پژوهش نامه انتقادی متون و برنامه های علوم انسانی
پیاپی 74 (دی 1398)

Iranians’ controversial ethos have attracted Iranians’ attention for nearly two centuries and led to writing many books in this field. The book “We Iranians” by Dr. Maghsoud Ferastkhah is one of the latest books of this kind that has been publicly welcomed. After demonstrating the Iranians’ controversial ethos and from the perspective of sociological theories the author has tried to present a multilevel systemic theoretical model with scientific look and in order to explain this ethos. In this paper, it is shown that first, the writer’s attempt to formulate such a model has not been successful, and the theoretical eclecticism gives a way to the theoretical integration, and ultimately leads to structured-oriented theories; secondly, the plurality of used theories causes some kind of theoretical disorders; thirdly, the used theories may have been misunderstood, or analyzed, and explained wrongly or paradoxically.

This article aimed at examining the position of what is often described as Max Weber’s most important work “Economy and Society” in his thought. According to a Parsonian and totalizing reading of Weber, there is a break between an early Weber (a Weber focusing on methodological reflections on conceptualizing “Historical individual” and “The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism”) and a late Weber (a Weber focusing on “Economy and Society” and “Interpretative Sociology”); this break is based on a transition from historical individuality to sociology as an abstract, typological and universalizing science. In this text, I want to demonstrate that this transition is not a break but a tension-fraught continuity and that Weber’s thought (both early and late Weber) focuses on the different historical-individual formations of “modern capitalism” and “iron cage”. To do so, I will first review the history and structure of “Economy and Society”. Then, the before-mentioned transition will be examined. Then I will deal with the unavoidable tension in Weber’s thought in order to outline a critical and productive dialogue with him.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine and evaluate the book of Education and Development: The New Issues in Educational Economics, compiled by Arani Miner and Sarkar Arani from Nashr-e-Nay Publishing. This book is one of the few works published in the field of economics. The review and evaluation of the book have been carried out based on the questionnaire for reviewing the texts and books of the Humanities Review Council in terms of form, structure, and content evaluation. Overall, the results of the survey show that the book has a decent quality despite some minor downsides in terms of structure and content. However, the need to improve the quality of the book in future publications should be considered in the final suggestions of the paper, especially, in the field of education economics and the impact of human development on economic growth. Appropriate analysis is also needed to reform policy-making in terms of the structure of trusted institutions, and to change their approach to efficient human resource training and to allocate sufficient credits to the book in light of the global experience.

In 1970s, Jean-François Lyotard wrote The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge at the request of the president of Conseil des Universities, government of Quebec. In this book, he argues that the conditions of communities have changed. Knowledge and information have undergone the dominance of technology in general, and computers in particular. Besides these effects on knowledge, Lyotard has named this the end of the industrial age and mass production, “The Postmodern Era”. In his book, he continues by criticizing the knowledge under the dominance and control of technology. He discusses the incredulity toward metanarratives, the knell of the age of the professor, legitimation of knowledge, as well as narrative and scientific knowledge. “The Postmodern condition” is in a sense a forerunner of postmodern thinking. Instead of starting from power struggle to maintain the global capitalist system, it starts from technology, and this may be the weak point of this work. There are many different reviews on this report which have contributed to the growth of postmodern thoughts, and it is recommended for all audiences interested in postmodern topics.

The present article reviews and criticizes the book ‘postcolonial theory and Kurdology’ authored by Jalil Karimi. In the introduction section, firstly, the postcolonial studies have been defined and important approaches have been introduced. Then, the book has been analyzed from both formal and content points of views. The results of this analysis show that there are some problems with regard to the formal viewpoint: it lacks introduction and general conclusion; the book has both the preface and introduction, and the English equivalence of the title of the book has not been written at the back of the book, and some of the authors’ names have not been mentioned in English in the text. From the content viewpoint, the sample size (i.e., eight books) is not enough; discourse analysis is mostly context-based, and in most of the cases, no attention has been paid to the historical and social backgrounds of the formation of Kurdish discourse. The analyses concerning issues, such as “negativism”, “nativism” and “the relationship between knowledge and power” are weak. The positive points of the book include its novel theme, fluent prose, strong theoretical framework, appropriate methodology, and accurate referencing system. The book is likely to have a significant impact on Iranian humanities studies in terms of theoretical, paradigmatic and methodological aspects; it also strengthens multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies, qualitative methods, critical approaches, indigenous knowledge and the concept of “subjectivity” in Iranian studies.

