How have the land reform, misunderstanding, and dysfunction of modernity led to rural underdevelopment in Iran?

Abstract

Rural underdevelopment in Iran has triggered numerous theoretical standpoints and discussions. However, none of them are based on concrete scientific foundations and historical arguments. The literature contains little or no evidence to support or refute that rural underdevelopment in Iran has originated in modernity. Accordingly, the present historical study mainly aimed to explore the role of modernity in Iranian rural underdevelopment. So, around 500 secondary documents including books, articles, and journals published from 1906 to 2019 were reviewed and coded. The research team needed a general comprehension of the course of events, so the researchers adopted the systems thinking approach and dynamic systems method to fulfill the research objective, i.e., obtaining a general comprehension of the studied events. The investigation of the historical events in Iran showed that the misunderstanding of modernity in Iran led to dysfunction, which resulted in making inefficient decisions, such as land reform. This trend has continued until today and led to rural underdevelopment. Since the theory of modernization is still supported and applied in Iran, fundamental changes are needed in policymakers’ and government officials’ perceptions of modernity. This means a shift in the role of government in the implementation of modernity programs, including land reform, from a dominant and implementing agent to a supporting agent. This perspective can be more practical and efficient than making efforts to force changes. Executive officials can first focus on conceptual changes like changing social and cultural contexts towards modernization. Furthermore, this finding can explain the causes of the success and failure of modernization in rural areas of developing countries. Finally, the results can serve as a preliminary analysis for building a framework to give development theoreticians access to information about rural underdevelopment in Iran. Overall, the policy implications of the study could be far-reaching, not least because they may force planners to change their attitudes toward theoretical standpoints in Iranian rural development.