Mechanisms of Identity Construction among Members of Pyramid Schemes in Iran: A Critical Ethnography

• Authors: Saeed Keshavarzi , Ali Ruhani , Soheyla Hajiheidari

Abstracts

EN

Whereas the emergence of pyramid schemes exerted considerable impacts on people’s lives, up to now, far too little attention has been paid to the experiences of members from the sociological perspective, particularly in non-Western contexts. Therefore, this study illuminates social processes underlying participation in such schemes in a less studied social setting, Iran. This article also critically traces the social and psychological consequences of membership in pyramid schemes. We adapted a critical ethnographic approach, including participant observation of local branch offices, followed by 16 in-depth interviews with the former members of schemes. Our findings suggest that the practices deployed by the schemes lead to the building of social identity, namely, “superhuman,” mainly based on the misinterpretation of the real world. Finding the reality surrounded deliberately contrasted with the firms’ promises, the constructed identity fails, and members lose their social capital.

Keywords

EN

Pyramid Scheme Firms; Social Construction of Superhuman; Critical Ethnography

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 104-117

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Saeed Keshavarzi

• Independent Researcher, Iran

• https://orcid.org/0000000236343406

author

Ali Ruhani

• Yazd University, Iran

• https://orcid.org/0000000191466436

author

Soheyla Hajiheidari

• Yazd University, Iran

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Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.06

Biblioteka Nauki

2028556