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The state and territorial social justice in postrevolutionary Iran *
Author(s) -
Amirahmadi Hooshang
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2427.1989.tb00110.x
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , citation , economic justice , library science , sociology , social justice , political science , law , law and economics , computer science , algorithm
The Iranian revolution of 1979, which toppled the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's 38-year old regime and ended nearly 2500 years of monarchy in Iran. had three generally acknowledged objectives: democracy, national independence and social justice, The first of these objectives was directed against the Shah's dictatorship. the second against external dependency. and the third against the uneven development of capitalism in Iran, The Islamic leadership of the revolution convinced the people that their demands would best be realized in an Islamic government, Of the three objectives. only social justice is of interest here and that only to the extent that it relates to territorial social justice (TSJ), The term 'territory' is used interchangeably with province (Ostan) and refers to an administrative subdivision. used. primarily. as a tool for nominal geographic distribution of state power. political control and economic management, There are 24 such subdivisions in Iran, TSJ is defined to include economic. social. political. cultural and ideological relations within and among territories of a given nation. It encompasses territorial provision of basic needs. balanced interterritorial development and resource allocation on the basis of need and potential. territorial balance of political power and decentralization of development policies. popular participation in local administration and decision-making. and respect for cultural diversity and autonomy. The TSJ concept is. therefore. an obvious improvement over conceptions such as 'balance'. 'convergence'. and 'equity' being propagated in the literature on regional questions. Specifically. this paper examines the major influences on and changes in provincial development in the Islamic republic of Iran and evaluates the state's efforts to realize TSJ. A case-study approach has been adopted and the largely empirical data and information are analysed and presented using the political economy perspective. Impacts of the Iran-Iraq war. disruption of the state machinery as a result of the revolution. and changes in legal. administrative and policy/planning structures are emphasized. Interprovincial disparity has somewhat declined. but TSJ remains largely unrealized. In the absence of political will