Demographic and Social Analysis of Minorities in the Islamic Republic: The Visibility Question
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66362/iji.v1i3.11Keywords:
minorities, visibility question, representation, ethno-religious minorities, Huntington, Islamic republic of Iran, socio-demographic perspective.Abstract
The starting point of this study is the Huntington’s (1996) notion arguing that western ethno- religious minorities in the Islamic states are more discriminated against than Islamic minorities in western states. While the status of Muslim minorities in the western settings has been almost sufficiently studied, there is still little in the existing literature to explore the status of religious minorities in the Islamic settings. The present study has contributed to filling this research gap. The field of this study is the Islamic Republic of Iran which holds the world’s largest Shi’a Muslim population. It is also the home for some religious minorities including Sunnis, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. This study has revealed how these religious minorities are represented by the educational system in this Islamic setting on which the authorities have had an absolute power particularly upon the 1978 Islamic Revolution when the western-oriented Shah monarchy was replaced by an Islamic regime. In sum, the research findings of this study focusing on educational resources identified not only as ‘opportunity’ and ‘reform’ but also as ‘a tool of democracy’ (UNESCO 2004) emphasize the underlying conclusion that this Islamic setting still has a long way to go in order to meet democratically the minorities’ visibility from a socio-demographic perspective.
References
Abedin, S. M. (1989), Muslim minority and majority countries: a comparative study of demographic, social and economic data, Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs Journal, 10 (2): 375-424.
Anderson, B. (1991), Imagined communities, London: Verso Books.
Anthony, F.V. et al (2007) Religious Practice and Religious Socialization: Comparative Research among Christian, Muslim and Hindu Students in Tamilnadu, India, Journal of Empirical Theology, 20 (100-128).
Anyon, J. (1979), Ideology and United States history textbooks, Harvard Educational Review, 49:361-385.
Apple, M. W. (1992), The text and cultural politics, Education Researcher, 21: 4-19.
Arbuthnot, M. H. (1984), Children and Books, Chicago, IL: Scott Foresman & Company.
Arnot, M. (2002), Reproducing gender?: essays on educational theory and feminist politics, London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Azzam H, J A Nasr and I Lorfing 1984, ‘An Overview of Arab Women in Population, Employment and Economic Development’, IN: Women, Employment and Development in the Arab
World, Ed: J A Nasr, N F Khoury, And H T Azzam, Mouton Publisher.
Barrett, M. (2010), National and Ethnic identities and differences today, Athens Dialogues E- Journal.
Beitler, R. M. and Martinez, A. R. (2010), Women’s Roles in the Middle East and North Africa, California: Greenwood.
Bender, D. L. and Leone, B. (1989), Human sexuality: 1989 annual, San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
Berg, B. L. (2001), Qulitative research method for the social sciences, 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn&Bacon.
Berger, P. L. (1967), The sacred canopy, Garden city, New York: Doubleday.
Berween, M. (2006), Non-Muslims in the Islamic state: Majority rule and minority rights, The International Journal of Human Rights, 10 (2): 91-102.
Britton, G. E and Lumpkin, M. C. (1977), For sale: Subliminal bias in textbooks, Reading Teacher, l (31): 40-45.
Brown, D. R. and Gray, L. E. (1991), Religious socialization and educational attainment among African Americans: an empirical assessment, Journal of Negro Education, 60 (3): 411-426.
Brugeillers, C. and Cromer, S. (2009), Analysing gender representations in school textbooks, Paris: CEPED
Cornwall, C. (1987), The social bases of religion: a study of factors influencing religious beliefs and commitment, Review of Religious Research, 29 (44-56).
Durrani, N. (2008), Schooling the other: the representation of gender and national identities in Pakistani curriculum texts, Compare, 38 (5): 595-610.
Eagleton, T. (1976), Criticism and ideology: a study in Marxist literacy theory, London: Verso.
Erickson, J. A. (1992). Adolescent religious development and commitment: A structural equation model of the role of family, peer group, and educational influences, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 31 (131-152).
