Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran
Formation of Voluntary Associations in
Iran
MASOUMEH BAGHERI, FATEMEH NOUGHANI AND HOUSEIN MOLTAFET
Non-governmental organisations have attracted growing criticism for being
unrepresentative of and unaccountable to the poor people for whose well-being they
claim to work. Making a difference to livelihoods and capacities among poor people
depends on NGO successes in fostering autonomous grassroots institutions and linking
them with markets and political structures at higher levels. The conclusions question the
current predilection among donor agencies to fund large-scale NGO service delivery.
Dr. Masoumeh Bagheri is Assistant Professor at the Department of Economic and
Social Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran. Ms. Fatemeh Noughani is
a Ph.D. Student in Anthropology, at the University of Pune, India, and Lecturer at the
Tehran Medical University, Iran. Housein Moltafet is Academic Member of
Department of Economic and Social Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz,
Iran.
INTRODUCTION
Inderjeet Kaur (1990) has pointed out that the concept of voluntarism
or voluntary action stands for social satisfaction, political participation
and economic growth complying with the norms of social equity in a
healthy atmosphere both moral and material. In its concrete form, a
minimum and balanced level of social security, health, education,
employment, people’s participation in political process, and economic
advancement, manifest the true notion of development, which is a
precursor to the ultimate aim, the attainment of human dignity,
cultural freedom, social justice and democracy. So development is the
process in totality. The NGO sector has addressed the various needs of
the poor and the socially, politically and economically disadvantaged
since the early 1920s. It is only recently, however, that there has been a
convergence of approach, with NGOs seeking to combine
project-specific work with active organisation of the poor. Community
organisation is now treated as an essential pre-requisite to the
successful introduction and implementation of development
programmes. Further, NGOs realise that organisational work among
the poor cannot be sustained without economic improvement (Riddell
and Robinson, 1995). Although the NGO sector has become
increasingly professionalised over the last two decades, principles of
altruism and voluntarism remain key defining characteristics (Bach
and Stark, 2004). The NGOs first began to work with groups using the
84 Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
principles of the cooperative movement, experimenting with and
learning from the cooperative sector. The availability of international
donor funding made it possible for many NGOs to try out new
initiatives. The first few innovations in group financing and indeed,
much of the further refining of group-based credit methodologies have
come from NGOs. The development of group-based credit through
NGOs, government, and banks’ group-based credit is important. It has
met the latent needs of both poor women and NGOs, as mainstream
savings and credit facilities are not easily accessible to the poor, and
NGOs enjoy a good response for these services. On the supply side, it
was good for NGOs to provide microcredit to women’s groups. Usually,
NGOs are registered as Trusts or Charitable Societies under the Trust
Act or the Societies Registration Act. The philosophy of these
organisations is based in the realm of people-centred development.
Those engaged in the activity often lack professional and managerial
ability to deal with the task at hand (Acharya and Premchander, 1999).
The involvement of NGOs in development in the Third World has
dramatically increased since the 1980s (Fisher, 1993). Voluntary
associations in Iran such as environmental, medical, developmental,
rehabilitation, legal and supportive institutions have been placed
under the public welfare institutions. Hence, among them the
supportive and medical voluntary associations are the oldest and most
established organisations (Hussaini, 1990).
Conceptually and in practice, the voluntary organisation and
non-governmental organisations, do not aim at total development,
which is the task of the government. They have limitations with respect
to the target groups covered (community), limited range of services and
selective level of social reforms. Even among the community, it attends
to those who are deprived or suffering economic deprivation on account
of social inequality and social systems developed over decades. In one
word, they are by the people, for the people, and with the people
METHODOLOGY
The present study is exploratory in nature using survey as a method of
investigation. Both qualitative and quantitative data have been used
for this research. Observation and interview schedules were designed
as tools of investigation. The researcher started the study with
extensive use of materials available on the subject and made attempts
to analyse the models and patterns of the present institutional support
system in the context of historical growth and coverage of social and
economic issues.
The numbers of NGOs vary according to method used, but all tell a
similar story-NGOs of all types have increased dramatically in number
and scope in recent years, becoming a component in the fabric of
democratic institutions. Indeed, these organisations have begun to
satisfy the objectives that guided the social and environmental
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran 85
accounting movements. Thus, special attention was given to the role
played by formal financial associations and informal funding
associations. Data was collected from both primary and secondary
sources. In view of the physical constraints and time factor, field
research was defined by stratified random sampling method. The
institutions, particularly, were categorised or stratified under two
major classes: firstly, those associations which have been registered
and their names are available in the master list of governmental
centres; secondly, unknown and scattered associations which do not
have any particular name (Imam Charity Organization, 2002). Thus,
selection of the samples has been done in Tehran, the capital of Iran,
from both types of associations.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
To study the typology of associations in Iran, due to certain limitations,
we confined the study to those associations which work on social
welfare and public affairs. Therefore, the selection of associations has
been made according to the degree of participation, cooperation and
assistance among people who take part in the various voluntary
organisations. The voluntary associations have been selected according
to following criteria:
1. Appropriate number of the associations to distinguish between
various types and models.
