The impact of consumerism on the functioning of the government in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Document Type : Political economy of Iran

Authors

1 Assistant Professor Department of Political Science, Tarbiat Modares University

2 PhD student, Department of  International Relations, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Consumerism, as a global phenomenon, is the result of developments that originated from the industrial revolution and especially from the late capitalist system and has spread globally in recent decades. Consumerism has also become a significant phenomenon in Iran and has widely affected all areas of life, especially politics and government functioning. Accordingly, the present study seeks to answer the question of what impact consumerism has had on the functioning of the government in the Islamic Republic of Iran. To answer this question, Peter Wagner's sociology of modernity, Jean Baudrillard's consumer society, and the Delphi method and Shannon's technique were used. Researchers collected the views of 10 political science experts through interviews and questionnaires, and the findings showed that "the intensification of the welfare nature of the state," "the weakening of authoritarianism," "the dependence of the legitimacy and acceptability of the state on the realization of consumption," and "the dependence of political support for the state on the realization of consumption" are among the most important effects of consumerism on the functioning of the state in the Islamic Republic of Iran

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  • Receive Date: 18 February 2025
  • Revise Date: 15 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 16 June 2025
  • Publish Date: 23 September 2025