Sociology

The Problem of the Surplus Population in the Prebendal State: A Case Study of Salmāniyeh–Ordūgāh Village in Qaleh Ganj, Kerman

Pages 5-34

https://doi.org/10.22034/jss.2026.2083165.1941

Morteza Rostami Savadkouhi, Nooh Monavvary, Alireza Zakeri

Abstract Background and aim: This article examines the formation of the “surplus population” within the context of the prebendal state in Iran, using the village of Salmaniyeh–Ordougah. Drawing on economic sociology and political economy, the study employs the concepts of patrimonialism and prebendalism (Weber and Joseph), economic disembeddedness (Polanyi), and Bourdieu’s theory of the state, field, and habitus to analyze state intervention and its consequences for livelihoods, economic morality, and local social relations. Data and method: The research adopts a critical ethnographic approach. Data were collected through researchers’ field observations based on ten years of intermittent presence in the region and through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty village residents. Findings: The findings indicate that the extension of the state’s prebendal logic through patron–client networks, rent-seeking development projects, and inconsistent agricultural and natural resource policies has contributed to the disintegration of the previous socio-economic order, the weakening of social solidarity, and the disembedding of economic life from its social foundations. In this process, a new economic morality has emerged, characterized by individualization, the dominance of monetary values, and the belief in individual effort as the primary path to success. Conclusion: The ultimate outcome has been the production of a group of “abandoned” actors who, lacking economic, social, and institutional capital, have been excluded from resources and opportunities and transformed into a surplus population. The article argues that, at least in this case, the surplus population cannot be reduced to mere mismanagement but is rooted in the structural intersection of prebendalism and dominant economic policies in contemporary Iran.

Sociology

Backgrounds of School Violence: A Thematic Analysis of Third- and Fourth-Grade Students’ Perspectives

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 21 June 2026

https://doi.org/10.22034/jss.2026.2068725.1915

Shakila Akbari, Dariush Boostani

Abstract This qualitative study, employing thematic analysis, explores the underlying factors contributing to violence in elementary schools from the perspective of third- and fourth-grade students in Shiraz. Focusing on children’s perceptions as active agents within the educational environment, the research seeks to provide a realistic and multi-dimensional portrayal of school violence. Given the transformations in social structures and relations, the necessity of listening to children’s voices has become increasingly important. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 students and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that school violence is the outcome of complex interactions among structural, cultural, and interpersonal factors, organized into six main categories: overcrowded educational spaces, rigid rules, teacher characteristics, violence-inducing physical structures, systemic child-unfriendliness, and lack of coordination among school authorities. Together, these factors reproduce violence in symbolic, structural, and direct forms within the school environment, underscoring the urgent need to reconsider current educational policies and structures.

To choose the oocyte donation as a way of becoming a mother (Phenomenological study of infertile women’s in Royan Institute)

Volume 8, Issue 1, Winter 2014, Pages 6-21

Nasrin Eyzadyar, Shirin Ahmadnia, Seyed Mohammad Seyedmirzaei, Seyed Ali Azin, Mohammad Yazdani Safa

Abstract Oocyte donation forms a part of so called "Assisted Reproduction Technology" (ART) that assists infertile women with ovarian problems or other medical factors to achieve their dream of having a child. Understanding the experience of infertile women in a difficult decision-making period for oocyte donation and selecting it over other alternatives (adoption or to live without children) is significant. Little is known about the lived experience of recipient women though, especially in Iran, due to the cultural, social, and religious conditions of the society. The present article describes the experience of those infertile women. This study was conducted using qualitative method and phenomenological approach with the aim of recognizing and describing the experiences of the women recipients of donated oocyte. Eleven participants were selected by purposive sampling method from women who had turned to Royan Infertility Institute in Tehran, Iran. The data were generated from transcription of taped Semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data analysis was in accordance with the procedure introduced by Colaizzi. Six main themes emerged from the women’s descriptions of their experiences:(1) the possibility of maintaining the confidentiality in egg donation; (2) the opportunity of having the experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding ;(3) the chance of genetic transition from husband ;(4) the impact of time factor in choosing oocyte donation ;(5) oocyte donation being permissible from a religious point of view; and (6) emotional and social burden of infertility.

