This paper deals with the theoretical analysis of development as one of the most important issues of development in Iran. We believe that the pioneers of modernity, in general, and development managers, in particular, have, explicitly or implicitly, considered modernization school in development. Thus, here first the theoretical rudiments and methodology of this school will be critically discussed. Then, we introduce our Habermas-oriented theoretical framework. According to this framework, we find out, that, the most important problem of development in Iran stems from placing too much emphasis on imported hardware to the neglect of software (the socio-political and cultural development). A selection as such, has caused the domination of ‘system’ over ‘life-world’, and its harmful effects such as increase in social crimes and injuries.
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