Analysis of the Impact of Ethnic-Tribal Dispute on Rural Underdevelopment (Case Study: Bahmaei Sarhadi Sharghi District -Kohgiloye and Boyerahmad Province)

پژوهش ‎های جغرافیای سیاسی

Article 5, Volume 2, Issue 3 - Serial Number 6, October 2017, Pages 109-137   

Document Type: مقالات علمی -پژوهشی

DOI: 10.22067/pg.v2i6.64020

Authors

Hamdollah Sojasi Qeidari^{* 1}; Yaghoub Esfaram²

¹Assistant Professor, Geography & Rural Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

²Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Ethnocentrism and ethnic unrest are among the most important features of an ethnocentric system and communities with traditional and ethnic structures. Heterogeneity in clans and their diversity and dispersion always reduce the solidarity of societies at the local and national levels and lead to tribal and ethnic feuds, and, as a result, social solidarity and participation are minimized. The liveliness of villages is diminished owing to a weakness in solidarity and public participation and this causes difficulties in rural development. Naturally, development must be first made into a necessity to take shape in humans and pave the way for human understanding in various areas. Hence, it seems that there is a profound relationship between tribal and ethnic feuds and underdevelopment which needs to be studied with regard to the changes of globalization, the traditional culture, and the context of the society.
2. Theoretical Framework
Rural development puts an emphasis upon the process of improvement in the quality of life among villagers and different actors and activists including the rural communities involved in this process. In this process, the diversity and dispersion of clans and different ethnicities lead them to claim their shares from the outcomes of development and each clan demands a larger share. In conjunction with the rare factors of production, these factors have caused the ethnicities and clans to be heterogeneous in their needs and requests. Therefore, we observe a divergent and underdeveloped community while this would be followed by social harms such as ethnic and tribal feuds. These feuds will change into rural divisions within a rural community. Rural division is concerned with a community in which there is a high level of group disputes and conflict of interest on the one hand, and a low level of participation, central consensus and social capital on the other hand. The capacities of rural development remain in a potential state due to the existence of disputes. Therefore, rural underdevelopment is a concomitant of the conditions within and outside the rural community. This underdevelopment has been provoked by the existence of traditional structures, poverty, deprivation, unemployment, and low social participation and solidarity.
3. Methodology
The data of this descriptive and analytic article have been collected through the library research method and the statistical analysis of field data (i.e., questionnaire and interview). In this field method, the relationship between the ethnic and tribal feud as the independent variable and rural underdevelopment as the dependent variable was investigated using the SPSS Software. To do this, nine villages with the most cases of feuds were selected as samples by means of a library and descriptive–analytic methodology and 300 sample families were selected for the study so that the developed questionnaires could be completed with regard to the research parameters. To achieve the research objectives, statistical methods such as one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Turkey method were used.
4. Results and Discussion
The results show that there has been a significant relationship between the two variables of ethnic and tribal feud, and rural underdevelopment. Moreover, the tendency for violence and ethnocentrism was stronger and more prevalent within the rural districts. The studied villages vary in terms of ethnocentrism and the proclivity for feuds and fall into different categories. Rural underdevelopment was at a drastically high level leading to less social participation, solidarity and cohesion. Rural development has encountered numerous problems in the eastern boundary of Bahmaei village district due to diverse ethnicities and tribes, the existence of traditional context and culture and their predominance in the community, and the outbreak of feuds and ethnic tensions.
5. Conclusions and Suggestions
Today, the emphasis on physical capital has been replaced with an emphasis on social capital in the process of development as social capital connects all forms of capital and mediates between them. Without social capital, other forms of capital cannot be used judiciously. The existence of divisions and the pursuit of conflicting interests diminish the growth and development of social capital. Accordingly, for different reasons, ethnic bigotries and the resulting emergence of ethnic and tribal feuds lead to a decrease in social capital at various levels and this destroys the developmental capacities and hinders the traits and potentials of rural development. In this way, ethnic and tribal feuds have led to rural underdevelopment. Therefore, given the research results, it is possible to recommend officials to increase employment in various areas of agriculture, the issuance of credible documents to prevent the imminent disputes, and concentration on religious and cultural teachings in order to curtail ethnic and tribal feuds and rural underdevelopment.

Keywords

Ethnic–tribal dispute; Social capital; Participation; Rural underdevelopment; Bahmaei Sarhadi Shargh

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