An Investigation of Directing Factors of Social Capitalin the Holy Defense Era

In the past, governments and organizations focused mainly on material, physical, and human resource capitals to achieve success. Today, however, a new source called social capital has been recognized. During the Islamic revolution, especially in the era of The Holy Defense, social capital was considered as the main source of capital. The rush of people toward the frontiers to defend the Iranian Islamic territoryin The Holy Defense, indicated that people who had followed Imam Khomeini in the establishment of the Islamic Revolution had magnificently gained maturity of thought. Surveys indicated that although people were always present in the battlefields fields, their participation fluctuated from time to time. Using grounded theory, this research is intended to identify directing factors of social capital by interviewing commanders and combatants of The Holy Defense. The research resulted in identifying 59 concepts being classified in eleven more subjective categories. Some of the categories include Imam Khomeini’s leadership and Welayah, the fundamentals of people’s faith, spiritual traits of people, war conditions, and political circumstances.