Journal of Iranian Social Studies

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.

Abstract Background and aim: Hope for the future in the business sector is considered an important social issue that significantly influences the growth and development of economic indicators. The aim of this study was to explore hope for the future among the merchants of Yazd city. Data and method: This research employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. Data were collected through purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews with 18 merchants in Yazd. Findings: The findings were organized into nine main themes, including fluidity of hope, ambiguity of the future, intelligent self-efficacy, commitment to work ethics, disruption of hope during economic recession, the imposition of politics on the market economy, family economic crisis, patient religiosity, and the credibility of the Yazd bazaar. Conclusion: The results indicate that hope for the future among merchants has weakened but has not completely disappeared. In this context, merchants are engaged in a form of individual reconstruction within the market environment. The concept of future hope in this reconstruction reflects individuals’ desire for personal development and the expression of creativity. Merchants recreate an individualized form of hope in a declining market, without the need for partnership, enabling them to organize their own and their families’ needs and to strive independently of market rules

Abstract Background and aim: Although a substantial body of sociological scholarship emphasizes the integrative role of religion in fostering social cohesion, growing evidence suggests that, under certain social contexts, religion can also contribute to the emergence, intensification, and perpetuation of social conflicts. Owing to its religious, ethnic, and political diversity, the province of Kurdistan provides a particularly pertinent context for examining this phenomenon. Accordingly, the present study analyzes a multilevel model of religious action in the formation and reproduction of social conflicts in Kurdistan over the past five decades.
Data and method: Adopting a constructionist approach and a qualitative mixed‑method design—including historical analysis, oral history, and ethnography—data were collected through 54 in‑depth interviews, participant observation in religious gatherings, and document review. Data were analyzed phenomenologically.
Findings: Religion operates at three interconnected social levels in generating conflict. At the micro level, religion functions as "lived practical knowledge," shaping everyday conflicts through differences in ritual interpretation and values, while also serving as a mechanism for dispute resolution. At the meso level, religious networks and communities institutionalize and reproduce conflicts by reinforcing identity boundaries and claiming exclusive interpretive authority. At the macro level, religion serves as a symbolic language for articulating political, ethnic, and ideological conflicts.
Conclusion: Religion is not merely a source of cohesion or discord. Rather, a multilayered mechanism can generate, intensify, perpetuate, or resolve social conflicts. Understanding religious conflicts requires analyzing all three levels simultaneously.

Abstract Background and aim: Contemporary gender identities and patterns of masculinity have undergone profound transformations that require precise empirical investigation. Accordingly, the present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing emerging patterns of young masculinities and discovering novel ways of redefining boyish identity among male adolescents in Someh Sara, in order to gain a deep understanding of the hidden layers of their life-world.
Data and method: This study was conducted using a qualitative approach and the thematic coding method. The research participants consisted of 13 eighteen-year-old male adolescents residing in Someh Sara, who were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected and analyzed through in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews.
Findings: Data analysis led to the identification of seven dynamic types of Youth Masculinities: the "handsome and fit boy," the "charismatic and center-of-the-crowd boy," the "intellectual and cultural critic boy," the "calm and rational boy," the "critic of boyish groups boy," the "capital-oriented and realistic boy," and the "self-made boy." The findings indicate that masculinity in this region has distanced itself from traditional patterns and become diversified.
Conclusion: Youth masculinities has transformed into a dynamic set of lifestyles, aesthetic, mental, and ethical styles that are shaped in interaction with new media, family, school, and social networks. Focusing on their everyday experiences, the new generation of boys is actively redefining the boundaries of boyish identity and their novel ways of presence in the social world.

Abstract Background and aim: The issue of lacking a birth certificate in Iran, despite the requirement for birth registration within a limited period after birth, reflects a form of intergenerational injustice. The absence of legal identity forces individuals into marginalization and involuntary migration; therefore, they should not be regarded as equivalent to other marginalized populations. Accordingly, the present study aimed to explore in depth the meaning of life from the perspective of individuals without legal identity and to illuminate their lived experiences and perceptions.
Data and method: This study was conducted within an interpretivist paradigm using a descriptive phenomenological approach. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved with 15 participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and, following transcription, were analyzed using initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding. During the theoretical coding stage, the constant comparative method was employed.
Findings: The findings, organized into six main themes and nine subthemes, revealed that individuals without legal identity continuously experience fear of deportation, deprivation of fundamental rights, social exclusion, anxiety, self-hatred, and persistent vulnerability within their lifeworld. They expressed negative feelings toward their ancestors, whom they perceived as responsible for their current predicament. Their personal freedoms and citizenship rights remain suspended, and legally they have become invisible, nameless individuals. Consequently, they hold little or no hope for the future.
Conclusion: The research findings provide a deeper understanding of the subjective meanings that participants attach to their lived experiences. Living without legal identity represents a condition imposed by previous generations. Identity deprivation extends far beyond poverty in all its forms, as the absence of legal identity renders virtually every potential solution to their problems contingent upon obtaining a birth certificate and legal recognition.

Abstract Background and Objective: Divorce, as one of the prominent social challenges in contemporary Iran, leaves multifaceted consequences on mental health, interpersonal relationships, and family structure. Methods and Data: The present study was conducted using a qualitative approach and the grounded theory method. Participants included 30 divorced men and women residing in the city of Arak, who were selected based on criteria of diversity in age, education, duration of marital cohabitation, and cause of divorce. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was reached. Findings: The core category extracted was "lack of love and emotional coldness," identified as the main driving force behind relationship deterioration. Causal conditions included family conflicts, mutual distrust, and extramarital affairs; contextual conditions included economic–livelihood pressures, excessive materialism, and the tension between traditional and modern values; and intervening conditions included sexual problems, hasty marriages, and lack of communication skills. The dominant strategy adopted by participants in facing these conditions was a conflict-oriented pattern. The reported consequences were divided into two categories: positive and negative. Discussion and Conclusion: The paradigmatic model derived from this research depicts divorce in Arak not as an instantaneous event but as a gradual process shaped by the interweaving of individual, interpersonal, and structural factors. The prominence of the category "emotional coldness" in both gender groups reveals the necessity of paying attention to premarital and ongoing marital programs for training emotional and communication skills. Gender differences in prioritizing causes indicate the need for distinct interventions for men and women.