Development in Kurdistan: Unequal Development during Identity Changes

The aim of this research is to study the effects of socio-economic development on Kurdish identity from a sociological perspective. Through qualitative research method of grounded theory, central categories of research were categorized in five areas including dominance of western identity over traditional identity, reconstruction of identity and its relative popularization, emergence of unequal development, heterogeneous development, and strengthening of Kurdish identity. The coding processes (open, central and selective) of the collected data resulted in the extraction of 883 subcategories and 279 major categories, which summed up in 37 categories. The causal and intervention factors, action strategies and consequences of action were then introduced. Finally, the main theme of research manifested as "emergence of development elements during fundamental changes in traditional identity" which indicates the "crisis-generating development and new form of identity".