The Right to Life in the Shadow of Poverty and Border Repression/Sina Yousefi

Kolbari in Kurdish areas, fuel carriers in Balochistan and other forms of informal and risky employment in other border areas, including Azerbaijan, are part of the economic reality of regions that have faced structural poverty, a lack of sustainable job opportunities and deprivation of development opportunities for years. In these regions, a significant part of […]...

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The phenomenon of subsistence smuggling with a view to the incompetent government/Raha Azadi

A failed state is a state that is unable to perform its functions as a state. Such a state is incapable of establishing social order, monopolizing the use of violence, meeting the basic needs of the people of the society, establishing security and the rule of law, and some of its functions are performed by […]...

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From Regulation to Security: Why Kulbari and Sukhtbari Persist Along Iran’s Borders/ Shabnam Moinipour

The adoption of the Law on the Organisation and Supervision of Border Trade (Kulbari and Maritime Trade) and the Creation of Sustainable Employment for Border Residents in 2024 can be understood as a form of official acknowledgement by the Islamic Republic that kulbari, the practice of carrying goods across borders, cannot be viewed solely through […]...

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The hardships and dangers of kolbari, as told by kolbaris/Pardis Parsa

The phenomenon of kolbari has become one of the most painful manifestations of the informal economy in the western and northwestern borders of Iran in recent decades. Kolbari is mainly prevalent in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Ilam. Field estimates show that about 70 thousand people are kolbari in the provinces of […]...

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The Struggle of Fuel Carriers and Kolbars to Earn a Living By Motahareh Jafari

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When a murderer becomes a hero/Reza Harisi

In the framework of modern ethics and legal systems based on collective rationality, “murder” is defined as the most fundamental assault on human life and the violation of all social conventions; whether the victim is a young woman who is the victim of an honor killing on suspicion of wrongdoing in emotional and sexual relationships, […]...

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Transferring the government budget deficit to the household budget/Ahmad Alavi

Recent developments in Iran’s energy policy, particularly the triple-price gasoline pricing and price increases, have once again brought the long-standing issue of the relationship between pricing policies, governance structure, and household economics into the spotlight. The government promotes this policy with ostensibly economic goals, including controlling consumption, targeting subsidies, and reducing pressure on the public […]...

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Ardeshir Garavand: The government is the greatest destroyer in the field of social organization/Ali Kalai

In Iran today, inequality is no longer limited to the gap in income or lifestyle, but rather this inequality and class differences have taken on new dimensions and found new practices. The question is: how have these gaps formed and in what direction are they taking Iranian society? Are we still faced with traditional patterns […]...

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Fashion and the Representation of Distinction: From Personal Taste to Class System/ Naeimeh Doostdar

What is seen on the streets today is not merely a variety of styles, but a silent, ongoing competition between social classes—inscribed on the surface of the body. Hair color, eyebrow shape, the cut of a manteau, and even the quality of makeup have become markers that reveal opportunities, limitations, and economic divides. In a […]...

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From Bread to Justice/ Mina Javani

Food insecurity in Iran is no longer merely a subsistence issue; it is a symptom of deeper fractures in the country’s economic, environmental, and institutional structures. In a world where food production has never been so technologically widespread, the persistence of hunger and malnutrition across societies points above all to inequality in resource distribution and […]...

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On the Necessity of Historical Vigilance Against the Destructive Wave of Nouveau Riche Culture/ Marziyeh Mohebbbi

They do not know what to do with their windfall fortunes, nor how to convince their peers, friends, acquaintances, and the general public that they have swiftly ascended the ladders of prosperity, civilization, and wealth—so rapidly, in fact, that they now count themselves among the legendary elite and aristocracy. Sometimes, they showcase their financial power […]...

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Hassan Sadeghi: The Government Is Social Security’s Biggest Debtor/ Pedram Tahassoni

In recent years, as the shadow of crisis has grown heavier over the country’s pension systems, conversations with those who have spent their lives working in this field have become all the more vital. The social security system, as one of the main pillars of social justice and economic sustainability, reflects—both in Iran and elsewhere—the […]...

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