In recent decades Iran has experienced a wide range of changes. These include shifts in the relationship between urban and rural economies, the nationwide growth of the middle class and ensuing social mobility, a higher literacy rate along with the expansion of educational institutions, and new complexities and expectations in gender relations—all within the context of the country’s evolving domestic and international politics. This volume examines the extent and the degree of such vicissitudes in contemporary Iran through the prism of different disciplines. Each chapter provides a thorough analysis of its specifi c and substantive topic, though not in isolation, without neglecting the overarching and interdisciplinary goal of the book to probe the many-sided factors that connect all these radical upheavals and departures together in the still volatile society of contemporary Iran.
