Abstract
This article examines the role of civil society organizations in the formation of social movements over the last twenty years in Iran. Civil society can be considered as an area between social, economic, and cultural sub-systems in which the focus is on non-governmental organizations, labor unions, trade unions, and voluntary organizations, such as guilds. In this study, using the content analysis method and reviewing articles written on this topic in the last twenty years, several main themes and categories are identified as being central to understanding social movements in Iran. The essay particularly advances understanding of the role of civil society and its institutions such as unions and non-governmental organizations in Iranian social movements by linking the two concepts of the intermediary intellectual and civil society.