Cultural differences have always been regarded as significant in human social life. A comprehensive understanding of these differences plays an influential role in explaining and predicting interactions and communications between cultures and within them. Geert Hofstede’s theory of Dimensions of national Culture which is completely introduced in his prominent book titled Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind has been developing in the last three decades as a pioneer and influential theory for study of intercultural differences. In short, preparing a new realm in the field of interdisciplinary studies of culture and using limited dichotomies in recognizing national culture dimensions are among this theory’s privileges while historicity, underestimating social dynamics and diversity, the failure to utilize a consistent and strong theoretical foundation, and ecological fallacy are regarded as its main limitations.

Media literacy is an educational construction that is constituted through media education process. Audience is one of the bases and constituting elements of this construction which has a double meaning in media education: First, the audience is one of the main debates in media education and second, the learner as an audience in media education is placed in the position that constitutes the media literacy construction. In other words, the teacher and the educational system with the task of educating the learners want to specify some debates on the concept of the audience during the course of teaching the textbook and at the same time, transmit those teachings to the learner that is an audience of media who has a live experience in an increasingly mediated culture. The education is faced with a complex challenge by this fact; on the one hand, media literacy presupposes the active audience to understand its subject; on the other hand, the textbook presupposes the audience as a passive one who is going to gain the necessary subjectivity through the education process. By the perspective of deconstruction, this contradiction is not within the writing of the textbook, nor is outside the text. Therefore the object of analysis in this paper is the very text of the book. The main paper’s question is questioning the meaning and contradictory site of the audience in the textbook. The aim of the paper is highlighting the perceived contradiction by applying Jacques Derrida’s strategy of deconstruction.

The purpose of this paper is to present a critical evaluation of The Deadly Identities, a book resulted from life experiences of the French-Lebanese author, Amin Maalouf, which has been written to explain an extremely significant issue: fascism, desire for domination, and deadly identities will be arisen if different identities are offended and threatened with annihilation. People’s identities contain several and on occasion paradoxical elements; in other words, they benefit from hybrid identity. Therefore, one special possession should not be ascribed to them; they must demand all their belongings. By hybrid identity, it means that an individual can possess two nationalities, be born from parents with two different religions, speak in some languages whilst considers all of these as his/her possessions and see him/herself as belonging to them, too. In accordance with this meaning, human being’s dignity, departed from all identical differences, should be preserved. The most noticeable critical results, related to the form of the book, include typesetting, incorrect pronunciation of English words, and grammatical errors. Ignoring agency and the process of determining identity can be considered as the most severe criticisms in relation to the content.

The aim of this paper is to explain the main criticisms of the main propositions in the book “The Rules of the Methodology of Sociology” by Emile Durkheim. The content of this famous book, one of the basic books in sociology, suggests that Durkheim has attempted to introduce sociology as a science with a subject and method independent of other sciences, and to show that this Science is an experimental science. He described his views on this topic in six chapters in this book. Some of the contents of this book are in different chapters, although it is for the purpose of proving what was said, it also contains the material that can be considered as a confession of Durkheim’s confession against his perception that is referred to in this article. And, in some cases Durkheim has used words which could disclose others' perceptions of his point of view. In some cases, Durkheim has fallen victim to misleading concepts that do not criticize his ideas, and in some cases the concepts and meanings are not clear.

