The comparison of State, Society and Development of Qajar Iran and Meiji Japan

Subject Areas : Journal of Iranian Social Development Studies

saaid hajinaseri ¹ , محمد حسن جباری ²

1 - Faculty member of Tehran University
2 - هیات علمی

Received: 2021-01-20 Accepted : 2021-07-05 Published : 2007-12-22

Keywords: development, society, Iran, Keywords: state, Japan,

Abstract :

AbstractThis article seeks to identify the causes of underdevelopment of Qajar Iran in compared to the development of Meiji Japan in the 19th century due to the position of state and society in the two countries. Japan and Iran in the 19th century had somewhat similar conditions to feudalism in Japan and Tribal kings in Iran. Such a society, in the view of the bureaucratic elites of the two countries, undermined the possibility of Western development and progress to counter the imposition of political and trade contracts by Western states. The bureaucratic elites knew the cause of the superiority of the Western powers in the lack of a strong state, and sought to increase the power of the central state. The bureaucratic elites of Japan succeeded in this, but the bureaucratic elites in Iran did not succeed. What factors contributed to Japan's success in development and Iran's failure in development should be sought in the behavior of social forces, in other words, social organizations in relation to bureaucratic elites. A strong state in Japan was formed with the general consensus of social forces and facilitated development, but in Iran the network society continued and hindered development due to the resistance of social forces in establishing a strong state.The research method is historical-comparative. Using this method and theory of state and society, Jules Migdal will be compared the state, society and development of Qajar Iran and Meiji Japan in according to the texts and researches done by researchers.