La marionnette iranienne, par son fonctionnement, son rôle et son comportement esthétique et sociopolitique sur les scènes théâtrales et à la télévision, est un objet et une sorte de personnage hybride : tout en exhibant la nature hybride de cette forme théâtrale, la démarche marionnettique souligne le « grand » pouvoir de cette « petite » chose mineure et trouve un espace pour jouer avec ce même pouvoir. Ainsi, la marionnette en Iran, depuis au moins dix siècles, participe à un « jeu » au-delà des jeux marionnettiques, tout en résistant aux changements de la société. Elle se renouvelle donc en toute occasion et s’épanouit de nos jours tout en revendiquant à sa guise la liberté de parole et de geste. Pour saisir ce phénomène, cet ouvrage s’attache à suivre les traces de la marionnette dans la société iranienne, à partir du XIe siècle, dans la littérature classique persane au style allégorique et symbolique, puis, à partir du XVIIe siècle, dans les récits de voyageurs occidentaux. Parallèlement aux études historiques, cette thèse donne des informations majeures sur l’identité sociale de la marionnette iranienne et sur les trois techniques traditionnelles du théâtre de marionnettes. A partir du XXe siècle, la transformation, voire la mutation des formes marionnettiques iraniennes, ainsi que leur entrée à l’Université témoignent d’un renouveau à travers lequel certains sujets délicats, voire tabous, peuvent être abordés en détournant la censure. / Iranian puppetry and the Iranian puppet show, it's operation, it's role and it's sociopolitical nature, on both stage and TV, is a form with a kind of hybrid character. Indeed, this approach emphasizes the power of this “small” scale theatrical art form to tackle “big” subjects, demonstrating it's hybrid nature. Puppetry in Iran, for the last ten centuries, participates in a “game” beyond the traditional marionette show, resisting change in society. However it somehow manages to renew itself on every occasion and flourish in the present, proclaiming the freedom of speech and gesture. The goal of this thesis is to grasp this phenomenon, by following puppetry in Iranian society through the ages. From the eleventh century classical Persian literature, with it's allegorical and symbolic style, onto the seventeenth century with stories of Western travelers and finally the twentieth century, where Iranian marionettes are transformed or mutated into something universal relevant to Iranian society, addressing certain touchy subjects or taboos and managing to circumnavigate censorship rules. Alongside these historical studies, this thesis describes the social identity of Iranian puppetry and the three traditional techniques of puppet theater.

Using a cross-sectional sample of 94 medium to large-sized manufacturing organisations in Iran, this study utilised cluster, regression, and gap analyses to study the relationships among extent of use, predictive value, and information availability for 63 performance measures. Based on the results, it appears that the studied Iranian manufacturing organisations do not overemphasise financial measures at the expense of other important performance measures related to the competitive, strategic environment, operational efficiency, and the human resource development. The Iranian executives appear to overlook the innovation aspects of organisational performance. The implications of this research are highlighted in relation to the findings and the conclusions. The conceptual framework in Figure 1 is offered for future research, which deals with performance management and its interaction with the economic and cultural facets.

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This study examines the relationship between oil development and social change in Iran. The research focused on the years since 1953 examining the economic structure through the five development plans which were the major vehicles of social transformation. Within this framework the importance of oil, industrialization, land reform,, the labor force, education and health are discussed. Demographic and stratification changes are covered such as changingpopulation patterns, migration, minorities, social classes, and the distribution of wealth. Cultural and social values are then treated with emphasis on the Shah and arms, social control and social behavior. The paper concludes: oil revenues were frequently squandered without real socio-economic benefit to the masses. Economic's mismanagement and rigid social control increases pressures in society causing the 1978 revolution.

Over the few years that led to the creation of the constitutional law of the Islamic republic of Iran, I (the author) noticed a series of ambiguous and often contradictory points in its contents. Discovering the roots and the causes of such contradictions became my priority. After the Iranian Revolution (1979) intellectuals were confronted with very new experiences. For example, Shi'ah has always been a minority in the history of Islam. Therefore, Shi 'ah Fuqaha never experienced direct rule over people. Direct pressures from this new experience brought about the desire and the need for a shift in certain interpretations of the Shi'ah tradition. It became evident that religious laws did not have in them the power and the wisdom to provide answers to the issues and dilemmas of the modern times, hence the need for a fresh approach. One such issue was the discussion of legitimacy of power. 18 years on, the heated debate is still ongoing. Traditional Shi'ah theorists believed that all rulers are illegitimate except the one that represents the 12th Imam who has been absent for the last 1000 years. According to Shi'ah, this representation can only be made by elite clergy who have the ability to understand, fully, the history of Islam and Shi'ah. They also claim that Shari 'ah laws must be implemented in their entirety and according to the teachings of Qur'an and the 12 Infallible Imam. They further argue that the people as a whole have no role in determining the legitimacy of the ruler, as He has been appointed to implement divine laws and people must obey. With time, though, such attitudes were modified. Especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran (1979), new interpretations began to surface. Discussion of three fundamental elements relating to the shift of the Islamic viewpoints during the last 100 years and in particular after the Iranian revolution (1979) forms the main body of this thesis. These are: " Divine law " Divine Ruler " Role of the People The hypothesis of the thesis is that fundamental philosophical positions on all of the above three issues have been the subject of change and modification, to some extent and according to "time" and "place". This change does not reflect the abandoning of the Islamic faith by Muslims, but rather indicates the ability of this dynamic religion to modify itself with time'. These changes have also been associated with varying degrees of ambiguity and contradiction, which will be the subject of detailed discussions in this work. Viewpoints of other outstanding scholars who tried to address these issues will also be presented. Two theories have been expressed in relation to the shift in the Shi'ah political thinking; " Islam's ability to adapt with "time" and "place" and new issues " "Change", in itself, defies the very existence of religion Both theories have been the subject of extensive debates. Traditional Muslims and Non-Muslims criticise Islam for supporting the latter view, whereas revivalists sympathise with the former. It must be mentioned also that reference throughout 1 Iqbal. Enayat. Lambton II this work is only made to those scholars who have used Islamic sources for their reasoning, i. e., not to many others who have engaged in these discussions as independent figures. Also discussed- will be the traditional Islam represented by the majority of the Assembly of the Islamic Experts (Majles-i Khobregan) which in effect was the main creator of the Iranian Constitution. / Ministry of Culture and Higher Education of Iran

