Individualism and collectivism in the age of globalization : A comparison between a Scandinavian and a Middle Eastern society

Abstract

This study attempts to track the progress of individualism and collectivism in public discourse in Iran in the period from 2002 to 2007. This is done by analysing the frequency of individualist and collectivist words as they appear in the online search engine of the Iranian newspaper Iran Daily. This study is a part of the Ideology Project at the University of Oslo headed by Hilde E. Nafstad and Rolv Mikkel Blakar. Already existing data in the Ideology Project will be used to show the trend of changes for individualism and collectivism in Norwegian society from 1984 to 2007, and a comparison between the Norwegian and Iranian results will be made. The results show that in the time period under study Iranian society becomes slightly more collectivistic and less individualistic, while the opposite trend is seen in the Norwegian results. The concept of ideology will be presented, along with the ideologies of individualism and collectivism. A brief presentation of Norwegian ideology and its move toward increased individualism and neo-liberalist market ideology is made. A more extensive introduction to Iranian society and its ideological make-up is presented. While Islam and religion has a much stronger presence and influence than religion has in Norway, the forces of globalization have impacted Iranian society as well as the Western world, and Iran’s economy is becoming increasingly capitalistic.