2. Reliable record of changes in work division of associations in the
course of time.
3. Degree of internalising and regenerating in the society.
4. Degree of social and public acceptability that accelerate the
generating and circulation of the funds.
Hereby, we have two major types of institutions which are divided
into five types of voluntary associations in Iran. They are different in
origin as well as level of social and economic division of work.
Spontaneous institutions divided into three types of Voluntary
Associations (VA):
• Primary Associations
• Religious/Ceremonial Associations
• Consensus-based Associations.
Non-spontaneous institutions divided into two types of VA:
• Beneficial Associations
• Promotional Associations
Spontaneous Institutions
Primary Associations and Religious Associations
Fundamentally, they have religious and traditional origins. In primary
and religious/ceremonial associations, all rules are controlled by the
86 Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
most generous person, and the other members of the association help
him/her on the basis of onerous feelings of such charitable deeds, which
are rooted in the spirit of religion and customs. In this view,
authenticity and non-governmental organisation accountability
involve the development of social practices, which satisfy individual
demands in society at large-that their aims and objectives are to be
given full consideration, that their life-plans, values and beliefs are
respected in a manner consistent with the ideal of authenticity.
Invariably, processes of individual self-realisation involve developing
respect between citizens in a reflective and interpretive social system
(Rawls, 1995; Taylor, 2003).
Consensus-based Associations
The relationships among members of such associations are based on
mutual aid and reciprocal support. They are highly advanced in
socio-communal cooperation. The social work division among them has
grown well. But economic work division is in its primary stages. It is
important to recognise NGO staff as knowledgeable and heterogeneous
agents, with sophisticated and diverse understandings of the
institutional, social, economic, and political contexts within which they
carry out their projects.
In this view, NGOs have complex geographical ranges and in
addition to being connected to one another, are often entangled with
state or quasi-governmental agencies, as well as with businesses
(Fowler, 2000; Malhotra, 2000).
Non-spontaneous Institutions
Beneficial Associations
Generally, these organisations do not carry out projects and supportive
functions, but rather connect grassroots organisations to national
funding agencies and under the name non-governmental organisation
conceal their various economical activities, and take advantage of the
legal rules and regulations which are meant for these types of
organisations, such as reduction of taxes. Of course, many NGOs are
not interested in, and are even opposed to, conducting outsourced
‘investment in communities’ on behalf of corporations (Lindenberg and
Bryant, 2001).
Promotional Associations
The reasons for establishing this type of associations are international
pressure, gaining better status and also controlling other types of
associations, which come into existence in Third World countries
through their governments and international agencies. Indeed, Iranian
Non-governmental Organisation (INGO)-NGO relationships are
increasingly being channelled through, or mediated by, a cadre of
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran 87
intermediary organisations taking the form of clearinghouse, partner,
or affiliate NGOs (Abramson, 1999 and Townsend, 2002). These
intermediary organisations can be valuable for initiating
inter-organisational connections, and connecting larger NGOs and
INGOs to local NGOs through tactical, temporary alliances (Gordenker
and Weiss, 1997). Nonetheless, for some NGOs the forging of alliances
with elements of the corporate sector, especially in the local setting,
may be viewed as a positive opportunity and may be crucial to ensuring
the NGO’s sustainability (Aldaba, 2000; Henderson, 2000).
TABLE 1: Growth of Voluntary Association
Type of Association (Upto 1978)
Before Islamic
Revolution
(Upto 1978)
After
Revolution
1979-1982
1993
Onwards
N
P%
N
P%
N
P%
Primary Associations
10
76.9
46
52.8
36
42.8
Religious Ceremonial Associations
2
15.3
26
29.8
26
30.9
Beneficial Associations
-
-
7
8.0
6
7.1
Promotional Associations
-
-
4
4.5
4
4.7
Consensus Based Associations
1
7.6
4
4.5
12
14.2
Total
13
99.8
87
99.6
84
99.7
It is worthwhile to analyse the growth of the various supportive
associations in Iran. The historical development in this regard is
presented in Table 1. It is evident from the above data that the
development of voluntary organisations could be classified in three
phases: before the Islamic Revolution, that is, the period before 1979;
the second phase which was between the years 1979–1992; and the
third phase of development covering the period 1993 onwards.
As seen in Table 1, before the Islamic revolution the total number of
associations was 13, of which as many as 76.9 per cent were primary
associations. Only 15.3 per cent were religious/ceremonial associations
and less than ten per cent were consensus-based associations.
