A Comparative Study of the Relationship between Religion and Social Cohesion in Iran

Author

Associate Professor of Sociology, Imam Khomeini and Islamic Revolution Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Sociologists have long regarded "religion" as an important factor in providing and maintaining the social cohesion of societies, and had proposed arguments for rationalization of this relationship. In contrast, some recent theorists of secularization in the social sciences have argued that one of the most important consequences of modernization and development on the religious life of the societies today is that it has sharply weakened the link between religion and social cohesion to the extent that social cohesion is no longer dependent on the religion and religiosity of the community members. In the present study, the arguments of these two competing theoretical views in sociology were first translated into two conflicting hypotheses about how religion is related to social cohesion. Then, an attempt was made to experimentally test the validity of these hypotheses using an inter-country comparative method in Iran by analyzing the "province" and using the collective data of the second half of the 2021s. The results of this test, on the one hand, provided empirical support for the traditional hypothesis in sociology claiming that religion reinforces social cohesion. On the other hand, the research findings did not provide any empirical support for predicting the empirical secularization theories. Overall, the findings of the empirical test of the hypotheses of this study in Iran, using an inter-country comparative method and an inter-provincial analysis, showed that religion is an important factor in strengthening the social cohesion even when the effects of development are controlled and eliminated

Keywords

References

اسکیدمور، ویلیام (1372) تفکر نظرى در جامعه‌شناسى، حاضرى و دیگران، تهران، نشر سفیر.
جانسون، چالمرز (1363) تحول انقلابى، حمید الیاسى، تهران، انتشارات امیرکبیر.
ترنر، جاناتان (1373)  ساخت نظریه‌ی جامعه‌شناختی، عبدالعلی لهسایی‌زاده، چاپ اول، تهران،  انتشارات دانشگاه شیراز.
دواس، دی‌.ای‌ (1376) پیمایش در تحقیقات اجتماعی، هوشنگ نائبی، چاپ اول، تهران، نشر نی.
دورکیم، امیل (1378)  خودکشی، نادر سالارزاده امیری، چاپ اول، تهران، انتشارات دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی.
دورکیم، امیل (1383)  صور ابتدایی حیات دینی، نادر سالارزاده امیری، انتشارات دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی.
رابرتسون، یان (1372)  درآمدی بر جامعه، حسین بهروان، چاپ اول، مشهد، انتشارات آستان قدس رضوی.
کرایب، یان (1378)  نظریه‌ی اجتماعی مدرن، عباس مخبر، چاپ اول، تهران، انتشارات آگه.
صالحی، محمدجواد (1397) «رتبه‌بندی استان‌های کشور براساس شاخص‌های توسعه انسانی و سرمایه‌ی انسانی»،  فصل‌نامه‌ی پژوهش و برنامه‌ریزی در آموزش عالی، دوره‌ی 24، شماره‌ی 1، صص 27 الی 49.
طباطبایی، سید محمد حسین (1354) بررسی‌های اسلامی، به کوشش سید هادی خسروشاهی، انتشارات دارالتبلیغ اسلامی قم.
لنسکى و لنسکی (1369) سیر جوامع بشرى، ناصر موفقیان، تهران، سازمان انتشارات و آموزش انقلاب اسلامى.
لیویی، گونتر (1374) «انقلاب»، مندرج در کتاب: فرهنگ و دین، میرچا الیاده، مجموعه‌ی مترجمان، صص 527-518، طرح نو.
مطهری، مرتضی (1362) تعلیم و تربیت در اسلام، انتشارات الزهرا، چاپ اول، تهران.
مطهری، مرتضی (1364) گفتارهای معنوی، انتشارات صدرا، چاپ دوم، تهران.
دفتر مطالعات اقتصادی مرکز پژوهش‌های مجلس (1397) خط فقر ایران در سال 1395 و مروری بر روش محاسبه‌ی آن، گزارش شماره‌ی 16159، آذر 1397.
گزارش کشوری سنجش سرمایه‌ی اجتماعی کشور (1394) مرکز ملی رصد اجتماعی وزارت کشور و دفتر طرح‌های ملی پژوهشگاه فرهنگ، هنر و ارتباطات، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی.
