The studies about ethnicity have a long history, which roots in the exoticism that in turn is affected by the Orientalism viewpoint on other cultures. The procedure of nation-building and modernization of Iran drastically changed the tribal life in Iran. This procedure was accompanied by extensive researched by Western researches on the tribal communities of Iran. During the last two decades, we have seen a decrease in tribal studies and a growing interest in ethnic studies from the perspective of political and social sciences. The new ethnic terms such as Kurds and Balouchs became the substitutes of the former tribal names. However, the transition of the tribe to the ethnic is mostly neglected in the scholarship. These studies have not paid attention to the mechanisms and conversion process form tribe to ethnicity.
For this reason, analyzing the group's dynamics and multiple influential factors in this transition, and also the role of cultural content in the transition process has been ignored. This study is trying to take a fresh look at the issue of the tribal and the ethnic in Iran from a process approach and to emphasize the role of cultural content.

The main purpose of this research is first to provide a sort of forces and social groups’ categorization in the Balochistan community and, in the following, discourses that can be deduced from the activities of these groups. The present research is fundamentally, within the framework of a kind of historical-genealogical methodology. Findings show that especially in the last century and among social groups in political and social discourses of Balochistan, the most influential ones included: 1) Commanders, khans and the traditional aristocracy; 2) Ethnic nationalist and national elites; 3) clerics, Molavies and religious activists; 4) intellectuals and modernist civil activists. It seems that each of these groups act in a special thinking context and space; this issue is discussed in the present article, following the presentation of four discourses: 1) Self-centered and ethnocentric discourses; 2) nationalist discourses; 3) socio-political religious-oriented discourses; 4) Reformative socio-political discourses.

Iran is a country with a multicultural ethnic population. Following Castles, in a global age of emerging “resistance identities” intensified by social movements, that’s a significant phenomenon for national Identity formation and nation- states building question in Iran. However, a critical analysis of the national Identity discourse articulated by the Iranian intellectuals during the past century shows many contradictions. These contradictions will be clear just when they try to depict ethnic policies in Iran. The mentioned contradictions can activate ethnic gaps and conflicts, promote political consciousness of ethnic groups, and lead to a dangerous situation in near future. This paper, by a critical discourse analysis method, tries to deal with these contradictions during the past century and their potentials for activating ethnic conflicts. Finally, the paper tries to propose some necessary points to achieve a more sustainable and comprehensive ethnic policy in Iran.

The emergence of new states outside Europe following the post-war decolonization and rising nationalism eliminated the analyses and assumptions which had founded the sociology based on the European tradition and classical positivist beliefs, which ultimately proved significant in denunciating the vainness of large-scale theories and their application on universal issues. The question of ethnicity in Iran has not been an exception. Iran is a multi-ethnic country with Fars people forming the majority of the population. Fars people mainly reside in the center of the country while other ethnic groups are settled along the borderlines. Ethnic groups settled along the borderlines have tribal extensions beyond the national borders. This status has brought about certain conditions in ethnic interactions with the central government. This condition may account for the major portion of Iran's geo-political issues and national, regional and international challenges. The present article deals with the issue of ethnicity using a hermeneutic method and postmodern approach aiming at investigating the failure of large-scale theories, a legacy of modernism and positivist method, in accounting for ethnicity issues. This article is to demonstrate that in postmodern dialogue the regional issues should be dealt with in the light of time and geography of that region.

Building a single national identity has been one of the most difficult phases in the process of nation-building in various societies. Common definition of itself and the formation of inter-minds understanding of a single nation beyond the existing ethnic identities, has led to building an inclusive national identity and this issue provides the required ground for the advancement of nation-building process. Realization of this issue depends on the performance of the elites in creating consensus among ethnic groups and the willingness of diverse ethnic identities to participate in the process of building national identity. This is particularly very significant in the areas, where other multiple ethnic identities live in constant tension with each other. South Caucasus region is one of the regions, which due to the existence of hostile ethnic groups, is considered as a unique example in studying the national identity building of the “post-Soviet”. In this region, Georgia is considered as a failed example in the arena of building national identity and nation-building.
In this regard, the question of this article is: What were the main obstacles in building national identity in Georgia and what was the impact of these factors on the process of nation-building in this country? The hypothesis of the article is also elaborated as follows: the interaction of two factors; the reluctance of the diverse ethnic groups in a common definition of themselves as a single nation and also the Georgian elites’ performance, in order to marginalize the ethnic minorities in the process of building national identity, along with the impact of the Soviet Union’s legacy, has been the most important factors in the lack of national identity formation in Georgia and subsequently, its failure in the country's nation-building process. The method used in this article, is descriptive-analytical method, through using the library tools.

With globalization of communications and development of communicative technologies, ethnic groups make use of these media for creating and reinforcing ethnical identity, bringing with it localization. Media industry is increasingly witnessing satellite television channels working on the theme of ethnicity, and this would probably create challenges for IRIB and the government’s monopoly over media in face of communication and information technologies. Using a documentary methodology and qualitative interview with 70 experts working in the fields of social and communications sciences, the present article aims to identify mechanisms of representing ethnic culture identity on satellite TV.Findings indicate that satellite TV channels play an important role in shaping and redefining ethnic culture identity through representational mechanisms based on “cultural distinctions,” and these mechanisms facilitate dealing with audiences. Furthermore, these media, in representing ethnic cultural identity, face certain challenges restricting the scope of their effectiveness.

The purpose of the present study is to review the requirements of ethnic policymaking and management in order to achieve national integrity and enhance the efficiency of the Islamic Republic of Iran with respect to the existing structures and factors. The method of study is descriptive-analytic and it aims to find an answer to this main question: What are the most important requirements of ethnic policymaking in Iran with regard to its centralized unitary structure of government? The results show that it is through considering the requirements of policymaking in terms of optimal management of the realm of the country and its inhabitants that the best method for implementing policies can be selected. This issue can ultimately lead to using the potentials of natural and human geography that guarantee national security and achievement of national goals. Furthermore, having a systematic approach, paying attention to the cultural geography of the country, and balanced development are among some other requirements of ethnic policymaking. Considering these needs and paying attention to the influential components in management of ethnic varieties have a positive impact on the efficiency of the Islamic republic of Iran and display its practical effectiveness in performing its duties toward the citizens' expectations.

Ethnic diversity in Iran is such that it can be referred to as a polyethnic society. Therefore, the political organization of space and the preparation of the land, the nature of laws from the theoretical and practical aspects, economic, cultural, social, political policies, etc. require a definition that spiritual integration is its final output. Based on internal and external written sources and descriptive-analytical method, assuming this, what opportunities and threats, as well as strengths and weaknesses, have the role of ethnic-linguistic components in Iran's geopolitical crises? Analytical explanation of the effective components of ethnic-linguistic components can create other geopolitical crises such as development crisis, geographic isolation crisis and participation crisis.Ethnic diversity in Iran is such that it can be referred to as a polyethnic society. Therefore, the political organization of space and the preparation of the land, the nature of laws from the theoretical and practical aspects, economic, cultural, social, political policies, etc. require a definition that spiritual integration is its final output. Based on internal and external written sources and descriptive-analytical method, assuming this, what opportunities and threats, as well as strengths and weaknesses, have the role of ethnic-linguistic components in Iran's geopolitical crises? Analytical explanation of the effective components of ethnic-linguistic components can create other geopolitical crises such as development crisis, geographic isolation crisis and participation crisis.