Esposito, J.L. (1998) Introduction: women in Islam and Muslim societies. Pp. ix–xiv in Y.Y.
Haddad and J.L. Esposito (eds), Islam, Gender, and Social Change. New York: Oxford University Press.
Evans, L. and Davis, K. (2000), "No Sissy boy Here: A Content analysis of the representation of masculinity in elementary school reading textbooks, Sex Roles, 42 (3-4): 255-270.
Gooden, A. and Gooden M. A. (2001), Gender representation in Noteable Children's picture books: 1995-1999, Sex Roles, Vol. 45, No. 1-2: 89-101.
Graves, S.B. 1999. “Television and Prejudice Reduction: When Does Television as a Vicarious Experience Make a Difference?” Journal of Social Issues 55:707–725.
Foroutan, Y. (2022), “Demographic Analysis on Social Perceptions of Hijab in Contemporary Iran: Dimensions and Determinants”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 49 (5):736-746.
Foroutan, Y. (2021), 2021,Women’s Dress Codes in the Islamic Republic of Iran: State’s Gender Ideology Representation, Gender Issues,38:121-133.
Foroutan, Y. (2021), The Institutionalization of State Religion in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Socio- Demographic Perspective, Politics, Religion & Ideology, 22 (1): 84-102.
Foroutan, Y. (2020), Ethnic or Religious Identities?: Multicultural Analysis in Australia from Socio-Demographic Perspective, Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1-14.
Foroutan, Y. (2019), "Cultural analysis of Half-Century Demographic Swings of Iran: The Place of Popular Culture", Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 6 (1): 77-89.
Foroutan, Y. (2017), “Construction of Religious Identity in Contemporary Iran: Sociological Perspective”, Journal of Persianate Studies, 10 (1): 107-127.
Foroutan, Y. (2012): Gender representation in school-textbooks of Iran: The place of language, Current Sociology, 60 (6): 771-787.
Fuchs, Maria-Magdalena & Fuchs, Simon Wolfgang (2020) Religious Minorities in Pakistan: Identities, Citizenship and Social Belonging, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 43:1, 52- 67.
Hamplova, D. and Nespor, Z. R. (2009), Invisible religion in a non-believing country: the case of the Czech Republic, Social Compass, 56 (4): 581-597.
Hau, M. (2009), Unpacking the school: texts, teachers, and construction of nationhood in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru, Latin American Research Review, 44 (3): 127-154.
Himmelfarb, H. S. (1976), Agents of religious socialization among American Jews, Sociological Quarterly, 20 (4): 477-494.
Hungerman, D. M. (2011), The Effect of Education on Religion: Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Laws, NBER Working Paper No. 16973, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Hunsberger, B. and Brown, L. B. (1984), Religious Socialization, apostasy, and the impact of family background, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 23 (3): 39-251.
Huntington, Samuel P. (1996), The Clash of Civilizatio11s and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Kazemi F (2000) ‘Gender, Islam, and Politics’, Social Research, 67 (2): 453-474.
Killian, C. (2006), North African Women in France: Gender, Culture, and Identity, California: Stanford University Press.
Inskeep K. W. (1988), Religious socialization, Office forResearch, Planning and Evaluation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Lee, J. F. K. and Collins P. (2008), Gender voices in Hong Kong English textbooks – Some past and current practices, Sex Roles, 59: 127-137.
Lee, J. F. K. and Collins P. (2009), Australian English-language textbooks: the gender issues, Gender and Culture, 21 (4): 353-370.
Levenson, M. R., et al. (2005), Religious development from adolescent to middle adulthood, In R. F. Paloutzian, & C. L. Park (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (pp. 144-161). New York: Guilford Press.
Litcher, J.H. &D.W. Johnson. 1969 “Changes in Attitudes toward Negroes of White Elementary School Students after Use of Multiethnic Readers” Journal of Educational Psychology 60:148–152.
Low, J. and Sherrard P. (1999), Portrayal of Women in Sexuality and Marriage and Family Textbooks: a content analysis of photographs from 1970s to 1990s, Sex Roles, 40 ( 3-4): 309-318.
