Iranian Kurds in an Age of Globalisation
Kurdishaspect.com - By Geoffrey Gresh
Abstract:
Since 2003 and the establishment of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, Iran has witnessed a rise in ethnonationalist activity among its Kurdish population. Much of the motivation for this activity stems from the political success of the Kurds in Iraq. The spread of Iranian Kurdish nationalism has also been influenced by globalisation forces, such as global communications technologies, transnational networks, and increased mobility across borders. In this age of globalisation, the Iranian government's ability to rule over the Kurds will continue to erode, unless it caters toward Kurdish demands of minority rights.
INTRODUCTION
Since 2003 and the establishment of Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Iran has witnessed a rise in ethnonationalist activity among its Kurdish population, which is mainly located in western and northwestern provinces of the country. Much of the motivation for this activity stems from the political success of the Iraqi Kurds and the desire of the Kurds in Iran to push the government for increased minority rights.
The spread of Kurdish nationalism in recent years has also been influenced by globalisation forces, such as global communications technologies, transnational networks, and increased mobility across bor-
ders. Iran’s national boundaries have eroded under the influence of such major forces of rapid global change as satellite communication technologies, new international media outlets, increased mobility and migration, and the exchange of ideas in a transnational space. Iranian Kurds are now able to network with other Kurds outside Iran (in Iraq, Turkey, and Syria). In an environment where ideas and people more than ever transcend nation-state borders, the Iranian government has struggled to quell Kurdish ethnonational sentiment. The combination of these global forces has led to the recasting and hardening of Kurdish ethnonational identity.
Tehran has been largely unsuccessful at stemming the recent rise of Kurdish national sentiment due to difficulty in controlling transnational and communications networks among Kurds. Indeed, Iran’s ability to rule over its Kurdish population will grow increasingly challenging, if Iranian Kurds exert more power in the near future with the help and support of the KRG-Iraq and other regional or global Kurdish groups.
A DIVERSE KURDAYETÎ
Kurdish national identity, or Kurdayetî, is not homogenous and varies greatly by regions of habitation (Natali 2005: XXVI). Kurdayetî is also influenced by Kurdish tribal and political structures. In an age of globalisation, however, many Kurds have come virtually and physically closer together than ever before.
Iranian Kurds represent the complexity of Kurdayetî. Iranian Kurdistan, for example, is economically and culturally (linguistically) diverse with three distinct areas: mountains, plains, and cities. Tribal nomads continue to inhabit the Zagros Mountain range, spanning from northwest Iran to the southeast plains; there herding remains the primary source of sustenance. The nomadic lifestyle of this group regularly results in cross-border contact with other Kurdish tribal units in Turkey and Iraq. The Kurds who live on the plains are engaged in mainly sedentary agricultural activities; Kurds who live in the city include teachers, municipal employees, traders, and town shopkeepers (Taysi/Yildiz 2007: 4). Kurdish nationalist leaders have often originated from the urban areas. This is due to a strong divide between the urban and rural elites, with the Kurdish urban elites, many of whom believe that the traditional Kurdish tribal leadership and its many factions have contributed to the lack of a strong and unified Kurdish national movement (Koohi-Kamali 2003: 32-33).
Read full text in pdf: Iran and the Caucasus
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October 27, 2009
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