Institutional Ethnography of Supportive Policies in the Border Villages of Khao and Mirabad Districts of Marivan County)
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Spring 2021. Vol 12. Num 1 Research Paper Border Residents and Dependence on Supporting Institutions (Institutional Ethnography of Supportive Policies in the Border Villages of Khao and Mirabad Districts of Marivan County) *Osman Hedayat1, Shahram Basity2 1. PhD Student, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. 2. Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran. Use your device to scan and read the article online Citation: Hedayat, O., & Basity, Sh. (2021). [Border Residents and Dependence on Supporting Institutions (Institutional Ethnography of Supportive Policies in the Border Villages of Khao and Mirabad Districts of Marivan County) (Persian)]. Journal of Rural Research, 12(1), 80-93, http://dx.doi.org/ 10.22059/jrur.2021.317276.1605 : http://dx.doi.org/ 10.22059/jrur.2021.317276.1605 Received: 16 Jan. 2021 A B S T R A C T Accepted: 04 April 2021 The main issue of this research revolves around the fact that rural border residents have many prob- lems earning a living, which has resulted in dependence on the help of support institutions. Based on the experiences of border residents in the form of interviews with 4 key informants in the villages of Khavomirabad rural district of Marivan city, in contrast to the supportive policies of government institu- tions, the policies and strategies adopted in this regard have been analyzed. In this regard, the participa- tory development approach and the institutional ethnographic method were used. The results were discussed and analyzed in the form of secondary categories, the shock of the end of activities of border markets, the failure of restorative policies, dependence on the assistance of supportive institutions, and spontaneous popular actions. The analysis of these categories showed that institutional policies support- Key words: ing border residents have been ineffective and often negative. In contrast, the actions of rural border Rural frontier resi- guards, which are described in the category of spontaneous actions of the people, have been indicative dents, Participatory of confronting and filling the gaps of these actions and policies. Measures such as public participation in development, Insti- agriculture and animal husbandry, the creation of charitable funds, and public assistance in the develop- tutional ethnogra- ment and reconstruction of villages have been a response to the policies and the unstable economic and phy, Marivan city social situation of these areas. Copyright © 2021, Journal of Rural Research. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-noncommer- cial 4.0 International License which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited. Extended Abstract try, especially in relation to the issue of employment. The existing gaps and inequalities are largely due to the lack of 1. Introduction recognition of the facilities and talents of different regions in the field of economic development and lack of proper he existing facts show that there are planning in geographical locations. Existing inequalities many inequalities in the development have led to the formation of a hierarchical spectrum of T indicators in different parts of the coun- urban and rural settlements, which at the highest level * Corresponding Author: Osman Hedayat Address: Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. Tel: +98 (918) 7959335 E-mail: [email protected] 80 Spring 2021. Vol 12. Num 1 include rich settlements and, at the lowest level of the cies. Measures such as public participation in agriculture hierarchy, the weakest settlements or, in other words, de- and animal husbandry, the creation of charitable funds, prived settlements. and public assistance in the development and reconstruc- tion of villages have been a response to the policies and According to the 2016 statistics, the population of Kurd- the unstable economic and social situation of these areas. istan province was 1603011 people. Of this number, 1134299 people live in urban areas, 4687778 people live 4. Discussion in rural areas, which is equal to 29.24%. Also, the rate of ruralization in this province has decreased by 11.33% Findings from interviews and statistics showed that over a period of 15 years (Statistical Yearbook 2016, Culture cross-border communities have undergone fundamental of villages in Kurdistan province, 2016). This unprecedented and often destructive changes due to the existence of mar- decrease, which is more than 5 times the national rate, kets and the dominance of the border economy. Conse- indicates deprivation and underdevelopment and lack of quently, this