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Iran’s Post-revolutionary Social Justice Agenda and Its Outcomes: Evolution and Determinants of Income Distribution and Middle-Class Size

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Economic Welfare and Inequality in Iran

Abstract

A major part of the discourse associated with Iran’s 1979 Revolution revolved around rising economic inequality and the goal of social justice in the name of the lower strata of the society (Parsa 1989: 82–85; Nowshirvani and Clawson 1994: 229; Behdad 1996: 99; Amuzegar 2014: 66). At the same time, the middle class had a leading role (Amirahmadi 1990: 1–9) or at least a significant presence (Keddie and Richard 2006: 222–225; Parsa 1989: 126–127; Ashraf and Banuazizi 1985: 25; Abrahamian 1982: 496–524) in the coalition of forces responsible for the revolutionary events. Against this background, our main concern in this chapter is to investigate how income distribution and the middle class have been affected since the Revolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Pooya Alaedini

  2. Institute for Trade Studies and Research, Tehran, Iran

    Hamid R. Ashrafzadeh

Authors
  1. Pooya Alaedini
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  2. Hamid R. Ashrafzadeh
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, School of Business & Economics, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marbug, Germany

    Mohammad Reza Farzanegan

  2. Department of Social Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Pooya Alaedini

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Alaedini, P., Ashrafzadeh, H.R. (2016). Iran’s Post-revolutionary Social Justice Agenda and Its Outcomes: Evolution and Determinants of Income Distribution and Middle-Class Size. In: Farzanegan, M., Alaedini, P. (eds) Economic Welfare and Inequality in Iran. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95025-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95025-6_2

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