Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
PhD student in Public Administration, Department of Management, Isf.C., Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
2
Assistant Prof. of Cultural Sociology, Department of management, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
3
Professor of Public Administration, Department of Management, Isf.C., Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
4
Associate Professor of Linguistics, Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Studies, Bagher al-Ulum University, Qom, Iran
Abstract
Water governance in Iran has undergone multiple discursive transformations over the past five decades, reflecting shifts in political ideologies, development paradigms, and managerial approaches to water resources. Despite the gradual emergence of concepts such as sustainable development, social participation, and environmental protection, water policymaking in Iran has remained predominantly shaped by state-centered, infrastructural, and exploitation-oriented approaches. This study employs a qualitative meta-synthesis using a meta-ethnographic approach to analyze the discursive transformations of water governance in Iran between 1979 and 2024. In this regard, 12 qualitative studies were systematically selected from national and international academic databases and analyzed. The findings indicate that water policymaking in Iran has not followed a linear or stable trajectory; rather, it has been characterized by discursive ruptures, policy shifts, and recurrent gaps between policy formulation and implementation. Three recurring meta-patterns were identified across the selected studies: the “discourse–implementation gap,” the “hegemonic crisis” in the 2010s, and “intra-governmental shifts” in the early 2020s. The results also show that public participation has largely been limited or symbolic, while environmental considerations, despite their formal inclusion in policy documents, have often been subordinated to developmental priorities. The study concludes that the persistence of Iran’s water crisis cannot be explained solely by natural resource scarcity, but is also rooted in unstable governance patterns, weak institutional coordination, and a persistent gap between policy discourse and implementation practices.
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