Tahqiqāt-e Târix-e Eqtesâdi (Economic History Studies of Iran)

A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Dargazin Agricultural Joint-Stock Company (1968-1979) within the Framework of Anthony Giddens’ Structuration Theory(222b)

Document Type : .

Authors

mohammad samiei 1
baharsadat razavian 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Iranology, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran

2 . Faculty of World Studies University of Tehran

https://doi.org/10.30465/ehs.2026.53757.2078
Abstract
Following Iran’s land reform program, the Darghazin Agricultural Joint‑Stock Company in Hamadan Province was established to prevent land fragmentation, modernize agriculture, and enhance productivity. Using Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory, this study examines the social and economic consequences of the company’s formation. Data were collected from archival and library sources and analyzed through process tracing. Economically, the company initially succeeded in increasing the cultivated area, improving agricultural yield, and raising shareholders’ income. However, financial dependence on the government persisted, and income inequality among shareholders was reproduced, hindering the creation of a self‑sufficient economic structure. Socially, distrust and resistance among shareholders toward the company’s management prevented the development of lasting participatory practices. The adoption of a tenancy‑based exploitation system reflected the shareholders’ strategic adaptation to existing conditions. Their conscious actions contributed to a relative improvement in agricultural output but did not overcome structural constraints. Ultimately, the continued reliance on government support led to the reproduction of the same structural inefficiencies that the reform sought to eliminate, demonstrating the mutual interaction between agency and structure described in Giddens’s framework and highlighting the limits of state‑directed agricultural modernization in Iran.

Keywords

Darghazin Agricultural Joint-Stock Company
Structuration Theory
Land Reform
Shareholders
Agricultural Development
Power Relations
Rural Participation
Subjects

  • Receive Date 14 December 2025
  • Revise Date 19 February 2026
  • Accept Date 17 March 2026

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