducted in the same area, the present paper aims at describing conditions of citizenship and analyzing the factors affecting the change of attitude among citizens toward their rights and duties.

The purpose of the present article is to analyze the dominant intellectual discourse and examine the impact of internal and external conditions of the Iranian society in the shaping of intellectual ideas at the beginning of the constitutional revolution in the country. It covers the period from 1270 to 1288 solar calendar (1891-1909), and studies the various political, social, cultural and economic features of the society with regard to internal conditions and intellectual, cultural, political and socio-economic impacts of the West, under the title "International Conditions". The article classifies intellectual ideas according to the concept of discourse. The data are collected from two sources: the scientific and historical documents about social conditions at the beginning of the constitutional revolution in Iran, and analysis of the quality and quantity of the dominant discourse of the period. Thus 38 issues of Ghanoun Newspaper, published by Mirza Malkum Khan at that time, were selected for analysis of the dominant discourse. The findings demonstrate that first of all, there exists a relation between the various social conditions and the dominant discourse of the time. Second, some of the features of the dominant discourse possess internal correlation. Third, many of the features of the dominant discourse are significantly related to the variable of time. So the discourse dominant in the constitutional revolution can be compared to a mirror which reflects the conditions, problelllS and solutions of the society at that time.