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January 28, 2025

Saeed Madani: “Sleeping in a grave is a wise way to survive.”

Saeed Madani Ghahfarokhi is a senior researcher in social issues and a journalist, who has authored numerous valuable works in the fields of social problems, particularly addiction, poverty, and prostitution. His books, “Sociology of Prostitution”, “Addiction in Iran”, “The Necessity of Combating Poverty and Inequality in Iran”, and “Violence Against Children in Iran” are just a small part of this Iranian sociologist’s works.

Mr. Madani, who was exiled to Bandar Abbas after his release from Evin prison in February of last year, emphasizes in a conversation about peace talks that “reducing the homeless population is a major analytical and theoretical mistake to label them as drug addicts or schizophrenics.” He says, “This trend is on the rise; meaning that incorrect housing policies on one hand and deepening inequality on the other hand have created a new generation of homelessness and similar issues.”

He also believes that “as long as market fundamentalism is behind economic policies, we must expect to see more social disasters such as homelessness every day.”

Dear Dr. Madani, when did the phenomenon of cardboard beds become widespread in our country and what is the main reason for its daily prevalence?

What we talk about today with terms like marginalization, homelessness, cardboard sleeping, or grave sleeping, belongs to the beginning of pseudo-modernism in the second Pahlavi era in Iran and the start of waves of migration from villages to cities. I don’t mean to say that there were no people before this period who didn’t have a place to spend the night or even people who spent the night in ruins or cemeteries, I don’t deny that; but I want to emphasize that the nature of what existed before and the signs of poverty in Iranian society are different from what we see in modern Iran. Informal settlement is one of the prominent faces of urban poverty that takes shape in or near cities (especially in big cities) in a self-made form, without building permits and official urban planning, with a gathering of low-income classes and a low level of quantity and quality of life, and is referred to with titles such as marginalization, informal settlement, mobile housing,

During the final years of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s reign, due to the rapid growth of uneven development and as a result of increasing inequality, we witnessed the expansion of slums, marginalized areas, and informal settlements. In 1972, a study was conducted at the Institute for Social Studies and Research at the University of Tehran, which revealed that 91% of the heads of households in Tehran’s marginalized areas were from rural backgrounds, 72% of them were previously considered peasants, and 59% were small landowners. Similar research in 1966 showed that 62% of Tehran’s marginalized population were unskilled laborers, 12% were semi-skilled workers, and 14% were skilled workers. These findings indicate the extent of marginalization in Iran before the revolution, when widespread migration to large cities occurred due to land reforms and the inefficiency of the agricultural economy, leading to the emergence of marginalized communities.

However, this trend continued with even more intensity in Iran after the revolution. The wave of migration, along with the continuous growth of the population, became a secondary cause that led to intense competition for control over urban facilities, resulting in the emergence of homelessness as a national problem. The people living in these areas were mostly impoverished rural migrants who were seeking affordable housing for themselves and their families, causing the issue of unconventional and widespread residential areas to become even more prevalent. The Pahlavi regime responded to this situation by physically confronting the municipalities, which resulted in constant tensions and conflicts on the outskirts of cities. By the 1970s, these conflicts had become commonplace. This situation led to the demand for housing and crisis resolution becoming one of the most pressing demands of the people, especially in large cities. The occupation of hotels and the confiscation of some public places after the revolution were a manifestation of this demand. Article 31 of the Constitution was also a response to the crisis by the post-re

I am referring to the new generation to emphasize that this issue is expanding and will not be limited to just one city or neighborhood. In addition, the causes and factors of its emergence and the composition of its population are also unique and specific.

The governor of Tehran claims that we do not have homeless people in Tehran and these are openly addicted individuals. What is your opinion on this? Are you also one of those who believe that the issue of homelessness is solely rooted in drugs and addiction, and that these individuals are completely victims of addiction, or do you believe there are other reasons for people turning to this way of life other than addiction and its consequences?

As I mentioned, reducing the homeless population to addicts or schizophrenics is a major analytical and theoretical error that has been repeated many times in regards to various social problems. Denying the existence of homelessness is also a wrong tradition from the past in dealing with these issues; as if it doesn’t matter which government it is, officials consider it their duty to deny the existence of the phenomenon in order to cover up the problem. If I were the governor, I would ask the legal physician to send me the daily statistics of the homeless who freeze and die on the streets of Tehran during cold winter nights, so I could understand what is happening under the skin of the city.

Can statistics about homelessness be presented in the country?