The book “Consumer Society and the Postmodern City”, is the narrative of the formation of the consumer society and its contradictions, in the midst of recent developments. This work seeks through the viewpoint of philosophers such as Bowman and Baudrillard to show that the attempt of modernity has failed in the preservation of scarcity, certainty, and alien phobia. In the postmodernity, these cases in the form of costly, uncertainty, and roaming returned to the life cycle of the whole society as a consumer, a society whose obvious characteristic is seduction, and although people think that they have the power of choice and freedom, they pursue a self-directed physical exercise that aims to fit their body with the product promises. In parallel with the changes in the consumer society, in the global-localized world, replacement of the nation-state with the cities is observed as the main actors. In these cities, some people, groups, and organizations have a global initiative and they seized space, but others are subdued by places and endured in discarded spaces such as heterotopia. The postmodern city is still a differentiated city, in spite of its consumer spaces and the domination of the ethics of consumption. Excessive attention to the consumer society, the low weight of the post-modern city content and the lack of attention to urban morphing from the consumer society are among them.

The purpose of this article is to present, review, and criticize the book “Meaning of Everyday Life” which has been written by English-born Susie Scott in 2009. A book that tries to examine and consider all aspects and dimensions in relation to the concept of "everyday life" in ten chapters. The assumption of the author is based on the fact that the study of everyday life in the field of sociological studies, which is usually engaged in answering questions and predicting macroeconomic trends in the community, has been regarded as a marginal archetype that seems to be unmistakable as if it was not necessary to study it. The author claims that recognizing macro-social structures regardless of micro levels, such as the realm of everyday life, will not be possible. As a result, it will be argued that the author could not get out of the narrow circle of social psychology and discusses the issues at sociological levels, as claimed. For this reason, the author has used superficial and non-theoretical approaches in different chapters, and it has not gone beyond the initial levels of analysis.

Niklas Luhmann is the most prominent system theorist. System theory took shape with Talcott Parsons ideas in sociology. The starting point of Luhmann’s system theory has been influenced by Parsons, proposing an integrated approach combining elements of Parsons structural functionalism and general systems theory and some concepts of cognitive biology, cybernetics, and phenomenology. Luhmann has introduced himself as the most prominent system theorist. Two main concepts in understanding the theory of Luhmann are system and environment. The key to understand Luhmann’s system theory has been hidden in the differentiation of system from its environment. One of the most basic roles of a system is to reduce the complexity of the environment. Systems produce their basic elements, regulate the borders and the relations in their structures, and are closed and self-referential. The present paper aims to analyze the system theory from the main concepts of Luhmann and to explain and criticize each of these concepts in Luhmann’s intellectual system.

From the historical perspective looking at the trends and origins of knowledge in the Iranian society, we find that critical thinking has not had a significant position in any of them, and the modes of epistemic communication are such that thinking is not present in them, or if they exist, they are very weak. As a cultural feature published in contemporary Iranian society, these currents of knowledge manifest the reflection of the low level of rationality and critical thinking. Hence, in the relationship between individuals, social and even in the scientific sphere of thought, there is no significant position. On the other hand, scientific advancement entails serious attention to critical  thinking. In this way, if we consider development as a national strategy, we cannot expect a particular change in the quality of contemplative thinking in society and social, political, and cultural relations, because with the advent of the concept of thought,  we are encountering a crisis and the need for development requires serious attention. It is an effort to provide the ground for its growth in society. Therefore, in this paper, suggestions are made to promote it using the method of historical analysis, introducing an anti-reflection background in the Iranian society and expressing its importance for advancement and development.

“Critical Bibliography of Shiite Sociology” is a book in which the authors deal with the Shiite religion from a sociological point of view and with regard to the works published during the last seven decades. In each of the eight chapters of the book, the authors have examined one of the practical social issues of religion. In each chapter, one of the most investigative research articles is divided into topics according to characteristics such as the sociological study, the volume of the article, and the applicability of the postscripts. Due to the nature of group writing, the book does not have the necessary coordination in terms of content and subject matter. The authors of the book have tried to address the Shiite religion not from a theological, philosophical or jurisprudential point of view, but from its social aspect and the effects it has on society and cohesion among the people. The eight chapters of the book are as follows: Social History; Clericalism and Religious Authority; Politics and Power; Art, Literature, and Culture; Rites; Mysticism and Sufism; Religious Places and Pilgrimage; Expectation and Mahdism (Mahdawiyya). The method used in this work should be considered as a documentary and hermeneutical method in which the authors of various articles have further described their perceptions of a book and its content.