Representation of civil society in press: Discourse analysis of civil society in Iran’s press during 2009-2014

Authors

1 Teacher

2 Assistant Professor, Shahed University

Abstract

Civil society and democracy still remain as the most important characteristics of many countries in the contemporary world. Civil society consists of a range of none-governmental institutions that can impose powerful influence on the state. The key research question in the present analysis refers to how the concept of civil society has been represented in the press of Iran. The analysis focuses on the press of two main political parties in Iran: Reformists and Fundamentalists.
Generally speaking, the research findings of the present analysis indicate that the representation of civil society in the press occurs through its three main components: state, citizenship, social participation. This general pattern applies similarly to the newspapers of both reformists and fundamentalists. However, more detailed analysis explores that this common pattern has been represented differently in the press of these two main parties: on the one hand, the representation of the concept of civil society in the reformist newspapers is significantly connected with democratic measures and public regulation. On the other hand, religious measures play a more evident predominant role in the representation of the concept of civil society in the fundamentalist newspapers, leading to the creation of a religious term for civil society so-called ‘Madianatol-Nabi’ (the city of the Prophet Mohammad). Finally, political discourse also imposes a powerful influence on the representation of these key concept and term in both reformist and fundamentalist press.

Keywords

Sociology of Social Institutions
Volume 4, Issue 9
September 2017
Pages 43-77

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