Re-Creating the Ethnic Cultural Identity among the Arab People of Khuzestan

Investigating cultural issues in multi-ethnic and multicultural societies is a necessity to reduce cultural divergences and realize social solidarity. Considering the emergence of some ethnic divergences in contemporary Iran, it is necessary to investigate such a phenomenon in the context of Iranian society. The ethnic cultural identity of the Arab people of khuzestan province has characteristics of cultural particularism and generalism, and today it has undergone a kind of re-creation. In this research, in order to identify the dimensions of this identity reconstruction, interviews were conducted with 20 experts in the field of cultural identity of the Arab people of khuzestan province. In this research, the method of qualitative content analysis based on theme analysis has been used. In general, the findings of the research about some of the most important variables affecting the re-creation of ethnic identity among the arab people of khuzestan province include: the functional weakness of civil institutions, the reduction of the cultural control of the central government, cultural tourism, greater acceptance of cultural pluralism, programs of local television channels (arabic) of iran broadcasting organization, growth of cultural capital, social mobility, feeling of relative deprivation and indifference of the political system to ethnic cultural identities in cultural policies. These variables indicate the existence of four dimensions of creative action in the studied society: "change", "innovation", "restoration" in the components of ethnic identity and the intensification of "divergence" and confrontation with the official and dominant culture in the society.