A Peace-Oriented Investigation of the Ethnic Identity Challenge in Iran (A Study of Five Iranian Ethnic Groups with the GT Method)

In the contemporary era, Iran has undergone a continuous experience of identity/ethnic multiplicity, which has caused serious interethnic conflicts revolving around discrimination and inequality in the urge for identity and justice and with a peace-oriented trace as the process of globalization has developed.

In this research, the influence on Iranian civilization in terms of land, language, and religion have been investigated in five ethnic groups, including Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Arab, and Baloch, given different aspects of Islamic and Western governments. The consideration of the Persian ethnic identity as the exclusive component of Iranian national identity has reduced ancient Iranian identity and brought about claims for identity in other ethnic groups.

The present article is an extract from author’s recently published book2 which has adopted a hybrid qualitative approach (GT), in-depth interview surveys and tools, library documentation, and an open questionnaire in thirteen provinces to extract and classify data in the following areas: religious identity and national identity (interaction or opposition), interethnic cultural borders, ethnic and national movement dead-end, elimination of cultures, and a peace-oriented approach to resolving the crisis. Thus, a conceptual model has been obtained, shaping basic factors (economic and ideological), intervening factors (media and lifestyle), grounded factors (legal and cultural parameters and resource mismanagement), and phenomenal orientation (claim for justice and socio-political gap) and presenting strategic action (peaceful action, acceptance of the present conditions, and state-nation interaction) and its outcomes (stability and decline of social capital).

In the contemporary era, Iran has undergone a continuous experience of identity/ethnic multiplicity, which has caused serious interethnic conflicts revolving around discrimination and inequality in the urge for identity and justice and with a peace-oriented trace as the process of globalization has developed.

In this research, the influence on Iranian civilization in terms of land, language, and religion have been investigated in five ethnic groups, including Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Arab, and Baloch, given different aspects of Islamic and Western governments. The consideration of the Persian ethnic identity as the exclusive component of Iranian national identity has reduced ancient Iranian identity and brought about claims for identity in other ethnic groups.

The present article is an extract from author’s recently published book2 which has adopted a hybrid qualitative approach (GT), in-depth interview surveys and tools, library documentation, and an open questionnaire in thirteen provinces to extract and classify data in the following areas: religious identity and national identity (interaction or opposition), interethnic cultural borders, ethnic and national movement dead-end, elimination of cultures, and a peace-oriented approach to resolving the crisis. Thus, a conceptual model has been obtained, shaping basic factors (economic and ideological), intervening factors (media and lifestyle), grounded factors (legal and cultural parameters and resource mismanagement), and phenomenal orientation (claim for justice and socio-political gap) and presenting strategic action (peaceful action, acceptance of the present conditions, and state-nation interaction) and its outcomes (stability and decline of social capital).