Modernization in Afghanistan and Iran

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The process of Modernization in Afghanistan under King Amanullah Khan and Iran under Shah Reza Pahlavi

The modernization process has been experienced in different ways by different countries that some of them succeeded and some of them failed. Theoretically it has been defined as “a concept in the sphere of social science that refers to the process in which society goes through industrialization, urbanization and other social changes” (Zapf, 2004).Even there is no single approach toward this process, evolutionism, diffusionism, structural functionalism, systems theory and interactionism as well as other disciplines such as political science, economics, anthropology, psychology and others are combined to be known as modernization theory. This paper discuses the process of modernization and its challenges in Afghanistan and Iran. It talks about the actions which have been taken by these two countries in relation to the situations in there. The analyses and critiques of the success and the failure of the modernization process in these two countries have been done based on different modernization theories.
Historical Background
Afghanistan is a landlocked country located in the south Asia. This country experienced a failed modernization process from 1919 to 1930 under Amanullah Khan. He tried to strengthen and expand the state institutions and change the traditional society of Afghanistan to a more westernized one. During his era he mainly focused on modernizing Afghanistan by bringing the following reforms such as economic reform, social reform. Political reform, legal and military reform, however, these reforms were not only radical but also remained limited to some urban areas and the rural areas remained untouched. As a res...

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[Accessed 4 12 2013].
Barfield, T., 2010. Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Cronin, S., 2003. the making of modern Iran. faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/mborouje/pdfs/triumphas and travails.pdf, pp. 146-147.
Harrison, D., 1990. Early Modernization Theory . In: The Socialogy of Modernization and Development . New York: Routledge, pp. 1-32.
Khaldon, I. e., n.d. The Muqaddimah. In: An Introduction to History . s.l.:s.n., pp. 98-99; 66-81.
Mohammad Akhbari, H. Z., winter 2009. a geopolitical analysis of ethnicity in Iran, with an empasis on challanges and opportunities. Tehran : Archive of SID.
Saikal, A., 2010. Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.
Zapf, W., 2004. Modernization theory and non-western World. http://www.econstor.eu/obitstream/10419/50239/1/393840433.pdf.

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