موج سوم پیمایش ارزش‌ها و نگرش‌های ایرانیان (1395) دفتر طرح‌های ملی پژوهشگاه فرهنگ، هنر و ارتباطات، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی.
وضعیت اجتماعی-فرهنگی و اخلاقی جامعه  ایران (1395) دفتر طرح‌های ملی پژوهشگاه فرهنگ، هنر و ارتباطات، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی.
Alesina, Alberto & Eliana La Ferrara (2000) Participation in Heterogeneous Communities, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115 (3) 847–904.
Atkinson, Tony, Bea Cantillon, Eric Marlier & Brian Nolan (2002) Social Indicators: The EU and Social Inclusion, Oxford University Press.
Beauvais, C. & Jenson, J. (2002) Social Cohesion: Updating the State of the Research, Canadian Policy Research Networks, Ottawa, Canada.
Berger-Schmitt, R. (2002) Considering Social Cohesion in Quality of Life Assessments: Concept and Measurement, Social Indicators Research, 58, 403–428.
Bjarnason, T. (1998) Parents, religion and perceived social coherence: A Durkheimian framework of adolescent anomie, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37 (4) 742–754.
Bohn, C. & Hahn, A. (2002) Patterns of inclusion and exclusion: Property, nation and religion, Soziale Systeme, 8 (1) 8–26.
Botterman, Sarah (2015) An empirical multilevel study of the relation between community level social cohesion indicators and individual social capital in Flanders, Department of Political Sciences, Katholieke University Leuven, Belgium.
Bruce, Steve (2002) God Is Dead: Secularization in the West, Oxford, Blackwell.
Bruce, Steve (2006) Secularization and the Impotence of Individualized Religion, The Hedgehog Review: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Culture, 8, 35–45.
Chan, Josef, Ho-Pong To, & Elaine Chan (2006) Reconsidering Social Cohesion: Developing a Definition and Analytical Framework for Empirical Research, Social Indicators Research, 75 (2) 273–302.
Clock, Charles (1960) Religion and the Integration of Society, Review of Religious Research, 2 (2) 49-61.
Coleman James (1956) Social Cleavage and Religious Conflict, Social Issues, 12 (3) 44-56.
Easterly, W., Ritzen, J., & Woolcock, M. (2006) Social Cohesion, Institutions, & Growth, Economics and Politics, 18 (2) 103–120.
Forrest, R. and A. Kearns (2001) Social Cohesion, Social Capital and the Neighborhood, Urban Studies, 38(12) 2125-2143.
Halpern, D. (2005) Social Capital. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Harell, A. & Stolle, D. (2011) Reconciling Diversity and Community? Defining Social Cohesion in Developed Democracies, In: M. Hooghe (Ed.) Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives on the Study of Social Cohesion and Social Capital, pp. 15–46.
Hechter, Michael and Christine Horne (2003) Theories of Social Order: A Reader, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hechter, Michael (2018) Norms in the Evolution of Social Order, Social Research: An International Quarterly, 85 (1) 23-51.
Hooghe, Marc (2011) Social Cohesion in Contemporary Societies: An Update of Theoretical Approaches, in: Marc Hooghe (Ed.) Contemporary Theoretical Perspect -ives on the study of social cohesion and social capital, pp: 7-14, Royal Academy of Belgium.
Horton, Pual and chester Hunt (1984) Sociology, Sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Inglehart, Ronald (2018) Cultural Evolution: People’s motivations are changing, and reshaping the world, Cambridge University Press.
Inglehart, Ronald (2020) Giving Up on God, Foreign Affairs,
September/October, 110-118.
 
