Introduction
Iranian society, in line with the structural changes and transformations in religious beliefs, social and economic relations, etc., has faced various types of confrontational, protesting, and sometimes contradictory actions after the Islamic Revolution. If, relying on such actions, the effort to achieve a desirable and worthy level of sustainable national security has always been one of the major goals and strategies of all political systems, because the historical experience of Iranian society has shown that whenever the activism of social movements is in conflict with the government and leaves the role of mediation between the government and society, it becomes a movement opposed to the political system and has been able to challenge the national security of the country. Today, studies of national security and understanding all its aspects in broad and macro-structural dimensions, due to the complexities of human life and the intertwining of different dimensions of societies, have become one of the important issues in the field of political stability of countries, both in terms of identifying threats that endanger national security and providing solutions and schemes appropriate to the nature of threats and neutralizing risks. For example, in post-revolutionary Iranian society, when talking about threats and dangers, minds are drawn to protest actions and social movements, which have so far been the main actors in political and social crises in Iran with the potential to threaten national security. Therefore, by considering the views of experts, the main question of the present article is what is the typology of social movements in the current conditions of post-revolutionary Iranian society? In response to this main question, what are the characteristics of each of these movements and how can they provide the grounds for the disruption of national security? Obviously, the answers to these questions come only from the interviews conducted with the members of the aforementioned experts and scholars, and not based on the analysis of secondary, pre-existing and previously collected data.
Materials & methods
The present research was conducted using a qualitative method based on data-driven theorizing and relying on the semi-structured interview technique. While in grounded theory, various methods such as interviews, observations and written documents can be used when collecting data, presenting an appropriate grounded theory requires the collection of textual-interview data; for this purpose, in the present research, the semi-structured interview technique has been used to collect qualitative data. The statistical population in this study included all professors of political science, political sociology, and revolutionary sociology at Tehran universities (Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Allameh Tabatabaei) in 2023. Based on purposeful theoretical sampling and with a view to reaching theoretical saturation in terms of obtaining the necessary information and data, 17 people were considered as the target sample size.
Discussion
In this study, the core category consisted of the types of social movements in post-revolutionary Iranian society. Based on the research findings, 32 concepts were extracted in the open coding stage, which were categorized into 7 core categories in the axial coding stage. These seven categories can be identified and introduced within the framework of a typology of social movements in Iran, which are as follows: movements focused on political demands, movements focused on lifestyle, movements focused on legal-civil demands, movements focused on identity-finding and myth-making (national and ethnic), movements focused on ideological systems and sectarian currents, movements focused on class divisions, and movements focused on value patterns and normative distinctions. In the case of the first type of movements, namely the movement focused on political demands, it should be acknowledged that the people who usually become the main actors of these movements are those who have the greatest ability to transform these movements into street protest movements. “Young students who are members of student political organizations” have been among the most important main actors of movements focused on political demands, especially in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. In the case of the second type, namely the movements focused on lifestyle, it can be said that these types of movements have chosen the strategy of resistance against the political system by focusing on specific behavioral or clothing fashions and expanding them in order to overcome the prevailing political and social order. In fact, by normalizing and socially representing styles of clothing and fashion that are considered abnormal by the government, young people and women are trying to display a new style of clothing, behavior, and body management in the public sphere that contradicts the standards prevailing in society and is considered a serious threat to the system in terms of values ​​and culture. Regarding the third type of movements, namely movements focused on legal-civil demands, it should be said that the most important groups and types of demands in these movements include supporters of women's rights or feminists who, within the framework of a new lifestyle that is mainly based on Western norms, have demanded the occupation of spaces that are considered masculine in the dictionary of Iranian life (in order to observe Islamic manners). Regarding the fourth type of movements, namely movements focused on identity-finding and myth-making (national and ethnic), what is certain is that in ethnic movements there are always hidden hands of opponents and opponents of the system. Therefore, narrative-building from aspects of differentiation against other groups has become one of the important strategies of ethnic movements. Regarding the fifth type, namely movements focused on ideological systems and sectarian currents, it should be said that since the project of destabilizing the Islamic Republic system based on creating doubt in the effectiveness of the political system and its central discourse has not been able to be completed so far, opponents and opponents have realized that for the project of destabilizing a political and social order based on religious discourse to succeed, the principles and values ​​and religious foundations of an ideological society like the Islamic Republic must also change so that, in line with political changes, the government is surrounded by challenges. The sixth type of movements are movements focused on class divisions. Regarding this type, it should be said that the main motivating symbols in these movements are the symbols used by labor movements around the world. One of the strategies for confronting these movements is to show the absurdity of these symbols. Finally, the last type of movements in this article are movements focused on value patterns and normative distinctions. Regarding the nature of such movements, it should be said that the leaders of these movements are those who try to display value patterns that are distinct from their own rule. In this regard, celebrities and influencers instill values ​​and lifestyles in people that are in opposition and conflict with the values ​​of the system, and people easily ride the wave of celebrity values ​​and norms, imitating their life and behavioral patterns.
Result The results showed that despite the diversity in the strategies and methods of action of the actors in each of the identified movements, all of them aimed at overthrowing, disrupting political order and stability, as well as national security.