Discourse Analysis of Welfare and Social Security in Iran After the Islamic Revolution

One of the ideals of the Islamic Revolution is social security and it is included in the constitution and other upstream documents, but it is conceptualized in the discourse order of agents after the Islamic Revolution (based on theoretical and practical requirements) with different approaches and policies. Different and sometimes heterogeneous has led to the complete lack of welfare and social security in the country. In this regard, the present study seeks to answer the question that welfare and social security in the four governments after the Islamic Revolution (with the discourses of the Oppressed, Construction, Reform and Justice) have been established and highlighted by what semantic implications that have led to such results? To answer this question we used the Laclau and Mouffe discourse analysis method to analyze the texts of speeches of high officials, especially presidents, the relevant laws and regulations in each of the ruling political discourses that have emerged in the hegemony of governments. The analyzed texts also include the speeches of high-ranking officials, especially the presidents, the law on development programs, the practical actions, and the regulations and reports of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security in the period of each government. Due to the ideology of the Islamic Revolution and the war, the Opressed-Oriented Government pushed the oppressed groups from the margins to the center, thus articulating its welfare discourse with the nodal point of the “centrally oppressed”.The Constructive Government sought to articulate its discourse by “compensating for the shortcomings of economic development” as the nodal point. The Reformist Government, using Article 29 of the Constitution, deconstructed the nodal point of the constructive government welfare discourse and articulated its discourse with the nodal point of a “comprehensive welfare and social security system.”The Justice-Oriented Government has also articulated its welfare discourse with the nodal point of “equal access of individuals to social security protections” by emphasizing distributive justice, compassion and service to the poor and the development of underdeveloped areas. The trend of welfare and social security discourse during the four governments after the Islamic Revolution in Iran indicates that each government has articulated its welfare discourse under a different nodal point but with common floating Singnifiers. In this way, a rupture occurred between their nodal points, resulting in a different and sometimes contradictory trajectory. As a result, they are not complementary to each other, but nevertheless, the various aspects of welfare and social security in each government have improved compared to the previous one.