Normative mobility and the emergence of an intergenerational group called "secular intellectualism"

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. student of philosophy of social sciences, Bagheral Uloom University

2 Graduated from Baqir-ul-Ulum University, PhD in Philosophy of Social Sciences.

10.30471/soci.2026.11742.2151

Abstract

The emergence of a phenomenon called “secular intellectualism” in recent decades has created new theoretical and sociological challenges in understanding the arrangement of intellectual forces in contemporary Iran. With the aim of explaining this phenomenon sociologically, this research attempts to explore the nature of this trend by going beyond the classical dichotomies of “tradition/modernity” and “secular/intellectual.” The research method is descriptive-analytical and its theoretical framework is based on Karl Mannheim’s “sociology of knowledge,” with special emphasis on the theory of “generation gap” and “generational units.” The research findings show that the secular intellectualism is neither an ideological deviation nor simply a political tactic, but rather a product of “normative movement” and a change in the “tempo of social developments.” According to Mannheim's analysis, this movement represents a distinct "generational unit" that, although rooted in the "class situation" and lifeworld of the seminary, has reinterpreted and "appropriated" religious tradition differently through "fresh contact" with cultural heritage and exposure to the norms of modernity. As a result, the seminary intellectuals, as an intermediary generation, have defined their identity in an intermediate space; a space in which they are neither reducible to seminary traditionalism nor fully integrated into a conventional liberal intellectualism, but rather are a dialectical outcome of the interaction of these two epistemological fields.

Keywords

Journal of Islam and Social Sciences

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 30 May 2026

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