Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

The meaning of desert; A duoethnography in Iranian entrepreneurship

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Milad Aflaki Sooreshjani 1
Mohammad Saeed Zokaei 2

1 PhD Candidate in Cultural Sociology, Faculty of Social Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran. Iran

2 Full Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, AllamehTabataba'i University, Tehran. Iran

https://doi.org/10.22035/isih.2025.5267.5006
Abstract
Desert and merit are always related to social and natural talents and assets. Each person or organization is morally permitted to benefit from its reserves and capacities from the standpoint that justifies and grants deserve. However, an opposing viewpoint claims that one should benefit from each other's good in a well-ordered society. Rejecting or accepting moral desert in the entrepreneurial environment drives distinct economics and cultural behaviors. As such, the idea of the moral desert is reflected by the behavior of the human resources department of entrepreneurial organizations, the logic of profit, and the distribution of resources. This research aimed to investigate and describe the viewpoints of several actors of the entrepreneurship ecosystem on desert-related issues using the duoethnographic method. These empirical data indicated that the justice concept is often understood, described, and reproduced in meritocratic and libertarian frameworks within the culture of the Iranian startup ecosystem. In this field, the insights of communitarians and theoreticians of liberal equality and deontological liberalism do not have a compelling future. The rethinking and doubts expressed by the parties involved in the research indicated that there is not a significant diversity of opinions on justice in this ecosystem, and there are also challenges to the settlement of justice as a remedial virtue.

Keywords

desert
merit
entrepreneurship
duoethnography

Subjects

Alm, D. (2010). Desert and aggregation. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 18(2), 156–177. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00324.x
Baiasu, S. (2006). Debate: the normative pluralism of desert. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 14(2), 226–237. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9760.2006.00248.x
Brigati, R. (2014). Desert as a principle of distributive justice: a reconsideration. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 40(7), 705–722. doi:10.1177/0191453714536434
Brown, H.. (2013). Book review (Duoethnography: dialogic methods for social, health, and educational research by Joe Norris, Richard D. Sawyer, and Darren Lund, editors Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2012). Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 59(3), 525-528. doi:10.13140/2.1.2184.8644
Burleigh, D., & Burm, Sarah. (2022). Doing duoethnography: addressing essential methodological questions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, 1–8. doi:10.1177/16094069221140876
Celello, P. (2009). Against desert as a forward-looking concept. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 26(2), 144-159. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5930.2009.00439.x
Dekker, T.J. (2010). Desert, democracy, and consumer surplus. politics, philosophy & economics, 9(3), 315-338. doi:10.1177/1470594x09351959
Feldman, F., & Skow, B. (2020). Desert. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/desert
Garcia, J. L. A. (1988). A Problem about the basis of desert. Journal of Social Philosophy, 19(3), 11-19. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9833.1988.tb00217.x
Hampton, J. (2010). Falsafe-ye siyāsi [Political philosophy] (Kh. Deyhimi, Trans.; 3rd ed.). Tehran, Iran: Tarh-e Now. (Original work published 1998) [In Persian]
Henley, A. (2005). Job creation by the self-employed: the roles of entrepreneurial and financial capital. Small Business Economics, 25(2), 175–196. doi:10.1007/s11187-004-6480-1
Kymlicka, W. (2017). Darāmadī bar falsafe-ye siyāsi-ye moʿāser [Contemporary political philosophy: An introduction] (M. Badamchi, & M. Mobasheri, Trans.). Tehran, Iran: Negāh-e Mo’āser. (Original work published 2002) [In Persian]
MacIntyre, A.C. (2014). Dar pey-e fazilat [After virtue: A study in moral theory] (H. Shahriari, & M.A. Shomali, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Tehran, Iran: SAMT. (Original work published 1984) [In Persian]
Mead, L. M. (1997). Citizenship and social policy: T. H. Marshall and Poverty. Social Philosophy & Policy Foundation. 14(2), 197–230. doi:10.1017/s0265052500001886
Mead, L. M. (2020). Poverty and culture, Society. doi:10.1007/s12115-020-00496-1
Moriarty, J. (2002). Desert and distributive justice in a theory of justice. Jounal of Social Philosophy, 33(1), 131–143. doi:10.1111/1467-9833.00128
Newbert, S. L., & Stouder, M. D. (2011). Justice in entrepreneurial organizations. International Journal of Social Economics, 38(5), 453–465. doi:10.1108/03068291111123147
Nozick, R. (2015). Edālat-e tozi’i [Distributive justice] (A. Beyglari, Trans.). In M. Mollah Abbasi (Ed.), Majmu’e maqālāt-e Liberālism va mas’ale-ye edālat [Liberalism and the question of justice: Collected articles] (pp. 39–58). Tehran, Iran: Tarjomān. (Original work published 1974) [In Persian]
Pojman, L. (1997). Equality and Desert. Philosophy, 72(282), 549-570. doi:10.1017/s0031819100062410
Rawls, J. (2019). Edālat be masābe-ye ensāf: Yek bāzguyi [Justice as fairness: A restatement] (E. Sabeti, Trans.; 6th ed.). Tehran, Iran: Qoqnoos. (Original work published 2001) [In Persian]
Rawls, J. (2021). Nazariye’i dar bāb-e edālat [A theory of justice] (M. Nouri, Trans.; 5th ed.). Tehran, Iran: Našr-e Markaz. (Original work published 1999). [In Persian]
Sandel, M. (2015). Edālat: kār-e dorost kodām ast? [Justice: What’s the right thing to do?] (H. Afshar, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Tehran, Iran: Našr-e Markaz. (Original work published 2010). [In Persian]
Sandel, M. (2018). Liberālism va mahdudiyathā-ye edālat [Liberalism and the limits of justice] (H. Afshar, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Tehran, Iran: Našr-e Markaz. (Original work published 1982) [In Persian]
Sawyer, R. D., & Norris, J. (2013). Duoethnography, Oxford University Press.
Toenjes, R. H. (2002). Why Be Moral in Business? A Rawlsian approach to moral motivation. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(1), 57-72. doi:10.5840/10.2307/3857648
Walzer, M. (2015a). Hozehā-ye Edālat: Dar defā az kasratgarāyi va barābari [Spheres of justice: A defense of pluralism and equality] (S. Najafi, Trans.; 2nd ed.). Tehran, Iran: Našr-e Sāles. (Original work published 1983) [In Persian]
Walzer, M. (2015b). Liberālism va honar-e tafkik [Liberalism and the art of separation] (M. Ashja, Trans.). In M. Molla Abbasi (Ed.), Majmu’e maqālāt-e Liberālism va mas’ale-ye edālat [Liberalism and the question of justice: Collected articles] (Pp. 227–252). Tehran, Iran: Enteshārāt-e Tarjomān. [In Persian]
Young, I.M. (2011). Responsibility for justice. Oxford University Press.
Zokaei, M.S. (2019). Honar-e anjām-e pužuhš-e keyfī: Az masʾale-yābī tā negāareš [The Art of conducting qualitative research from problem-solving to writing]. Tehran, Iran: Agah Publications. [In Persian]
 
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 23 November 2024
  • Revise Date 15 February 2025
  • Accept Date 23 February 2025

Home

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Reviewers

Submission

Contact Us