This article aims to address the processes of social changes in terms of the theory of social acceleration. It begins with an outline of the theory of social acceleration and discusses how an investigation into the driving forces of social acceleration can be used to explain the dynamics of social stability and change. It criticizes the acceleration theory because its focus is merely on high-industrialized western societies as well as the neglect of normative and religious aspects in the processes of social acceleration and change. This article proposes a revised model of social acceleration and applies it to Iranian society. It identifies the main features of acceleration-cycle formed in Iranian society in the 1960s and 1970s to answer the question of why the cycle of acceleration could not establish a self-propelling acceleratory formation as a prime requirement for preserving social stability.

This article aims to propose an explanatory model for social changes in terms of the temporal aspects of society. It begins with a theory of modern society (theory of social acceleration) and discusses why the explanations of social change and stability in non-western societies are required from a time perspective. It uses Iranian society as a case study, arguing that the processes of modernization may shape differently depending on certain social, cultural, and religious relations. In this light, it identifies the main features of the cycle of acceleration formed in Iranian society to answer the question of why the cycle of acceleration could not establish a self-propelling acceleratory formation. To explain the revolution of 1979, this article proposes a modified model of self-interpretation.