In Tehran and according to the statistics of the General Directorate of Social Harms of the Municipality, from 1383 to 1386, 4516 homeless and 3480 drug addicts have been identified and registered, which includes both homeless and drug addicts as well as street addicts (General Directorate of Social Harms, 1386). Also, during the 12 months of 1387, 4811 people were admitted as homeless in the Islamshahr center, of which 81% were men, 16.8% were women, 0.9% were girls, and 1.1% were boys under 10 years old. Investigations have shown that 21.5% of those admitted were drug addicts and 78.5% were homeless. Comparing the number of detainees in the two mentioned periods and the statistics of collecting homeless and drug addicts in the following years shows that homelessness is rapidly increasing. Unfortunately, there is no official or even unofficial statistics

Given the expansion and trend of cardboard sleeping in major cities, can it be said that this phenomenon is becoming a type of lifestyle? In this regard, for example, in India, there are a large number of people who are born on the streets, grow up there, get married, and ultimately die on the streets.

As I explained, this phenomenon must be called a new generation of homelessness. The homeless population is trapped in inequality and poverty, and they don’t even have the opportunity to settle in informal areas. Therefore, in every corner of the city, under every bridge or in every half-ruined building or park that is safe from the onslaught of municipal officials, they can be found. As a result, they have their own unique lifestyle and population composition. The difference between us and the Indians is that they have been starting the process of reducing homelessness for years, while we have been following the trend of increasing homelessness for years.

What is your opinion about the phenomenon of “sleeping in graves” that has recently been discussed in the media? Do you see it as a step beyond cardboard sleeping and a sign of social indifference or irresponsibility of relevant institutions?

Grave sleeping is a conscious method for survival and only a different manifestation of the housing crisis. In the past, cases of grave sleeping have been reported, but in a society where the government and its system want to control the homes of citizens and with social engineering, they are seeking to create new balanced humans, in a society where dozens of official institutions and organizations claim to solve the problems of the people using public budgets and resources, in a society where a powerful institution like religion promises salvation in this world and the hereafter, it is obvious that the existence of grave sleeping disturbs the public conscience and causes everyone’s nerves to be on edge.

Which institutions in Iran are responsible for addressing the situation of these types of individuals and organizing or caring for homeless individuals?

The list of organizations and institutions responsible is lengthy. Housing Foundation, Relief Committee, Welfare Organization, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Municipality, Ministry of Cooperatives, and so on. However, one of the problems is these very institutions. They swallow a considerable budget under the pretext of solving problems and issues, and at any given moment, they pass the responsibility onto someone else. Perhaps the most urgent step to solve some of these problems is to determine the responsibility of managing issues like this.

The leaders took two main approaches to the situation of the homeless; one group believed in driving them away and thought that the root of the problem lies within these individuals and they should be dealt with harshly, while the second group tried to help these individuals by providing them with food, financial aid, and other assistance. In your opinion, what is the best way to assist these vulnerable members of society? Can a charitable approach be a suitable solution?

The first group primarily deals with homelessness and other social issues politically; meaning they are trying to hold the government and other institutions accountable and are also defenders of market fundamentalism ideologically. In response to them, we say that even if their assumption is correct – meaning that homeless individuals and drug addicts are sick – it is still the responsibility of the system and the government to provide treatment and support for them, rather than abandoning them in the hope of God.

But as for the work of the second group, meaning those who try to alleviate the suffering and hardships of the homeless or other disadvantaged individuals by occasionally giving them food or clothing, I do not deny their efforts. They know well that the problem cannot be solved through this method and they only intervene in the short term in hopes that the government and responsible institutions will take action. I do not have much hope for the government to reform its policies. The gentlemen in charge continue to pursue growth-oriented and economy-oriented policies and for them, society and social issues are just the byproducts of the market economy. If conditions allow, they claim that homelessness, poverty, inequality, corruption, addiction, suicide, prostitution, divorce, etc. are all necessary costs for development and cannot be avoided. I don’t understand why Iranian society is filled with development costs without any actual development. The gentlemen claim that economics is pure science and they are armed with this science and have no ideology or perspective behind their economic plans. They

Thank you for the opportunity you have given us in the monthly magazine of “Khat-e-Solh”.

Created By: Saeed Madani
January 27, 2017

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Addiction Cardboard bed Conversation Graveyard Inequality Layers of sediment Migration Monthly Peace Line Magazine peace line Remains Saeed Madani Saeed Modani Ghahfarokhi Sociology پیمان صلح ماهنامه خط صلح ماهنامه خط صلح