CONFLICT DYNAMICS IN COMMUNAL PASTORAL LANDS: A CASE STUDY IN MILAN IN NORTH-WEST REGION OF IRAN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY BAGHER HOSEINPOUR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY FEBRUARY 2017 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Tayfun Atay (OKAN, SOC) Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu (METU, SOC) Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör (METU, SOC) Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu (METU, SOC) Prof. Dr. Hayriye Erbaş (AU.DTCF, SOC) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Bagher, Hoseinpour Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONFLICT DYNAMICS IN COMMUNAL PASTORAL LANDS: A CASE STUDY IN MILAN IN NORTH-WEST REGION OF IRAN HOSEINPOUR, BAGHER Ph.D., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycioğlu February 2017, 181 pages Sociologically, conflict is “struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources”. Land, as a most valuable asset and a source of wealth and power, a basis for livelihood, a subject for geopolitical purposes, a matter of territorial importance, and a substance for cultural identity, is introduced as a subject of conflict in communal pastoral lands of Milan’s nomadic tribe in North-west part of Iran. Three actors are recognized in the field that have conflict over the lands; State, nomads, and peasants. The main objectives of research is to understand the historical transition of property rights on pastoral lands, the source and dynamics of social conflict among the actors, and social consequences of conflict in the society. In order to pursue this objective, theories of conflict including of Coser (1956), Dahrendorf (1959), and Glukman (1955) and for legitimation –in relation to State’s role, -theories of Beetham (1991) and Habermas (1976) are adopted. Applying Qualitative method, deep semi-structured interviews are conducted and followings are resulted; there is a chaos in pastoral lands property rights. State as the sole power in control and management of pastures has no legitimacy among the two other actors. Conflicts are around economic, historical, political incentives, but differentiated meaning systems also is the source of conflict and inconsistencies among the actors. Conflict with other actors have no cohesive consequence in the nomadic tribe of Milan but has led to a condition of severe irresponsibility against the nature (pasture) and community as well. Keywords: Milan Tribe, Land Property Rights, Sources of Conflict, Conflict Dynamics iv ÖZ TOPLUMSAL PASTORAL TOPRAKLARDA CATISMA DINAMIKLERI: IRAN’IN KUZEY BATI BOLGESINDE MILAN’DA BIR VAKA CALISMASI HOSEINPOUR, BAGHER Doktora, Sosyoloji Bolumu Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycioğlu Şubat 2017, 181 sayfa Sosyolojik açıdan, çatışma, kit durum, güç ve kaynaklar için yapılan iddialar ve değerler üzerine verilen mücadeledir. Dünya üzerinde bulunan en kıymetli varlık olarak; zenginlik ve servet göstergesi, geçim kaynağı, geçim yolu, jeopolitik amaçlar için önemli bir nesne ve kültürel kimlik için bir kaynak olan toprak, İran'ın Kuzeybatı kısmında bulunan Milano'daki göçebe kabilesine ait toplumsal pastoral topraklarda çatışma konusu haline getirilmektedir. Alanda, toprak konusunda ihtilafa düşmüş olan üç aktör muteber olmuştur; Devlet, göçebeler ve köylüler. Araştırmanın temel hedefleri, mülkiyet haklarının tarihsel geçişleri, aktörler arasında toplumsal çatışmanın kaynakları ve dinamikleri ve toplumdaki çatışmanın toplumsal sonuçları etrafında yoğunlaşmıştır. Çatışma analizi ile ilgili olarak Coser (1956), Dahrendorf (1959) ve Glükman (1955) ve Devlet meşrulaştırması ile ilgili olarak da Beetham (1991) ve Habermas’ın (1976) çatışma teorileri benimsenmiştir. Nitel yöntem uygulayarak, yarı yapılandırılmış detaylı görüşmeler sonucunda aşağıdaki sonuçlar elde edilmiştir; Pastoral\kırsal toprak hakları konusunda tam bir kaos hakim. Meraların kontrol ve yönetiminde tek güç olarak, devlet diğer iki aktör arasında meşruiyet taşımamaktadır. Çatışmalar ekonomik, tarihi ve siyasi teşviklerden kaynaklanmıştır, ancak farklılaşmış anlam sistemleri de aktörler arasındaki uyuşmazlık ve tutarsızlıkların kaynağıdır. Diğer aktörlerle olan çatışma, Milano'daki göçebe kabilede tutturgan bir sonuca sahip değildir, ancak aynı zamanda da tabiata (mera) ve de topluma karşı ciddi bir sorumsuzluk durumu doğurmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Milan Kabilesi, Toprak Mülkiyet Hakları, Çatışmanın Kaynakları, Çatışmanın Dinamikleri v This thesis work is dedicated to my wife, Maryam, and my honeis; Parya and Darya who have been a constant source of support and encouragement during the challenges of graduate. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout the course of this dissertation. Above all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation and sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu for the continuous support of my Ph.D study, for her patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped me in all the time. Besides my supervisor, I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör and Prof. Dr. Tayfun Atay who were involved in my thesis jury and provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research. I also want to thank the rest of my thesis committee members: Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu and Prof. Dr. Hayriye Erbaş for the hard question which incented me to widen my research from various perspectives. And at the end, I would like to thank Mr. Bahador Sheikh-kanlou who was himself a Milanian man and assisted me through the entire field work. Without his assistance it would be so hard for me to provide a reliable data. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM.................................................................................................. ..............iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ..................................................................................................................................... v DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... viiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xi CHAPTER 1.INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 2.GEO-HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 7 2.1. Geography: Vital Importance of Pastoral Lands in Iran ................................................ 7 2.2. Development of Tribal Nomadism .............................................................................. 10 2.3. Modernization and State-Tribe Disputes ..................................................................... 14 3.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 23 3.1. Natural Resources from Sociological Perspective and the Issue of Land Rights ........ 23 3.2. Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches about Conflict ............................................. 28 3.2.1. Conflict: Origins, Developments, and Some Theories .............................................. 28 3.2.2. Social Conflict: Concept and Sources ....................................................................... 32 3.2.2.1. The Notion and Nature of Social Conflict ............................................................. 32 3.2.2.2. Conflict: Inherent or Not? ...................................................................................... 34 3.2.2.3. Sources of Social Conflict ...................................................................................... 35 3.3. Debate on the Concept of Legitimacy of State ............................................................ 37 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 43 4.1. The Research Question and its Significance ................................................................ 43 4.2. Describing the Field ....................................................................................................