{"title":"伊朗金字塔传销成员的身份建构机制:一个批判的民族志","authors":"Saeed Keshavarzi, A. Ruhani, Soheyla Hajiheidari","doi":"10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.06","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Whereas the emergence of pyramid schemes exerted considerable impacts on people’s lives, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the experiences of members from the sociological perspective, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, this study illuminates social processes underlying participation in such schemes in a less studied social setting, Iran. This article also critically traces the social and psychological consequences of membership in pyramid schemes. We adapted a critical ethnographic approach, including participant observation of local branch offices, followed by 16 in-depth interviews with the former members of schemes. Our findings suggest that the practices deployed by the schemes lead to the building of social identity, namely, “superhuman,” mainly based on the misinterpretation of the real world. Finding the reality surrounded deliberately contrasted with the firms’ promises, the constructed identity fails, and members lose their social capital.","PeriodicalId":53708,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Sociology Review","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Mechanisms of Identity Construction among Members of Pyramid Schemes in Iran: A Critical Ethnography\",\"authors\":\"Saeed Keshavarzi, A. Ruhani, Soheyla Hajiheidari\",\"doi\":\"10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.06\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Whereas the emergence of pyramid schemes exerted considerable impacts on people’s lives, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the experiences of members from the sociological perspective, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, this study illuminates social processes underlying participation in such schemes in a less studied social setting, Iran. This article also critically traces the social and psychological consequences of membership in pyramid schemes. We adapted a critical ethnographic approach, including participant observation of local branch offices, followed by 16 in-depth interviews with the former members of schemes. Our findings suggest that the practices deployed by the schemes lead to the building of social identity, namely, “superhuman,” mainly based on the misinterpretation of the real world. Finding the reality surrounded deliberately contrasted with the firms’ promises, the constructed identity fails, and members lose their social capital.\",\"PeriodicalId\":53708,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Qualitative Sociology Review\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-10-31\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Qualitative Sociology Review\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.06\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"Social Sciences\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Qualitative Sociology Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.06","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
Mechanisms of Identity Construction among Members of Pyramid Schemes in Iran: A Critical Ethnography
Whereas the emergence of pyramid schemes exerted considerable impacts on people’s lives, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the experiences of members from the sociological perspective, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, this study illuminates social processes underlying participation in such schemes in a less studied social setting, Iran. This article also critically traces the social and psychological consequences of membership in pyramid schemes. We adapted a critical ethnographic approach, including participant observation of local branch offices, followed by 16 in-depth interviews with the former members of schemes. Our findings suggest that the practices deployed by the schemes lead to the building of social identity, namely, “superhuman,” mainly based on the misinterpretation of the real world. Finding the reality surrounded deliberately contrasted with the firms’ promises, the constructed identity fails, and members lose their social capital.
期刊介绍:
For a long time, we have observed an increased interest in qualitative sociology, and the use of an interpretive frame to understand human actions, social processes, meanings and definitions, and new social theory generally. In order to enable a free flow of information and to integrate the community of qualitative sociologists, we have decided to create an open-access, international scientific journal. Qualitative Sociology Review publishes empirical, theoretical and methodological articles applicable to all fields and specializations within sociology.