Suchergebnisse

Processes of state building in Iran have been accompanied by various breaches and discontinuities with consequences for the formation of the social habitus of a great number of Iranians. A proper understanding of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran in 1906 is only possible by the introduction of a relatively long-term perspective on such processes. In this paper, the extensive historiography on the time around the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 will be integrated in a process sociological framework to provide a broader and a more reality-congruent picture of this very important phase of the development of the Iranian state, society, and social habitus. Such a study not only serves to understand the processes of habitus and collective identity formation of a great number of Iranians in the 19th and early 20th century, but also could contribute to a better understanding of the complex present political and social development of this country.

Processes of state building in Iran have been accompanied by various breaches and discontinuities with consequences for the formation of the social habitus of a great number of Iranians. A proper understanding of the Constitutional Revolution in Iran in 1906 is only possible by the introduction of a relatively long-term perspective on such processes. In this paper, the extensive historiography on the time around the Constitutional Revolution in 1906 will be integrated in a process sociological framework to provide a broader and a more reality-congruent picture of this very important phase of the development of the Iranian state, society, and social habitus. Such a study not only serves to understand the processes of habitus and collective identity formation of a great number of Iranians in the 19th and early 20th century, but also could contribute to a better understanding of the complex present political and social development of this country.

Colin Crouch has collected evidence to demonstrate how current democratic societies, with a new wave of economic liberalism in the past four decades, have entered a "post-democratic" era. He uses the formula of a parabolato highlight the structure of this long-term transformation. According to him, in the "post-democratic" period the democratic institutions still remain formally intact, but the political class has increasingly become more dependent on big corporations and financial institutions and less dependent on ordinary citizens. In this paper, I will try to integrate this concept of democracy in a process-sociological concept of democratization and de-democratization. It will be discussed why the second concept is more reality congruent than the less differentiated and static concept of "post-democracy." With the aid of this new process or figurational sociological concept, one is able to empirically investigate both processes of democratization and de-democratization. To conclude the paper, this new concept will be briefly applied to the ongoing political and social processes in the United States.

Colin Crouch has collected evidence to demonstrate how current democratic societies, with a new wave of economic liberalism in the past four decades, have entered a "post-democratic" era. He uses the formula of a parabolato highlight the structure of this long-term transformation. According to him, in the "post-democratic" period the democratic institutions still remain formally intact, but the political class has increasingly become more dependent on big corporations and financial institutions and less dependent on ordinary citizens. In this paper, I will try to integrate this concept of democracy in a process-sociological concept of democratization and de-democratization. It will be discussed why the second concept is more reality congruent than the less differentiated and static concept of "post-democracy." With the aid of this new process or figurational sociological concept, one is able to empirically investigate both processes of democratization and de-democratization. To conclude the paper, this new concept will be briefly applied to the ongoing political and social processes in the United States.

The objectives of this HSR Special Issue is to provide a comparative discussion and further perspectives of the Sociology of Transformation at the macro-, meso-, and micro-sociological levels. We would like to pursue this perspective based on a problem-oriented and comparative approach to the concepts of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu. Despite all differences in their theoretical concepts such as habitus, social field, and figuration, these two sociologists share a great deal of similarities. Not only their critical reflections on the classical philosophy and their attempt to establish a theoretical-empirical science, but also their synthetic way of sociological reflections, distinguishes them from many of their contemporary sociologists. Both of them criticize the over-specialized approaches in their discipline and its dominant ethnocentric view limited to the present time based on experiences of some highly individualized societies. With the aid of the theoretical concepts of these both sociologists, the authors of this special issue deal with different topics and problems in their own field of sociology such as work, globalization, social conflicts, immigration, democrati-zation, as well as education.The objectives of this HSR Special Issue is to provide a comparative discussion and further perspectives of the Sociology of Transformation at the macro-, meso-, and micro-sociological levels. We would like to pursue this perspective based on a problem-oriented and comparative approach to the concepts of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu. Despite all differences in their theoretical concepts such as habitus, social field, and figuration, these two sociologists share a great deal of similarities. Not only their critical reflections on the classical philosophy and their attempt to establish a theoretical-empirical science, but also their synthetic way of sociological reflections, distinguishes them from many of their contemporary sociologists. Both of them criticize the over-specialized approaches in their discipline and its dominant ethnocentric view limited to the present time based on experiences of some highly individualized societies. With the aid of the theoretical concepts of these both sociologists, the authors of this special issue deal with different topics and problems in their own field of sociology such as work, globalization, social conflicts, immigration, democrati-zation, as well as education.

The objectives of this HSR Special Issue is to provide a comparative discussion and further perspectives of the Sociology of Transformation at the macro-, meso-, and micro-sociological levels. We would like to pursue this perspective based on a problem-oriented and comparative approach to the concepts of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu. Despite all differences in their theoretical concepts such as habitus, social field, and figuration, these two sociologists share a great deal of similarities. Not only their critical reflections on the classical philosophy and their attempt to establish a theoretical-empirical science, but also their synthetic way of sociological reflections, distinguishes them from many of their contemporary sociologists. Both of them criticize the over-specialized approaches in their discipline and its dominant ethnocentric view limited to the present time based on experiences of some highly individualized societies. With the aid of the theoretical concepts of these both sociologists, the authors of this special issue deal with different topics and problems in their own field of sociology such as work, globalization, social conflicts, immigration, democratization, as well as education.