The ups and downs of the environmental movement in Iran: An Analysis of Environmentalist Discourse in Iran Based on Laclau and Mouffe's Method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran,

2 Phd student at Sociology of development and economy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran

https://doi.org/10.34785/J016.2020.371

Abstract

Human interaction with the environment in Iran came to thousands of years ago, but the environmental crisis is a recent phenomenon, which was caused by the lack of human awareness of environmental capacity.  In Iran, as in the rest of the world, some discourses have had a positive and negative effect on the crisis. Environmentalist discourse also took place in Iran like other parts of the world in response to this crisis. This discourse has tried in many ways to hegemonic itself and enter into a space of discursive struggle.  The purpose of this research is to study and analyze this discourse in Iran. In this regard, we consider environmentalism as an articulation, and analyze it through the Laclau's and MoffE's discourse analysis method. The results of the research show that, although the root of the discourse of environmentalism is too old, but due to the modernity of the environmental crisis, which has been markedly since the second Pahlavi, and as outcomes of the extreme development become clearer, this discourse today has become more powerful in dealing with this issue. After the revolution, with the continuation of development policies by various governments, this discourse has been articulating itself against this discourse, and has tried in various ways to hegemonic itself.  

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