The purpose of this study is to investigate the social construction of border – trading and the way it is interpreted and represented from the viewpoints of border-residents. The data collected through in-depth – interview, participant observation and documentary evidences. Then, the grounded ...
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the social construction of border – trading and the way it is interpreted and represented from the viewpoints of border-residents. The data collected through in-depth – interview, participant observation and documentary evidences. Then, the grounded theory methodology was used to analyze the data. Based on purposive and theoretical sampling, 22 participants were interviewed until the theoretical saturation was achieved. 30 concepts and 4 main categories extracted from data upon which a core concept was constructed. The main categories include: Ecological Context, Economic Impasses, Kinship / Trans- cultural Affiliation and Reactionary Policies of Government. The core category was taken to be “Less-Development” which covers all main concepts and categories.
The grounded theory model is presented in paradigmatic model consisting of three main components: Contexts, Interactions, and Consequences. According to findings, the phenomena of border – trading, as a historical and contextual construct, arises from the people’s reaction to geographical, cultural, political and economic impasses / opportunities. In other words, the semantic construction of border residents indicates that the border – trading could be taken into account as an inevitable strategy used by people involved to manage their life and to cope with underdevelopment of the region.
