Fereshteh Ahmadi, Ph.D.
forskare / Researcher
Short presentation
Born in 1958 in Tehran, Iran, Fereshteh Ahmadi concluded her Ph.D in sociology at
Uppsala University in 1995. Her Ph.D thesis, Iranian Islam and the Concept of the
Individual, deals with the problem of the non-development of the concept of the
individual in the Iranian ways of thinking. This work is written in two distinct
parts, one written by her, and the other by Nader Ahmadi. There, Fereshteh Ahmadi
tries to explain the cognitive and philosophical obstacles to the development of
the concept of the Individual in the Iranian society. To do so she draws on the
existing discrepancy between the idea of concern for the individual prevailing in
modern Western ways of thinking and the idea of the self-annihilation, prevailing
in the ways of thinking of Iranian.
Fereshteh Ahmadi is now working as a researcher presently specializing in issues
related to gerontology and international migration at the Department of Sociology,
Uppsala University. In particular she is studying elderly Iranian immigrants
living in Sweden. Furthermore, the issue of identity crisis of Iranian immigrants
and the Islamic thought and its impact on the cultural and social life of Iranians
are her major interests. She has also been giving courses on sociological methods
at the department.
Publications:
Ahmadi, Fereshteh & Ahmadi, Nader, Iranian Islam and the Concept of the
Individual, 1995. Uppsala University Press. Uppsala.
Ahmadi, Fereshteh & Ahmadi, Nader, Iranier i Sverige: Annorlunda
individbegrepp (Iranians in Sweden: A Different Concept of Individual) in
Invandrare och Minoriteter; No 6. December. 1995. Stockholm.
Ahmadi, Fereshteh, Aya farhang-e Irani Tahamol-e Digar-andishi ra Nadarad?
(Has the Iranian culture any tolerence for the non- confirmentory thoughts?)
in Kankash, No.12, Fall 1995.
Ahmadi, Fereshteh, Iranska Flyktingars Identitetsproblem (The Identity Crisis
of Iranian Immigrants) in Kvinnor och Fundamentalism, No.2. Fall-Winter 1994.
SKI. Spånga.
Ahmadi, Fereshteh & Tornstam, Lars, 1996, De gamla flygande Holländarna.
Pendlande invandrare med dubbla tillgångar, Socialmedicinsk tidskrift
nr 7-8:16-21
Ahmadi, Fereshteh & Tornstam, Lars, 1996, The Old Flying Dutchmen: Shuttling
Immigrants with Double Assets, Journal of Aging and Identity, 3:191-200.
Ahmadi, Fereshteh, 1997, Emtena'-e mafhom-e fard dar tafakor-e irani (The
Non-development of the Concept of the Individual in the Iranian Ways of Thinking)
in Kiyan (Monthly Persian language journal in the field of philosophy and
religion), Vol 6. No.34 (January/February), Tehran.
The Impact of "Ways of Thinking" on Gerotranscendence and Wisdom: Elderly Sufis in Different Cultural Contexts
This study examines personal identity and late life development among Sufis, representing individuals with a
different "way of thinking", in comparison with ordinary Western elderly. Based
on a Life history approach using open ended interviews with Iranian and Turkish
Sufis, residing in Turkey, Iran and Sweden, this research seeks to understand
how, in the context of different societies, the individuals develop wisdom and a
new conception of their "self" in the later period of life. The study is an
integrated part of an international research analyzing late in life development,
from the perspectives of spiritual development and gerotranscendence. Fereshteh
Ahmadi is mainly responsible for this study.
The Old Flying Dutchmen: Shuttling Immigrants with Double Assets
In-depth interviews with elderly Iranian immigrants who commute regularly between
their country of origin and Sweden, have been used in order to understand the
qualities of this commuting. Is the flying Dutchman alien and rootless in both
societies or a person who successfully amalgamates the best from two cultures?
The interviews indicate that, while not integrating into the new society and
while maintaining their original ethnic identity, these Old Flying Dutchmen are,
at the same time, partially changing their view of their own culture and
advocating aspects of the culture in the host society. They have also found that
the two cultures represent different social and psychological needs, which they
consequently fulfill by commuting between the countries. The interviewees thus
represent an Old Flying Dutchman who is not alienated but rather has been
successful in utilizing the best of two cultures.
Se: Ahmadi, Fereshteh & Tornstam, Lars, 1996, The Old Flying Dutchmen: Shuttling
Immigrants with Double Assets, Journal of Aging and Identity, 3:191-200.
Tillbaka till föregående sida
Tillbaka till IMER
Tillbaka till Immigrant-institutet
Till html av Miguel Benito december 1997