Quarterly Journal of Social Development
(Previously Human Development)

Quarterly Journal of Social Development (Previously Human Development)

The Discourse of Development in Iran's Student Movement (Case Study: Office of Tahkim-e Vahdat)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 PhD Student in Economic Sociology and Development, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
This article examines the discourse of development within the student movement, particularly the office of Tahakim Vahdat. Drawing on Fairclough’s critical discourse theory and a combined approach based on Fairclough and Mouffe, the statements, actions, and interviews of influential figures were analyzed through intensity, political, and theoretical sampling. The texts were examined at three levels: textual features, discourses within the texts, and their relationship with political and social conditions, focusing on processes of highlighting, marginalization, accessibility, and equivalence. The findings indicate three distinct periods: the 60s to the early 70s, the 70s, and the 80s. In the first, development was viewed through a dependency-oriented approach; Islamic jurisprudence was central, the desired government was committed to Islam, and people were conceptualized as the Islamic Ummah. In the second, a social-democratic approach emphasized political development, civil society, and the rule of law, with religious democracy as the desired government and people as rights-bearing citizens. In the third, the discourse shifted toward liberalism, emphasizing cultural and social development, civil resistance, and the republic, while conceptualizing people as active citizens.
Keywords
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