Discourse analysis of women’s social pathologies from the 40s until now

Author:
Somayye Hajiesmaeili
Level:
Ph.D
Field of study:
Women and Family
Language:
Farsi
Faculty:
Faculty of Woman and Family
Year:
2022
Publisher:
URD Press
Supervisor(s):
Mohammadtaghi karami
Advisor(s):
Aliasghar Sultani, mansoreh zarean

As a battleground between discourses, the social deviancy of women and the family have always existed in Iran; Reproduced at various micro and macro levels. This fact is so obvious that the history of social deviancy in the modern world can be narrated based on this conflict. In any discourse, deviency and social problem are defined based on productive propositions and then with the specific strategies of that discourse, efforts are made to confront and control them.Using Foucault’s discourse theory and adopting his genealogical and paleontological methods, this study examines the discourse developments of social pathologies of women and family in Iran. For this purpose, based on Foucault genealogy and paleontology, the origin of social pathology in Iran and the most central discourses in this field were investigated. According to the findings, the establishment of the Institute of Social Studies and Research, as a factor in the introduction of sociology to Iran, is considered the beginning of social pathologies in Iran. Accordingly, It was from this time on discourse formulations about social deviancy of women and family were considered. Research results show that since the establishment of the Institute of Social Studies and Research, 5 discourse formulations can be identified: The first period: before the Islamic Revolution until the victory of the Revolution (discourse of modernization and modernization); At this stage, attention to social issues and deviancy related to women and the family in the framework of development programs in order to achieve development and modernization can be seen. Second period: after the Islamic Revolution until the coming to power of the reform government (exclusion discourse); the prevailing discourse of social pathology was based on the exclusion and suppression of social deviancy as well as rooting them out. Third period: Reform government (liberal discourse); with the new government in power, the claims of the previous discourse were challenged and there were significant changes in the government’s performance in the face of social deviancy. Fourth period: the government of justice and compassion (anti-Western discourse); in the field of women’s issues, the shift from Western discourse to Islamic discourse took place in such a way that Family-centered was the most important component of this discourse in contrast to Western discourse. And finally, the fifth period: the government of prudence and hope (reproduction of liberal discourse); this government was trying to return to the concerns of the reform government and pursue its strategies in dealing with the social deviancy of women.