Informal Trading Relationships and Sustainability Strategies (Lived Experiences of Activists in the Border Areas of Saqqez and Baneh)

Informal trading activities in border regions are inherently risky and challenging. Special rules and methods are needed to deal with the dangers and challenges of this phenomenon and to continue these activities. This study aimed to investigate how activists in the Saqqqez and Baneh border regions continue their informal trading activities and how they deal with the risks involved. Data were collected using the ethnographic method, interviews, and observation techniques. Through the purposive sampling method, 55 key informants, including kulbars, wholesalers, retailers, and drivers, were interviewed to achieve theoretical saturation. Based on respondents’ comments, the following 10 key categories were identified: Use of natural and environmental features as a means of escape; reliance on personal skills and abilities; group support and integration; innovation and creativity; use of strategic tricks; compromise with police; sociocultural legitimacy of the commodity; instrumental use of religious beliefs; personal profit and speculation; forced resistance; and use of violence. The analysis of the results showed that these tricks, which could be called “strategies for the survival and continuation of informal trading activities in border regions”, are the result of lived experiences, socio-economic conditions, the natural structure of border regions, and available resources and facilities; therefore, they provide opportunities for activists and increase their resilience to the possible consequences of risks