The relationship between government and society in the Safavid era in the light of Joel Migdal's theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D Candidate, Department of Political Science, Neyshabur Branch, Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Islamic Azad University of Neishabour

3 Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between government and society in the Safavid era in the light of Joel Migdal's theory. In response to the question that according to the Magdalen model, what was the relationship between the government and society in the Safavid period? It was hypothesized that during this period, the special role of the clergy and Ghezelbash forces indicated the non-monopoly of the state institution and the complexity of government-society relations, and that a strong government was not formed for change and transformation. With a sociological approach and in the framework of Magdalen theoretical consideration and in the form of a qualitative and understanding method of the government and society of Safavid Iran and the collection of documents and information libraries; It was found that in the theocratic and bureaucratic structure of the Safavid state, the clergy acted as intermediaries for the Shah and the people and the Ghezelbash forces as a military force; Their special role has been to express the non-monopoly of the institution of government and the complexity of government-society relations. High levels of social control, countering foreign aggression, extracting resources, and organizing people for social change have been among the reasons for the formation of a weak government. The distribution of resources is not extensive and networked and is slow. Due to the formation of power networks and groups in society, a strong government has not been formed for change and has been limited by power networks.

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