There are several studies on the video game industry in Iran, and most of them are primarily focused on state-funded organizations which produce politically motivated games to push the geopolitical and domestic goals of the government. However, there is a lot more to the Iranian video game industry, one of which is the dichotomic nature of the private enterprises and their contrast with the mentioned state-funded products. To contextualize, we require the expression of concrete historical and cultural elements while exploring this dichotomic nature alongside many other paradoxical factors that shape the modern video game industry in Iran. The purpose of this paper is to, for the first time, shed light on the history and the current state of the video game industry in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I’ve used an ethnographic approach in my paper by doing numerous interviews to get a clear picture of cultural narratives and cultural responses that correspond and result in creating art. This digital ethnography could be of help to many to seek knowledge on the mentioned topics.

Nearly four decades after the peak influx of Iranian immigrants to Sweden around 1985-1990, recent academic inquiry has begun to shift its emphasis towards their second generation. These individuals, born to parents who arrived during that period, are now achieving notable positions across various sectors of Swedish society. The significant educational and professional accomplishments of this group, (achieved despite considerable cultural disparities and geographical distances from their parents' country of origin), are noteworthy. While previous research has primarily concentrated on the adaptation challenges faced by first-generation immigrants in Swedish society, the second generation, particularly concerning their educational and professional achievements, has received less attention. Studies indicate that second-generation Iranian migrants blend Iranian traditions and preferences with Swedish and global traits (Moinian, 2012), have greater proficiency in Swedish than Persian, and often prefer exogamy (Namei, 2012), without especially suffering from identity crises (Ahmadi & Ahmadi, 2012). Through an intercultural lens, this study examines how the second generation negotiates their identity between two cultures and strategizes their career paths, with education playing a pivotal role. Based on surveys and interviews with six second-generation Iranians born in Sweden, this essay particularly focuses on those whose parents migrated from 1985 to 1990, acknowledging the group's heterogeneity.  The findings of this study, framed within Bourdieu's concept of capital, reveal how the second generation of Iranians in Sweden strategically navigate their educational and career paths. Influenced by the culturally inherited emphasis on education from their families, this navigation exemplifies the embodiment and application of cultural capital within the fields of Swedish society. Additionally, the study shows that these individuals actively engage in both reconstructing their inherited cultural capital and constructing new forms within these societal fields. This process of adapting and creating cultural capital demonstrates a dynamic interaction that creates a pathway for their success, underscoring the fluid and evolving nature of cultural capital, habitus, and field dynamics in new societal contexts.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Pasdaran, is a unique military institution created to secure the ideals of Iran's revolution as well its territory. Since the end of the Iran-Iraq War, however, the IRGC's role in Iran's political economy has increased significantly beyond that mandate. Unfortunately, the leadership in the United States has demonstrated neither the aptitude nor the desire to understand Iran. Given the IRGC's command of Iran's nuclear development program and encroachment into its foreign policy, it is more important than ever to understand Iran's leadership structure. This study attempts to explain an important part of that structure by considering the influence of the leadership dynamics of Iran along with its economic and religious/social conditions on the IRGC's position within the state, using an historical analysis consisting of secondary sources. Accordingly, the IRGC's rise to power can be traced back to the dual sovereignty written into the constitution of the Islamic Republic. Though the divine sovereignty, embodied by the velayat-e faqih (Supreme Leader), is supposed to take precedence over popular sovereignty, embodied by the directly elected President, when the two conflict, Khomeini's successor, Khamenei, a junior cleric, was unable to manage then President Hashemi Rafsanjani. So he empowered the IRGC to compensate, but that choice set into motion a sequence of events that has enabled it to become powerful enough to be a threat to the velayat-e faqih himself.

In 1979, Iran underwent the Islamic Revolution, which radically changed society. The Iranian Revolution Guard (IRGC) was born from the revolution and has witnessed its role in society changed over time. Many have said the IRGC has reached the apex of its power and is one of if not the dominating force in Iranian society. The most recent extension of the IRGC's control is in the economic realm. The purpose of this research is to explain the reasoning and mechanism behind this recent gain in power. The literature review demonstrates flaws by previous studies of Iran. Most used a singular focus on explaining the IRGC's influence on Iran's economy by only focusing on political or economic aspects. This study will show how explaining the political economy of Iran best explains the role of the IRGC in Iran. The research uses event-data analysis to synthesize previous research performed on Iran. The researcher used various sources to explain the recent rise in the IRGC's power. Focus was placed on explaining three aspects of Iran's political economy, elected institutions, accountable businesses, and unaccountable businesses. Elected institutions included the majlis (the Iranian parliament) and the presidency. Accountable businesses included businesses which reported information to the Iranian central government while unaccountable businesses reported no information to the Iranian central government. Although presence in all three increased, elected institutions and accountable businesses witnessed a greater amount of presence than unaccountable institutions.