Iranian Journal of Sociology

Abstract The main purpose of this article is to study the relationship between the cultural capital and lifestyle among the middle class citizens of Sanandaj city, Kurdistan, Iran. The theoretical hypothesis behind this issue is that lifestyles are shaped in relation to the types and degree of social capitals in society. Also, lifestyles have a main role in constructing identities, meanings, attitudes, schemas, tastes and behaviors. The theoretical framework of this article is based on Bourdieu, Chaney, Sobel and Giddens’s viewpoints in the social sciences. The population comprises of Sanandaj middle class residents from which a sample has been selected according to its main internal strata. Also, we used the questionnaire to gather the data and information. The findings show that there is a positive and meaningful correlation between cultural capital and its different forms with lifestyle. Among the different forms of cultural capital, the embodied one has the most degree of relationship with lifestyle among the middle class residents of Sanandaj city.

Abstract Social sciences relative weakness in Iran has been investigated mostly via macro approaches, specially by structural functionalism approach, and few by micro approaches. The present paper is identifying thinking circles of social sciences faculty members of Allameh Tabataba’i University and University of Tehran based on Collins’ theory. According to Collins (2000, 2004) science development results from emergence and continuance of thinking circles as scientific communities. The central part of thinking circles is the 'interaction ritual chains'. Scientific actors inside the thinking circles are involved in theoretical discussions with 'emotional energy' which results in scientific development and dynamism within thinking circles. This research used qualitative method and unstructured interview with social sciences faculty members. Results showed that in spite of presence of common issues among professors, they lack 'common symbolic attention space', 'common issue concentration', and 'interaction ritual'; these are distinguishing features of scientific community from the viewpoint of Collins. 'Conversation space' is limited to temporary interaction with university students instead of dynamic and productive interaction with collogues. Professors have high emotional and cultural capitals while lacking thinking circles within faculties.

Abstract While the problem of social capital is getting more important in all social science disciplines, explaining the creation of social capital rises as an important debate. Trust is a constituting element of social capital and has great importance for its consequences. Robert Putnam, in a leading prominent book, two decades ago, explained trust as a consequence of associational life, which is now acknowledged as society-centered approach. However, institution-centered approached have tried to explain trust based on the quality of public institutions. We have applied a crossnational variable-oriented comparative research on 54 countries to evaluate the strength of these two approaches for explaining trust. Data have been extracted from well-known international databases of the World Bank, Freedom House, and World Values Survey. Our evidences and results imply that institution–centered approach is more capable of explaining trust. In conclusion, the implication of results for analyzing democracies, and two critical issues of legitimacy of democratic systems and degradation of social capital have been discussed.

Abstract The goal of this research is to measure social capital's influence and its dimensions (social networks, social norms and social trust) on environmental behavior. In other words, the main purpose of the present paper is to answer the questions: Whether the increase and decrease of social capital result in any changes in environmental behavior? This is a survey-method research. The statistic sample includes 440 over 18-year-old persons in urban areas of Kurdistan Province who have been chosen based on multistage cluster sampling method. The questionnaire has been the data gathering tool of the paper. The result of the present paper shows that in spite of improper situation and restricted environmental facilities in Kurdistan Province environmentally responsible behavior of the respondents stand at a high level. Indeed, the finding is indicative of a close to medium social capital of the people studied. There is positive and direct relation between social capital and environmental behavior. In other words, environmental behavior becomes responsible as the social capital rises. At the end, the paper discusses the possible reasons for lack of social capital.

Abstract In this article, political culture of the Conservatives and Reformists elites in Iran is discussed. The research questions are ” What are the characteristics of conservatives and reformists elites”? and “What are similarities and differences of political culture among conservatives and reformists elites?”. The theoretical Frameworte of the discussoion is formulated, based on the political culture theories of Almond and Verba. The study was conducted as a social survey and the research tools were questionnaire. The data have been collected by Fuzzy scale. We used the descriptive statistics techniques such as frequency and percentage for data analysis. The observational units were members of Reformist and Conservative parties and associations. The empirical evidences show that the degree of political trust, feeling political power and feeling of political security of reformists are lower than conservatives, while their supporting freedom of expression, tolerance and respect to citizen’s rights are higher .

Abstract Gender studies in Iran have been limited to a history encompassing several years of research conducted in the area of women's studies. Therefore, similar studies on men have been neglected. Studying men in the Iranian-Persian rap music is the purpose of this research; then it belongs to the interdisciplinary field of men's studies. In men's studies, here we use "masculinities" instead of masculinity. Masculinities are changing in different times and locations and so they are socially constructed. We used "hegemonic masculinity theory" for analysis of gender issues in Iran and utilized A. J. Greimas's "actantial model" for narrative analysis. We have discovered 14 narratives of Iranian-Persian rap music and analyzed interaction between actants. Afterwards we discuss narratives, antinarratives and positions of men. The 14 narratives of masculinity in the Iranian-Persian rap music are divided into two spaces, hegemonic masculinities space and alternative masculinities space, based on their proportion in social conditions of Iran.

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