The rhetoric of supporters and opponents of emigration based on the theory of justification systems by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in Cultural Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

2 PhD in Cultural Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

3 Associate Professor in Political Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract
The phenomenon of migration, and in particular foreign emigration, is an important social, cultural and demographic issue that needs to be investigated. The purpose of this article is to investigate the views of the Supporters and Opponents of emigration among the Kurdish citizens of Sardasht city, which has been done using the theory of justification systems or regimes of action of Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot, which is one of the prominent approaches in the field of cultural sociology. The use of Boltanski and Thévenot's perspectives in both the theoretical section and the interpretation of the interviewees' views, as well as the comparison of the views of the supporters and opponents of immigration, is an innovative aspect of this article. The research method is qualitative and based on a constructivist interpretive approach and an Abductive strategy, employing purposive and snowball sampling methods, and using semi-structured interviews with 26 citizens of Sardasht (13 residents of Sardasht and 13 residents of foreign countries). The findings of the research, based on the six worlds of Boltanski and Thévenot that describe the justification systems of the two groups' pros and cons of Emigration, consist of two distinct reasoning spectra based on six sites including: Inspired, domestic, civic, Fame, market, and industrial'. Ultimately, the rhetoric of the two groups pros and cons of immigration based on the mentioned six worlds can be summarised and categorized in a dialectical combination of "resistance-persistence".
action regimes, cultural sociology, demography, emigration, justification Systems 

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  • Receive Date 15 August 2025
  • Revise Date 19 November 2025
  • Accept Date 30 November 2025