Cultural Analysis of Half-Century Demographic Swings of Iran: The Place of Popular Culture

Abstract

Giving specific reference to the place of popular culture, this paper examines the patterns and determinants associated with population dynamics from socio-cultural perspectives. The discussion is based on the analysis of observations in a country that has experienced substantial changes in family formation resulting in one of the world's most spectacular falls in women's birth rate ever experienced in human history: Iran. Facing fundamental historical experiences and substantial socio-cultural changes over the past decades, the context of this study acts as a unique ‘social laboratory’ to survey the intergenerational comparisons. The results of this analysis show substantial intergenerational transition, which provide new evidence to support Sauvey's (1978) and Weeks's (1994) socio-demographic investigations in some other developing countries.