Ahmad Kazemi
PhD in International Law, Islamic Azad University, Qom Branch, Iran, ahmadkazemi56@gmail.com
Journal of Iran Futures Studies
Research paper, 5th year, 1st issue, Spring and Summer 2020, pages: 139-162

Abstract
Purpose: Since the first time the term “religious minority” was proposed in the Augsburg Treaty (1555), its concept has developed many times in terms of form and content. After “religious minority,” respectively, “ethnic minority” emerged with the Vienna Congress document (1815), “linguistic minority” with the advisory opinion of the Permanent Court of International Justice (1935), and also with the approval of Article 27 of the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (1966), and “national minority” entered international law with the “Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” (1992). In this process, the concept of minority, especially from the perspective of the cancellation of the citizenship condition, has evolved. The purpose of this article is to conduct future research on the development of the concept of minority in international law.

Method: By accepting the principles of descriptive and analytical methods, this research employs a questioning strategy and the “extension of the present to the future” method, which is one of the futurology research methods.
Findings: Relying on the theory of multiculturalism, the focus of possible futures in the continued development of the form and content of the minority concept is to reduce the role of the customary four elements of religion, ethnicity, language, and national origin in identifying minorities and increase the role of the “difference in habits, beliefs, and behaviors” component.

Conclusion: Analysis of the propulsions shows that in the “probable future,” there is activism by Western countries for the inclusion of new groups, such as informal differences and homosexuals, into the legal circle of minorities. To prevent this process from conflicting with “public order,” the legal cooperation of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is necessary, especially in the “Human Rights Committee” and the “Assembly on Minority Affairs.”

Keywords: future research, minority, international law, form and content development.
This article is extracted from the doctoral dissertation entitled “The Semantics of the Concept of Minority in International Human Rights Documents.”