Reverse Migration in Eastern Kakavand Villages: Reasons and Consequences

A B S T R A C T
This article tries to explore the reasons and consequences of reverse migration in Eastern Kakavand. The theoretical approach is based on Harris' opinions about government welfare policies. The research method is ethnography and data collection techniques are observation and interview. Observations in the field of behavior and environment were carried out continuously for two years. The number of interviewees was 22, and they were selected by theoretical sampling. The findings show that the migration of the villagers of Eastern Kakavand to the cities of Harsin, Sahne, and Kermanshah started after land reforms and continued until the 1980s. The main reasons were the lack of resources, population increase, and consecutive droughts. Immigrants in the city were divided into two groups: lower class and upper class. Since the early 80s, rural development has been on the government agenda. Poor immigrants returned to the village to eliminate economic problems, and rich immigrants to build villas and invest in agricultural and livestock projects. The reverse migration of the Kakavands was mostly economic in nature. Among its consequences, we can mention the revival of ruralism, the introduction of new lifestyles, active participation in modern rural institutions, the decline of the traditional authority of landowners, the decline of traditional architecture, the decline of assistance, the destruction of the environment, and the humiliation of traditional village culture.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In the last two decades, rural life has flourished in Eastern Kakavand region of Noorabad Delfan, and a number of immigrants who had left the villages before are returning to the village. This trend has various reasons related to the repulsion of city life and the charms of village life. The presence of immigrants in the village has many consequences. They are likely to change the use of some lands and take them out of the production state and towards recreational and consumption use. During the construction of housing, they encroach on the river borders and canals. They make various interventions in the morphology of the village, which leads to the change of the rural morphology. The social structure of the village changes and the local leaders lose their previous position. The lifestyle of the ancestors will not be reproduced, and new elements will be added to it. This article tries to increase our understanding of this process by answering the following questions:

What were the reasons for the migration of the villagers of Eastern Kakavand to the cities in the past?
What are the reasons for the migration of Kakavandi citizens to the village?
What opportunities and threats has reverse migration created for the Eastern Kakavand region?

 
Methodology
The research method is ethnography, and the data collection techniques are participatory observation and interview. Observation was done in two dimensions as physical environment and interactions. Twenty-two people were interviewed through theoretical sampling. The data were analyzed in three steps as analysis stage (data management, coding, content analysis, qualitative description of codes, extraction of patterns, and classification of data); interpretation (findings of each section are connected to explain the desired concepts), and  report writing.
 
Results and discussion
The social system of the Kakavand tribe is hierarchical and includes ill, clan, tribe, and mall. The common form of land ownership is small ownership in this area. 70% of agriculture is done traditionally, and its productivity is low; the first migration to the city after land reforms was made to Harsin and Sanhe. The lack of production resources and the increase in population caused an increase in immigration and its continuation until the early 2000s. The immigrants in the city were divided into three groups. The first group were local grain merchants, building architects, and carpet sellers who were financially well off. The second group achieved social mobility through education. The third group was young people who often did not succeed and worked in informal and low-income jobs. In the 90s and 2000s, there were changes in the village that increased its attractions. School buildings, health centers, asphalt roads, electricity, and plumbing are among them. In addition, the rural housing loan, which was also low-interest, played a role in the renovation of the village's residential structure. Wealthy immigrants returned to the village for relaxation and weekend entertainment, and low-income immigrants returned to the village for livelihood. This return brought various consequences for the village. The positive consequences are the renewal of worn-out texture, the revival of rural life, the introduction of new lifestyles, active participation in the village council, and the deterioration of traditional structures. The negative consequences are the destruction of the environment, the humiliation of village culture, the deterioration of traditional architecture, the deterioration of assistance, and the stagnation of private capital in some villages.
 
Conclusion
Migration always has various reasons and consequences that are understandable in the historical context. The return of Kakavand immigrants is affected by the macro conditions of the country, which led to the improvement of the status of rural settlements in terms of infrastructure services, banking facilities and the possibility of earning money. Immigrants brought about significant changes in the fabric of villages, which have both positive and negative consequences. In the first case, the village regained its past prosperity. In the second case, the village lost many of its traditional assets. The collectivist lifestyle gave way to the individualistic lifestyle. As a result of this trend, traditional architecture that had different functions corresponding to animal husbandry and agriculture gave way to architecture whose only function is emotional relationships and raising children. Traditional assistance faded away, and wages entered the labor relations in the village. Social hierarchies faded, and new personality types such as Shura, Dehyar, Behvarz, and Dispute Resolution Council members replaced landowners and herders. These changes pushed rural life towards urban life and indicated the "urbanization of the village."
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Qholipour and Moradkhani designed the concepts and research design. Nouri collected the data. Qholipour and Nouri analyzed and interpreted the data. Qholipour wrote the article. Qholipour and Nouri participated in the discussion and conclusions.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.