Political Socialization in the Context of Ethnicity: Analyzing the Narrative of Sanandji Youth
| Autor: | Omid Ghaderzadeh, Behrooz Ghafouri |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | perština |
| Rok vydání: | 2024 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | جامعه شناسی کاربردی, Vol 35, Iss 3, Pp 1-28 (2024) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 2008-5745 2322-343X |
| DOI: | 10.22108/jas.2024.141279.2499 |
| Popis: | Introduction Navigating the political landscape in multicultural societies often involves the challenge of accommodating citizens with diverse social and ethnic backgrounds, along with their preferred political values. This process is commonly pursued through the mechanism of political socialization. The concept of political socialization was first mentioned in the 1954 edition of the Handbook of Social Psychology, where the author noted its relevance to the study of how individuals acquire political identities, beliefs, values, attitudes, and behavioral patterns. Five years later, the first book dedicated to the topic "Political Socialization" was published by Hyman (Wasburn & Covert, 2017:3). Given the importance of political socialization in shaping social and political continuity and change, the present research aimed to delve into the institutional agents and their interrelationships involved in the political socialization process, taking individuals as the subject of investigation. The primary goal of this research was to understand the dimensions and sources of political socialization among a sample of Sanandji youth. Over the past decade, the participation rate of young people in elections had declined, while they had actively engaged in political protests. Undoubtedly, the political attitudes and orientations of young people were influenced not only by the political system, but also by the performance of political agents and the manner of political socialization. Particularly, the political socialization of Sanandji youth took place in a context where ethnicity was a decisive variable. The assumption of the present research was that ethnicity was a fundamental factor in shaping the political orientations of young people in Sanandaj. Compared to other regions of Iran, the Kurdish regions, including Sanandaj, had faced unfavorable conditions in terms of development indicators and social and political justice. Consequently, ethnic and religious differences were often interpreted as the source of Kurdistan's underdevelopment, further intensifying political alienation among the youth. Considering the significance of ethnicity and religion in Kurdistan Region, the primary question guiding this research was: What are the dimensions and sources of political socialization of youth in Sanandaj? Materials & Methods The current research employed a qualitative approach, specifically the narrative analysis method, to obtain the necessary data for understanding the political socialization of young people in Sanandaj. This method allowed the researchers to delve into the narratives and stories of the young participants, exploring their political attitudes, experiences, and their relationship with political issues. The interactive narrative analysis model was utilized in this study. The interactive model involved a dialogue process between the speaker (participant) and the listener (researcher), where the participant shared hid/her experiences in specific contexts, such as family, peer groups, school, and university. This process was not a passive one; rather, the researcher actively engaged by asking questions and the participant responded, allowing the narrative to unfold. Analyzing the interactive structure of these conversations held a great research value as it often revealed complex systems of various narratives and a rich reserve of political, social, and cultural values at the macro level and in specific situations (Riessman, 2007:83). The target population for the current research was young people aged 18 to 32 years in Sanandaj. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was reached and the dimensions of the obtained themes were clarified. This research was based on 36 in-depth interviews conducted in various locations. After the data were collected through semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis was employed to analyze the narratives. To ensure the interpretive validity of the research, the transcripts of the interviews and the researchers’ perceptions and understandings of the narratives were provided to some participants, who were asked to read the content and confirm its accuracy. Discussion of Results & Conclusion The first step in this research was to understand the youth's perspective on the world of politics and its related issues. The analysis revealed that the government was the central focus in the young people's description of political action. However, the interviewees expressed a sense of fear towards politics and most were reluctant to share their opinions on political matters. One of the key dimensions of political socialization is political attitude and behavior. The narratives of the investigated youth indicated experiences of political participation and a declining sense of political efficacy, leading to political alienation. The emerging themes from the youth's narratives suggested a mentality of disparity between religion and politics. In describing the ideal government, the youth emphasized the importance of preserving civil, political, and social rights as dimensions of citizenship beyond ethnic and religious boundaries. They considered equal access to political and economic opportunities as a requirement for this form of government and stressed the necessity of realizing it within Iran's political system. The research findings suggested that the official aspect of socialization was impaired among young people. The youth's narratives revealed a lack of trust in institutional agents, which they attributed to the "distancing of institutional agents from society". Most of the themes emerging from the youth's narratives indicated the inabilities of schools, universities, and the media to align the meaning system and political orientations of the youth with the preferred values of the political system. According to the youth's narratives, the informal sources of political socialization (family and peer group) did not work in alignment with socialization and strengthening its official form, sometimes being placed in opposition to it. Interpretation of the narratives of the Sanandaji youth suggested that Sanandaj, as part of the Kurdish regions, was on the margins of power relations, while the policy of role distribution had limited the residents of these regions, especially the educated youth, to marginal roles. The youth's perception was that their demands as Sunni Kurdish youth were not represented by political actors in political arenas and they did not have the opportunity to participate in political decision-making. This feeling of political neglect had led to a distance from official sources of political socialization and an influence from unofficial sources. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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