دانشگاه شهید بهشتی مجله تاریخ ایران 2008-7357 19 1 2026 03 21 Family economy and the role of Urban women in the Qajar era: An analysis of historical newspapers (1319-1343 AH) اقتصاد خانواده و نقش زنان شهری دوره قاجار: تحلیل روزنامه‌های تاریخی (1319-1343ق) 133 159 106734 10.48308/irhj.2026.243095.1484 FA زهرا غفارزاده دانشجوی دکتری تاریخ ایران بعد از اسلام، گروه تاریخ، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران. محمد سلماسی‌زاده استاد گروه تاریخ، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز،ایران Journal Article 2025 12 30 <strong>  </strong><strong>Abstract</strong><strong> </strong><br />The present study, based on Georg Simmel's theoretical framework and concepts such as monetary economy, consumption, women's work, contentment, extravagance, and marriage for money, analyzes the role of urban women in the family's economic management during the Qajar period. This study examines the urban society of the Qajar period, focusing on newspapers published in Iran between 1319 and 1343 AH. Women during the Qajar period were divided into three groups: urban, rural, and tribal, which played a different role in the family economy; while rural and tribal women had a more direct participation in household production and income, the role of urban women was mainly managerial and supervisory and was defined within the framework of consumption and organizing the household economy. The newspapers reflect the society's attitude towards changing and improving the role of urban women in the family economy. By criticizing extravagance and preference for imported goods, these newspapers encouraged women to be content and defined a new role for them. Also, encouraging income generation through handicraft training and women-only factories were proposed as solutions for economic empowerment. Newspapers also pointed out the social consequences of unemployment and lack of job opportunities for women and examined its relationship with non-normative behaviors. The research, with a descriptive-analytical approach, by analyzing the qualitative content of newspapers and using library resources, answers the question of how urban women played a role in family economic management and what newspapers' attitude toward this role. The findings show that newspapers were active in changing traditional attitude towards the economic role of urban women and encouraged them to have relative economic independence, make decisions in marriage, and maintain personal dignity; an issue that can be explained by the components of monetary economy and consumption in Simmel's theory.<br /><strong>Introduction </strong><br />The family economy in urban society during the Qajar period is one of the areas that has received less attention in classical historiography, and the role of women in it has often been portrayed as marginal. Most historical narratives have considered urban women dependent on men's income and lacking an effective role in organizing the family's livelihood. However, a study of press sources from the Qajar period shows that everyday urban life inevitably involved women in economic issues, and they cannot be considered passive actors. As emerging media, Qajar newspapers have also addressed social and economic issues of urban society in addition to political news. In the meantime, women have been presented not only as moral or family subjects, but also as a group exposed to poverty, inequality, and economic instability. In many articles, press writers, in an educational or warning tone, invited women to control their expenses, avoid waste, save, and be prudent in their consumption. These recommendations show that the economic management of the home was implicitly considered a female responsibility.<br />The press has also paid attention to the social consequences of women’s economic crisis. The reference to marriages based on financial means reflects a situation In which the economy overshadows family relationships and personal decisions. This situation can be analyzed within the theoretical framework of Georg Simmel, where money becomes a determining factor in redefining social relationships and calculating logic prevails over emotional bonds.<br />Studies such as Vantin Moghadam essay (2016) or studies based on travelogues like Alizadeh Biejandi (2015) essay, as a research background shows that studies of women in the Qajar era have focused more on their general social status or their economic participation in the form of wage labor and handicrafts, although they provide valuable information but they have paid less attention to the role of urban women in the family economy and the press discourse surrounding it. Therefore, the present study, focusing on newspapers of the Qajar period and relying on Simmel's theory, attempts to present a new picture of the economic role of urban women.<br /><strong>Materials And Methods  </strong><br />The research method of this study is descriptive-analytical and uses qualitative content analysis to examine newspapers. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the theories of Georg Simmel, which has been used in data analysis. The research data have been collected through library resources and newspapers published between 1319 and 1343 AH. In addition to newspaper resources, travelogues have also been used as a background for entering into discussions and understanding the social and cultural contexts of the period under study. The present study seeks to answer the main question of how urban women played a role in family economic management and what approach did newspapers have towards this role? Also, sub-questions include how did the Qajar period press examine the role of women in the family economy and what challenges and limitations were raised regarding women's economic role in the family space? The purpose of the research is to analyze the approach of newspapers towards the role of women in the family economy using Simmel's theoretical framework.