Inglehart, Ronald (2021) Religion’s Sudden Decline, Oxford University Press.
Jagodzinski, W. (2009) The impact of religion on values and behavior, Working Paper European Values Study Group and World Values Survey Association.
Jottier, D. & Heyndels, B. (2012) Does Social Capital Increase Political Accounta -bility? An Empirical Test for Flemish Municipalities, Public Choice, 150, 731–744.
Jupp, James & John Nieuwenhuysen (2007) Social Cohesion in Australia, Cambridge University Press.
Kearns, A. & Forrest, R. (2000) Social Cohesion and multi-level urban governance, Urban Studies, 37 (5-6) 995-1017.
Lockwood, D. (1999). Civic Integration and Social Cohesion, In: Gough & Olofsson (Eds.) Capitalism and Social Cohesion: Essays on Exclusion and Integration, pp. 63–84, New York: St. Marten’s Press.
Massey, D. (1991) The Political Place of Locality Studies, Environment and Planning A, 23 (2) 267–282.
Maxwell, J. (1996) Social Dimensions of Economic Growth. Alberta: Eric John Hanson Memorial Lecture Series, Volume 8, University of Alberta.
Merton, R.K. (1957) Social Theory and Social Structure, Glencoe: Free Press.
Moody, J. and D. White (2003) 'Social cohesion and embeddedness: A hierarchical conception of social groups, American Journal of Sociology, 68, 103-127.
Norris, Pippa, and Ronald Inglehart (2011) Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge University Press.
Putnam, Robert (1993) Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Putnam, Robert (1994) Social Capital and Public Affairs, Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 47 (8) 5–19.
Putnam, Robert (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community, New York: Simon and Schuster.
Putnam, Robert (2001) Social Capital, Measurement and Consequences, Canadian Journal of Policy Research, 2 (1) 41–51.
Rajulton, Fernando, Zenaida Ravanera & Roderic Beaujot (2007) Measuring Social Cohesion, Social Indicators Research, 80 (3) 461-492.
Rosell, S.A. (1995) Changing Maps: Governing in a World of Rapid Change, Carleton University Press, Ottawa.
Rupasingha, A., Goetz, S., & Freshwater, D. (2006) The Production of Social Capital in US Counties, Journal of Socio-Economics, 35 (1) 83–101.
Sampson, Robert, Stephen Raudenbush & Felton Earls (1997) Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy, Science, 277 (5328) 918–924.
Schnabel Annette & Florian Groetsch (2014) In God we trust: the role of religion for cohesion and integration in current European societies, Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, 1 (4) 375-398.
Smidt, C. E. (2003) Religion as social capital: Producing a common good, Waco: Baylor University Press.
Stark, Rodney and William Sims Bainbridge (1987) A Theory of Religion, New York, Peter Lang.
Stark, Rodney (1996) Religion as context: Hellfire and delinquency one more time, Sociology and Religion, 57: 163–173.
Stark, Rodney and Roger Finke (2000) Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion, University of California Press.
Stolle, D. (1998) Bowling Together, Bowling Alone: The Development of Generalized Trust in Voluntary Associations. Political Psychology, 19 (3) 497–525.
Turner, Bryan and Chris Rojek (2001) Society and Culture: Principles of Scarcity and Solidarity, SAGE Publications Ltd.
Walesiak, Marek & Grazyna Dehnel (2020) The Measurement of Social Cohesion at Province Level in Poland Using Metric and Interval-Valued Data, Sustainability, 12, 1-19.
Warner, Rob (2010) Secularization and Its Discontents, Continuum Press.
Wilson, Bryan (2003) Salvation, Secularization & De-Moralization, In: Fenn, R. K. (Ed.) The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion. Oxford, Blackwell.
Yuval-Davis, N. (2010) Intersectional politics of belongings, London: Sage. 
 
 
 
Sociology of Social Institutions
Volume 9, Issue 19
June 2022
Pages 213-238

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics