@article{ref1,
title="Life and labor on the internal colonial edge: Political economy of kolberi in Rojhelat",
journal="British journal of sociology",
year="2020",
author="Soleimani, Kamal and Mohammadpour, Ahmad",
volume="71",
number="4",
pages="741-760",
abstract="Through the investigation of kolberi (cross-border labor), this paper sheds light on the state?s policy of de-development (or internal colonialization) of the Kurdish region (known as Rojhelat) in Iran. While the most dangerous form of labor, kolberi has become a dominant employment opportunity for Rojhelat Kurds in the last decade. There are no Iranian state laws criminalizing kolberi, and yet those laborers die on a regular basis?being shot or thrown off mountain cliffs by the state forces, stepping into minefields, and so forth. Nevertheless, there is not a single scholarly paper on this subject. Using the mixed methods research approach, our study analyzes the existing data along with in-depth interviews with 20 people who are currently engaged in kolberi to contextualize this understudied phenomenon. Our finding demonstrates that kolberi is a direct outcome of a uni-ethno-religious policies of development and part and parcel of the state's Perso-Shi?ification strategy in Kurdistan. Therefore, kolberi is more of a political phenomenon than an economic one.<p />",
language="en",
issn="0007-1315",
doi="10.1111/1468-4446.12745",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12745"
}