It is nearly half a century from the time that sociology and social sciences were introduced to the higher education of Iran. From that time sociology has gradually grown up and is now an accredited discipline, widely taught and practiced in most universities. In addition, sociological concepts and debates have found their way into other spheres such as politics, administration, media, and through the media into the everyday life conversations. Because of this relatively strong position, the Iranian Sociological Association is among one of the well-established academic/scientific associations, enjoying the contribution and the support of the majority of sociologists, social scientists, and researchers.
Nevertheless, from its beginning, and particularly during the last three decades, Iranian sociology has faced some challenges which some times appear in the form of heated and antagonistic debates both inside and outside of the discipline. Of these challenges and debates, a few are particular to the Iranian society (i.e. the debates around ideological/Islamic sociology vs. scientific sociology), but most of them are similar to the challenges sociology and sociologists encounter in other societies (i.e. the debates around indigenous vs. global, quantitative vs. qualitative, critical and actionist vs. academic, etc.).
This session attempts to introduce and illustrate the trajectory of Iranian sociology and the debates and challenges it has encountered.