Revised model of social change and acceleration: the case of Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s

This article aims to address the processes of social changes in terms of the theory of social acceleration. It begins with an outline of the theory of social acceleration and discusses how an investigation into the driving forces of social acceleration can be used to explain the dynamics of social stability and change. It criticizes the acceleration theory because its focus is merely on high-industrialized western societies as well as the neglect of normative and religious aspects in the processes of social acceleration and change. This article proposes a revised model of social acceleration and applies it to Iranian society. It identifies the main features of acceleration-cycle formed in Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s to answer the question of why the cycle of acceleration could not establish a self-propelling acceleratory formation as a prime requirement for preserving social stability.