Kolbari, the outcome of policies oriented to underdevelopment (A qualitative study of Kolbars in Pave city)

The concept of “Kolbari (Back Carrying)” has its roots in the economic relations in recent decades, and is the product of human society. This study intended to inspect the phenomenon of Kolbari and how it was interpreted from the perspective of active Kolbaran (Back Carriers) in the border region of Paveh City. The data of this qualitative study were collected through interviews, participatory observation and documentation, and the grounded theory method was used for data analysis. With the aim of obtaining theoretical saturation and using qualitative, theoretical, and purposeful sampling, 30 informed individuals were interviewed. The collected data were coded and categorized into 31 concepts, six main categories, and one core category. The six main categories were “ecology of the region”, “negligence of the relevant organizations”, “economic disorganization in the border region”, “pressures from the external structure”, “weakening of traditional modes of production”, and “kinship and cultural closeness”, and the core category, which included other categories, was “underdevelopment and lack of economic growth”. The results showed that Kolbari phenomenon as a historical and contextual issue can be the result of responding to economic, geographical, political, and cultural and livelihood facility deprivations and restrictions and unintended demarcations. The frontiers’ inference of the Kolbari phenomenon can be understood and interpreted as the only inevitable way to respond to underdevelopment and lack of economic growth in various dimensions of economic status, kinship and cultural affinity of the region.