The conditions improved in the years 1979–1992 with the total
number of institutions increasing to 87. The number of primary
associations increased to 46 forming about 53 per cent of the total
number of institutions. Religious/ceremonial associations increased from
2 in 1978 to 26 between 1979–1992, constituting almost 30 per cent of the
total number; consensus-based associations increased from 1 to 4
constituting almost 5 per cent of the total number. During this period,
there were beneficial and promotional associations as well, constituting
about 8 and 5 per cent respectively, of the total institutions.
The total number of institutions in the period following 1992
decreased by three and so the total dropped to 84. Primary associations
88 Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
decreased forming about 43 per cent of the total. Religious/ceremonial
associations remained the same in number as the previous period, that
is, 26. The number of beneficial associations declined from 7 to 6 in
1993, promotional associations remained at 4, and the number of
consensus based associations increased from 4 in 1992 to 12 in 1993.
From the above data it is quite clear that there was not perceivable
change or development in the growth of different types of voluntary
associations.
Frequency distribution of the Assemblies that established five types
of Supportive Associations in Tehran are given in Table 2. They can be
classified as:
• Commercial Assemblies
• Governmental Assemblies
• International Committees
• Mosques and Religious Assemblies
• Cultural Clubs
• Islamic Domain
• Family and Relatives Assemblies
• Friends and Colleagues Assemblies
The data in Table 2 reveals that the highest rate of primary
associations as well as religious/ceremonial associations were
established by mosques and religious assemblies. Consensus-based
associations arose mostly from cultural clubs.
An equal percentage of beneficial and promotional associations
originated from commercial and governmental assemblies. The above
data show that more than half of associations originated from mosques
and religious institutions.
Characteristics of Primary Associations
These types of associations in addition to their simple relations lack
economic and social division of work. Many of these associations either
bear a religious name or no name at all. Primary associations are
self-governing independent bodies, voluntary in nature, and tend to
engage both their supporters and constituency on the basis of values, or
some shared interest or concern, and have a public benefit purpose.
Funds are raised primarily from members, while donations from
non-members and profit from fund-raising events account for a very
small share of revenue. The management of primary associations is
patriarchal in nature and to some extent charismatic. A manager is like
a godfather for all, he is the main decision maker. It means the
managers are from the middle class with a certain degree of local trust.
The manager is a reliable person with long-term experience and
notable qualifications; no written sanctions. Hence, members do not
have active roles, and criticism is meaningless. It has been seen that in
some cases the manager is not just one person but a group of elderly
who work together and run the affairs of associations. They do not have
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran 89
90 Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
a fixed place for members’ meetings; they are mostly held at a member’s
house or in other places which are established for some other public
purposes. Membership is restricted to relatives, friends and
acquaintances of the manager (Ghasemi, 2002). This type of
associations were established with sympathy for the poor sections of
society and stressed on adult literacy and small material aid to the
vulnerable groups.
Characteristics of Religious Associations
These types of associations often originated from primary associations
and sometime had their roots in family, relatives and ethnic
communities. A good leader is arguably one of the most precious
resources any organisation, non-governmental or otherwise, can have.
Our survey suggests that Tehran VA are directed and managed by
individuals who are well above the national average in terms of
education and experience. Hence, they have a qualified manager or
organiser and generally they gather and have meetings in a fixed and
permanent place, which belongs to the association. The mainstay of the
associations is spiritual support through religious sanction, but
another function is to provide financial help to the families below the
poverty line that are known to them. Most of the NGOs act within “an
established development orthodoxy of their own” (Vivian and Maseko,
1994).
Characteristics of Consensus-based Associations
These types of associations have originated from previous primary
associations in the cultural assemblies and among colleagues. Mostly,
they have one manager or an organiser. They have a high supportive
efficiency. The adoption and adaptation of managerialism in the
voluntary sector has been twinned with a pervasive culture of
professionalism, and managerialism has become a central daily
concern for staff in voluntary associations. It is increasingly the case
that in order to be eligible for project funds, voluntary associations’
staff must demonstrate that they understand and apply management
practices in line with those employed by their donor agencies. The main
spring of this type of associations is spiritual and non-material
compassion and empathy for the vulnerable people of the society. But
material aids also can be seen in this type of associations. Brown and
Korten (1989) comment that some NGOs appear to have lost sight of
this fact in a headlong rush for growth, influence and status, forgetting
that ‘volunteerism and values are their most precious asset’.