<br /><strong>Result and Discussion </strong><br />This research was conducted in two parts: "The Role of Women in the Family Economy" and "Economic Management Strategies" and analyzed newspapers published between 1319 and 1343 AH to examine the status of urban women in the Qajar period. Georg Simmel's theoretical framework, especially his views in the book "The Philosophy of Money", was also taken into account in the data analysis. The role of urban Qajar women in the family economy was examined in newspapers under several axes: encouraging women to work, illegal jobs, economic control of the family, and money marriages. Each of these axes can be analyzed in Simmel's theoretical framework.<br />One of the most important issues raised in newspapers was encouraging women to work and learn skills. By proposing the establishment of handicraft schools and factories for women, the newspapers tried to reduce unemployment and women's economic dependence on their husbands. Their main concern was the spread of unemployment and the turning of women without income to illegal jobs such as begging and prostitution. Newspapers such as Qalam Azad, which were published in the late Qajar period, have explicitly criticized this situation. Although travelogues treat these issues superficially, newspapers emphasized the need to deal with these phenomena seriously. This approach is also consistent with Simmel's view; he criticizes these behaviors from a psychological perspective and considers them a sign of a disruption in the value of money. The second part of the study is dedicated to the strategies proposed by newspapers for women's economic management. One of these strategies was to control the family economy by recording income and expenses. Newspapers highlighted the role of the housewife in maintaining the family's wealth; for example, the newspaper Danesh introduced the woman as "the keeper of the husband's wealth."<br />Another part of the study deals with economic marriages and divorces and shows that the economic factor played a fundamental role in these decisions. This is consistent with Simmel's theory about marriages based on money, which he considers to belong to primitive societies. There are newspaper reports of people seeking profit from registering a marriage between a woman and two men, a situation that arose from the economicization of marriage, leading some to propose the establishment of official institutions to combat it. Newspapers then gave women advice on how to avoid extravagance, such as warning against extravagance, encouraging modesty in dress, and managing income and expenses. Buying luxury goods, competing in shopping, and spending money on magic were considered examples of extravagance. They also emphasized the consumption of domestic goods and the avoidance of luxury. These views are consistent with Simmel's view that money depreciates due to extravagance. Overall, the newspapers tried to encourage women to manage the family economy and avoid unemployment and illegal jobs. Although Simmel considers some phenomena, such as money marriages, to be specific to primitive societies, a study of the newspapers shows that Qajar society can be considered a society in transition.<br /><strong>Conclusions </strong><br />A review of press materials from the Qajar period shows that newspapers redefined women’s status by encouraging them to play a role in economic life and providing solutions for managing the family economy. Newspaper sources from 1319 to 1343 AH advised women to regulate consumption, control expenses, and employ new economic methods to maintain the family’s livelihood balance. This approach indicates that the press considered women part of the project of economic regulation of society. In the constitutional intellectual atmosphere, recommendations such as thrift, saving, and preference for domestic products went beyond the level of individual advice and became a reformist tool for reducing economic dependence. Assigning the realization of these goals to women highlights their role in transferring new economic values ​​into the family. However, this role was accompanied by structural and patriarchal restrictions. Therefore, Qajar society can be considered a society in transition, in which the press played a role in the gradual shaping of its new economic order. An order that can be considered in line with Simmel's analysis of the link between the monetary economy and social values. پژوهش حاضر با تکیه بر چارچوب نظری گئورگ زیمل و مفاهیمی چون اقتصاد پولی، مصرف، کار زنان، قناعت، ولخرجی و ازدواج برای پول، به تحلیل نقش زنان شهری دوره‌ی قاجار در مدیریت اقتصادی خانواده می‌پردازد. این پژوهش با تمرکز بر روزنامه‌های منتشرشده در ایران بین سال‌های ۱۳۱۹ تا ۱۳۴۳ هجری قمری، جامعه‌ی شهری قاجار را بررسی می‌کند. زنان دوره‌ی قاجار به سه گروه شهری، روستایی و ایلیاتی تقسیم می‌شدند که هر یک نقش متفاوتی در اقتصاد خانواده ایفا می‌کردند؛ در حالی که زنان روستایی و ایلیاتی مشارکت مستقیم‌تری در تولید و درآمد خانوار داشتند، نقش زنان شهری عمدتاً مدیریتی و نظارتی و در چارچوب مصرف و سامان‌دهی اقتصاد خانه تعریف می‌شد.روزنامه­های آن دوره نمایانگر نگرش جامعه نسبت به تغییر و ارتقای نقش زنان شهری در اقتصاد خانواده هستند. این روزنامه­­ها با نقد ولخرجی و ترجیح کالاهای وارداتی، زنان را به قناعت ترغیب و نقش جدیدی برای آنان تعریف می­کردند. همچنین تشویق به کسب درآمد از طریق آموزش هنرهای دستی و کارخانه­های مختص زنان، راهکارهایی برای توانمندسازی اقتصادی مطرح شدند. روزنامه­ها همچنین به پیامدهای اجتماعی بیکاری و فقدان فرصت­های شغلی برای زنان اشاره کرده و ارتباط آن را با رفتارهای خلاف هنجار بررسی کردند که این موضوع یکی از شیوه­های انتقادی بود که توسط روزنامه ها به طور مداوم پیگیری می­شد. پژوهش با رویکرد توصیفی- تحلیلی با تحلیل محتوای کیفی روزنامه­ها و استفاده از منابع کتابخانه­ای، به این پرسش پاسخ می­دهد چگونه زنان شهری در مدیریت اقتصادی خانواده نقش ایفا کردند و روزنامه­ها چه نگرشی نسبت به این نقش داشتند. یافته­ها نشان می­دهد روزنامه­ها در تغییر نگرش سنتی نسبت به نقش اقتصادی زنان شهری فعال بودند و آنان را به استقلال نسبی اقتصادی، تصمیم­گیری در ازدواج و حفظ کرامت فردی تشویق می­کردند؛ موضوعی که با مؤلفه‌های اقتصاد پولی و مصرف در نظریه‌ی زیمل قابل تبیین است. https://irhj.sbu.ac.ir/article_106734_0609d5380574e79cd36ef9f4715a5b05.pdf