Investigating Social Factors Affecting the Social and Political Participation (18 and Above Years Old Citizens of Karaj)

Volume 9, Issue 2, Summer 2015, Pages 64-87

B. Zare, M. Rohandeh

Abstract Social and political participation as essential feature of modernism is very important in modern societies. So participation (in all form of it including political, social, economic and cultural) is one of the main concepts of sociology and political science. The present study is a quantitative one which aims at examining the social factors affecting socio-political participation. The survey was conducted with a sample of 400 residents of Karaj in 2012. Data was collected through self-constructed questionnaire. The data were analyzed using multivariate liner regression, T. test, multiple regression and path analysis. Results of multiple regression analysis show that among independent variables the political satisfaction (beta = 0.33), the newspaper reading (beta = 0.25), the religiosity (beta = 0.19), and watching satellite (beta = 0.15), have significant effects on participation rate. Totally, independent variables of this study explain 0.41 of the variation of sociopolitical participation. In general, the results of study support the theoretical framework the study was based on.

Social security and social health (Case study of youth in Ghaen city)

Volume 9, Issue 1, Winter 2015, Pages 71-102

Golam Reza Khushfar, Arezo Mohammadi, Fatemeh Mohammadzadeh, Razieh Mohammadi, Fatemeh Akbarzade

Abstract The concept of social health, along with other aspects of health (physical, mental, spiritual), is a significant component and is influenced by many factors. Security, particularly social security is one of the most important factors related to social health.. Due to this importance, this study aimed at identifying the relationship between social security and social health of youth (15-29) years in Ghaen. The study relies on social health theory of Keyes and modern approach to social security.  ترجمه از: فارسیThe study is a survey with sample size of 376 which were randomly selected. Findings from the analyses of the data indicate significant and direct relationship between social security and social health. In addition, relationship between social security and social integration, acceptance, participation and social prosperity is positive and significant. Social acceptance has the highest and social integration has the lowest correlation with social security. At the same time, there is no significant relationship between social security and social cohesion.

Study of effective factors on social responsibility between students of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

Volume 8, Issue 2, Summer 2014, Pages 128-152

Leyla Yazdanpanah, Fatemeh Hekmat

Abstract This article examines effective factors on social responsibility which are necessary actions or personal reactions in different situations .Theories of mutual humanism, Bandora’s social learning and social roles theory are used. We conducted a survey and used a questionnaire to collect the data. The questioner was distributed among 404 male and female students of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman in the year 2011, who are selected by random systematic sampling. The results show that the sense of self esteem, responsive and intimate parenting, formal and informal social participation, interpersonal social trust ,generalized institutional trust, gender and socio-economic position are effective variables on the youths’ social responsibility.

Mixed-Methods Research The Third Movement in the Methodology of Social Sciences

Volume 5, Issue 2, Summer 2012, Pages 158-181

Mohsen Niazi

Abstract Combined research methods are called the third movement in research methodology. It means that in conducting the social research, seeking combined research methods is needed for improving the methodology of research that started with qualitative and quantitative approaches. In conducting humanistic and social research, the main approaches have developed in different methodological directions. What is known as the first wave of methodological change, initiated the application of empiricism and quantification. After a period of exerting dominance, it was recognized that quantification was not successful in showing individuals’ thoughts and ideas on complex as well as specific issues and events. The second wave of methodology known as qualitative research developed in 1970-1980. It emphasized perception processes that led to consequences of issues under study. In the last decade, limitations of qualitative approaches in generalizing results, combination of research results with researcher specific values, and the problem of validity and reliability of data have been considered as important challenges in qualitative researches. Thus, it is important to consider combined approach as the third movement of methodology. The main purpose of combined method known as multi-characteristic approach is to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches for giving a more inclusive perception of research issues. In this approach limitations of each of qualitative and quantitative researches are compensated. In addition, this method offers more reliable evidence and proof for research that will help the researcher to answer the questions that are unanswered by each of the qualitative and quantitative approaches alone. The other purpose of this research is to study qualitative and quantitative methodology comparatively, in a manner so that to recognize methodological limitations of each of these two approaches and to offer combined methods as a basic type of approach in the humanities and social research.

An Anthropological Study Of Linguistic Identity Among Afghan Immigrants In Iran

Volume 8, Issue 3, Summer 2014, Pages 109-128

Hossein Mirzaei

Abstract Many linguists and anthropologists believe that language is the base of identity, because the concept of language and identity have an inseparable connection. Even some of them believe that the first sign of identity, like a person’s name, is stuff of language. In this research by the use of field data, language and its connection to other variables like age, sex, ethnicity and nationality among Afghan immigrants was studied and the connection of these elements with identity was investigated. After a quarter century of their widespread presence in Iran, now the second and third generation of immigrants are experiencing the new conditions and achieving a new identity. This process that inevitably passes through an identity disorder will come across immigrant society. The new identity is formed through the language. It seems forming this identity can effectively act as a basis for the official presence of a new minority called the »Iranian - Afghan«. So it seems that the Persian dialogue of Afghan is more or less threatened not only among the immigrants in Iran, but also back in Afghanistan.

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