PERCEPTION OF IRANIAN YOUTH OF THE RELATIONS AMONG CIVILIZATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF TABRIZ UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abuali Vedad-Hir & Ayyoub Vatanpoor

Dr. Abuali Vedad-Hir is a Lecturer in the Department of
Social Sciences, at Tabriz University. Ayyoub Vatanpoor is a member of the
Local Education Authority of Germi, Ardabil Province,
Iran.

Based on the quantitative data, this article examines the views
of Tabriz University students' towards the three dominant theories regarding the
relations of civilizations (Khatami, Huntington and Fukuyama theories). The
results show that the students are most likely to agree with Khatami's views in
comparison with Huntington and Fukuyama's theories on relations between
civilizations. However, this dose not means that they categorically reject the
two other theories on the subject. Trivial differences between students'
perceptions regarding these three theories indicate a cognitive ambivalence in
perception of the students. We conclude that, Tabriz University students see
each of these theories representing only one part of the picture regarding
relations among civilizations and they do not adhere to any one theory
completely, but they see Khatami's theory as being more significant and
humanistic.