has become more apparent in the last three employment in rural areas of the province because one of years with the closure of temporary border bazaars. Rural the main reasons for the decrease in rural population due migration, the persistence of Kolbari (cross-border labor), to migration is the lack of economic infrastructure and ru- and dependence on support institutions are examples of ral employment. this. These cases also indicate a situation in which the structure of villages has been shaken by the effects of The basic premise of this study revolves around the fact borders and markets and has caused social and economic that according to the mentioned cases, the people of these instability in these areas. In this regard, the closure of tem- areas - rural border residents - face many problems for porary border crossings has been regarded as suspicion their livelihood and as a result, they are dependent on sup- for border communities and restorative plans and policies portive institutions. These institutions have often become to compensate for this have failed. These cases have led governmental. Therefore, by analyzing the experiences to the dependence of border residents on support institu- of border residents in contrast to the supportive policies tions, but this dependence has been reduced by sponta- of government institutions, we analyze the policies and neous popular actions such as participation in agriculture strategies adopted in this dependency. and animal husbandry, the creation of village charities and the reconstruction of poor houses and the implemen- 2. Methodology tation of development projects in the village. Therefore, by creating a bottom-up, participatory and democratic In this research, the institutional ethnography method development approach, efforts can be made to pursue the will be used. Institutional ethnography seeks a constant development of these areas and improve the development exchange between muffled voices and those in charge of capacities and potentials, including agriculture and ani- formal policies in defense of the excluded and explores mal husbandry, so that these areas may become indepen- the roots of social organization through the texts of the dent and benefit from these developments. Foundation. 5. Conclusion 3. Results One of the policies that have paid more attention to In this regard, by adopting the approach of local and reducing the damage caused by underdevelopment and rural development and also using the method of institu- failure of projects in these areas is protectionist policies. tional ethnography after examining this issue, cases in These policies have been implemented by institutions the form of categories, namely, the shock of ending the such as Welfare Organization, Relief Committee and activity of border markets, and failure of restorative poli- governorships in these areas. These policies have sought cies were discussed. The results of these cases have led to compensate and alleviate the plight of the people of to the dependence of border residents on the assistance these areas by providing support and livelihood packages, of government support institutions, so it can be said that recruiting villagers, and allocating meager pensions. Ac- institutional policies to reduce these harms have been in- cording to the interviewees, the number of members who effective and often negative. In contrast, the actions of ru- become members of the Welfare Organization and the ral border guards, which are described in the category of Relief Committee is increasing every year. spontaneous actions of the people, have been indicative of confronting and filling the gaps of these actions and poli- 81 Hedayat, O., et al. Border Residents and Dependence on Supporting Institutions (Institutional Ethnography of Supportive Policies in Marivan County). JRR, 12(1), 80-93. Spring 2021. Vol 12. Num 1 Acknowledgments We would like to thank all those who contributed to this research, especially the village heads and councils of the Khawo Mirabad district. Conflict of Interest The authors declared no conflicts of interest Hedayat, O., et al. Border Residents and Dependence on Supporting Institutions (Institutional Ethnography of Supportive Policies in Marivan County). JRR, 12(1), 80-93. 82 بهار 1400 . دوره 12. شماره 1 مرزنشینان و وابستگی به نهادهای حمایتی: مردمنگاری نهادی سیاستهای حمایتی در روستاهای مرزی دهستان خاوومیرآباد شهرستان مریوان *عثمان هدایت1، شهرام باسیتی2 1-دانشجویدکتری،گروهجامعهشناسی،دانشکدهاقتصاد،مدیریتوعلوماجتماعی،دانشگاهشیراز،شیراز،ایران. ۲-استادیار،گروهعلوماجتماعی،دانشکدهعلوماجتماعی،دانشگاهپیامنور،تهران،ایران. تاریخدریافت: 27 دی 1399 تاریخپذیرش: 15 فروردین 1400 مسئلهاصلیاینپژوهشحولاینقضیهمیچرخدکهمرزنشینانروستاییبرایامرارمعاشخودوتأمینهزینههایزندگیدچار