Characteristics of Beneficial Associations
These kinds of associations have been established due to profit seeking
and legal vacuum in society. They have a qualified manager, and
members’ selection is on the basis of their qualification and suitability
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran 91
to activities. Social interactions among the manager, members and
partners are highly advanced. These kinds of associations have a fixed
and well equipped place for their activities and meetings. Their
members are limited to a specific number, but they have enough
clerical staff; as a voluntary association, their supportive outputs are
low or ambiguous. They have their roots in commercial groups or some
sections of government, which can give them the opportunity to escape
from certain laws and regulations such as taxes and so on-even to get
advantage and benefits of certain laws for upgrading the supportive
associations.
Characteristics of Promotional Associations
These types of associations came into existence due to global pressures
and other associations’ socio-economic controls on them. These
associations depend on international and governmental financial
support; they have a specified manager or organisers with fixed
meeting places and their members are limited to a certain number. In
fact, over the past decade, they have had to implement programmes
reflecting the more inclusive goals of the international organisation.
The promotional association’s hierarchical structure, when coupled
with its independence as a clearinghouse, enables a few key actors
within the organisation to exert tremendous power, including control
over strategic planning; here a small core of permanent staff acts as
gatekeeper for the content and form of managerialism as it circulates
throughout the non-governmental organisation’s network. The
promoter is inclined to maintain their power and position in the group.
In promotional associations, output depends on injecting the
equipment and facilities, and self-determination cannot continue
without relying on a special person. The main spring of establishing
such associations depends on personal intent of the founder.
CONCLUSION
Voluntary associations along with NGOs have attracted growing
criticism for being unrepresentative of and unaccountable to the poor
people for whose well-being they claim to work. This happens in part,
because the chronic weakness of popular organisations makes it
difficult for NGOs to reach the poorest groups. However, such problems
of representation also occur because trends within the aid-chain have
made it increasingly difficult for both of them to understand the
dynamics of livelihood or new organisational possibilities among poor
populations. When some of these groups are out-of-date then
interventions become biased toward the less poor. Some are explicit (as
when poverty is described and conceptualised), while others remain
more implicit (for instance, in the silences and missing themes in VA
and NGOs project interventions). All the truly national NGOs are very
small here and have very weak institutional capacity. Being a third
92 Masoumeh Bagheri, Fatemeh Noughani and Housein Moltafet
world country, it is lacking a body of highly educated people. The will is
definitely there, in quite an unselfish way. But there’s such a huge
capacity vacuum. It is usually assumed that two main characteristics
distinguish NGOs from other organisations: They are not motivated by
profits, and they have a charitable or philanthropic purpose. These two
characteristics are what enable NGOs to seek funding from the public
and international donors. In developed countries, these two principles
also form the basis for NGO monitoring by governments. The situation
in Iran is quite different, with less monitoring by the government and
more by donors. This is largely a reflection of what the sector does and
how it finances its activities. In Iran’s VA and NGOs religion seems to
be their primary motivation. Only a fourth of the surveyed VA and
NGOs are not faith based. The expansion of NGO impact beyond the
local level has become an important issue. In the absence of scaling up,
NGO successes remain little more than islands of excellence in a wider
economic and institutional environment which is detrimental to the
poor. It is noteworthy to mention that in Iran the VA and NGOs are not
highly popular and active, perhaps it has been due to lack in their
efforts to popularise their objectives.
THE RESULTS IN CONTEXT
Similar findings come from other studies, which have explored the
performance of NGOs in different contexts in other countries. In the
path-breaking study, Ramakrishna (2004:75) concluded that “NGOs
play an important role for sustainability of self-help groups in solving
social problems, in promoting education, in generating employment, in
bringing about people’s involvement in solving their problems, hence
tax laws have to be modified”. The same conclusion has been echoed in
the research work of Bagheri (2002) which has drawn upon the work of
Bebbington (1996) and Belshaw and Coyle (2001): “The NGO
organisation acted as facilitators, encouraging self instinct and
confidence among the members. These NGOs were largely
instrumental in maintaining cohesiveness among the groups and were
found to be instrumental in handling conflicts among self help group
members and educating and training the self help groups membership
in the concept of ‘We win-I win’”. In all these cases it was the balance
between increased economic security, success in social organisation,
and the ability to influence the political process that ‘made the
difference,’ coupled with strong and active linkages between grassroots
organisations, NGOs, governments and banks (Evans, 1996; Fox, 1996;
Sachikonye, 1995).
These conclusions may appear obvious, yet it is imperative to
address ethnic and other diversities, differentiation and rights of the
people through discourse and negotiation in a larger, free, egalitarian
and fraternal whole. Therefore we argue that the issue of NGOs has to
be addressed in the very present structural context of political economy
Formation of Voluntary Associations in Iran 93
at large. Great care and discrimination are needed to support NGOs in
finding a dynamic balance between its roles, and not push them into
large-scale service delivery and short-term results.
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THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK, Volume 69, Issue 1, January 2008