McDonald, P. (2000), ‘Gender Equity, Social Institutions and the Future of Fertility’, Journal of Population Research, Vol. 17, No. 1; 1-16.
McQuilan, K. 2004. When does religion influence fertility? Population and Development Review 30(1): 25–56.
Mead, G. H. (1934), Mind, Self, and Society, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Mehfooz, M. (2021), Religious Freedom in Pakistan: A Case Study of Religious Minorities, Religions, 12 (51): 1-6
Micherner, H. A., et al. (1990), Social psychology, Second edition, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Miller, A. S. and Stark, R. (2002), Gender and religiousness: Can socialization explanations be saved?, American Journal of Sociology, 107 (6): 393-1423.
Miller, R. M. (2007). Legacy denied: African American gay men, AIDS, and the black church. Social Work, 52: 51-61.
Moghadam V M 1999, ‘Gender and Globalization: Female Labor and Women’s Mobilization’, Journal of World-System Research, 2: 367-388.
Omar, W. and K. Allen. 1996. The Muslims in Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Pargament, K. I. (1999). The psychology of religion and spirituality? Yes and No, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 9: 3–16.
Pluss, C. (2007), Analysing non-doctorinal socialization: Re-assessing the role of cognition to account for social cohesion in thereligious society of friends, British Journal of Sociology, 58 (2): 253-275.
Potvin, R. H. and Lee, C-F. (1982), Adolesent religion: a developmental approach, Sociological Analysis, 42: 131-144.
Rahman, F. (2007), Non‐Muslim minorities in an Islamic state, Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs Journal, 7 (1): 13-24.
Regnerus, M. D. (2000), Shaping schooling success: Religious socialization and educational outcomes in Metropolitian public school, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 363-370.
Riley N E 1998, ‘Research on Gender in Demography: Limitation and Constrains’, Population Research and Policy Review, Vol. 17, No. 6: 521-538.
Riley N. E. and McCarthy 2003, "Feminist Demography", IN: Demography in the Age of the Postmodern, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Pp. 99-119.
Sabe, C. J. (2007), The crisis in religious socialization: an analytical proposal, Social Compass, 54 (1): 97-111.
Saeed A 2003, Islam in Australia, Allen & Unwin, NSW, Australia.
Sapir, E. (1929), The status of linguistics as a science, Language, 5: 207-214.
Schwartz, K. D. (2006). Transformations in parent and friend faith support predicting adolescents‘ religious faith, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 76: 311 - 326.
Seol, K. O. (2010), Religious Identity as a Mediator between Religious Socialization from Parents, Peers and Mentors and Psychological Well-being and Adjustment among Korean American Adolescents , Doctoral Dissertation, Minnesota: The University of Minnesota.
Schiffauer, W., G. Baumann, R. Kastoryano, and S. Vertovec, eds. 2004. Civil Enculturation: Nation-State, School and Ethnic Difference in The Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France. New York.
Sunderland, J. et al. (2001), From bias 'in the text' to 'teacher talk around the text': an exploration of teacher discourse and gendered foreign language textbook text, Linguistics and Education, Vol. 11:251-286.
Taylor, F. (2003), Content analysis and gender stereotypes in children's books, Teaching Sociology, 31: 300-311. UNESCO (2004), Education for all: the quality imperative EFA global monitoring report, Paris: UNESCO.
Voas, D. (2009), The rise and fall of fuzzy fidelity in Europe, European Sociological Review, 25 (2): 155-168.
Whorf, B. L. (1956), The relation of Habitual thought and behavior to language, pp. 134-159, IN: Language, Thought and Reality, edited by J. B. Carroll, Cambidge, MA: The Technology Press of MIT/New York.
Zajda, J. (2009), Teachers and politics of history textbooks, International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching, 21 (5): 373-387.
Zurayk H C and F Saadeh 1995, ‘Women as Mobilizers of Human Resources in Arab Countries’, IN: Gender and Development in the Arab World, Ed: N F Khoury and V M Moghadam, The United Nations University Press, Pp. 35-48.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Yaghoob Foroutan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
