Why this book?
- To understand the decline of public trust in Iran through data.
- To see the connection between morality, institutions, and everyday life.
- To become familiar with a broad picture of social changes over the past fifty years.
- For readers who want to analyze Iranian society beyond everyday narratives.
About the book
“What Happened? The Story of the Decline of Community in Iran” is a book in sociology and social research that addresses one of the major questions of Iran today: why have social bonds, public trust, and the possibility of collective action weakened in Iranian society? In clear language and on the basis of data, the book shows that the issue is not merely a personal feeling or a general pessimism, but a social and historical process.
In this book, Mohsen Goodarzi, together with Abdolmohammad Kazemipur, uses statistics, national surveys, historical analyses, and cross-country comparisons to offer a broad picture of the decline of community in Iran. The weakening of trust, the instability of public morality, the cooling of relationships, and the difficulty of forming institutions and associations stand at the center of the discussion.
The book continues Goodarzi’s research concerns about Iranian society and the empirical understanding of social issues. Its importance lies in the fact that instead of relying on broad judgments, it confronts the reader with data and trends, making it possible to view Iran’s present condition from a longer-term perspective.
“What Happened?” is suitable for readers interested in the sociology of Iran, social capital, public trust, social morality, and the problem of institutions. It is readable for serious general readers as well as for students and researchers who want a data-driven picture of social change in Iran.