Living Between Cultures

Diaspora migrant communities have become an important part of the urban life. Their life experience and multicultural feature have become a part of the contemporary situation of culture. This has affected anthropology and the concepts that are the basis of this discipline, such as culture, tradition, identity and place, and has also been the generator of some theories and methodologies. In this article, with the help of an ethnographic writing driven from the field work in Dowlatabad neighborhood of Tehran, we seek to understand what and how being multicultural is by exploring the collective life of Mo'aveddin (Iranian-Iraqis who were expelled from Iraq). What is the relation between the life of Mo'aveddin and some concepts such as culture and identity. Those whose lives are formed beyond political borders, how do they position themselves within cultural and identity borders. Furthermore, as these communities have become a ubiquitous reality in today's world, how can anthropology reposition itself to better understand this new situation of culture? In this article, we have tried to examine these questions through the voice of Mo'aveddin, anthropological theories and ethnographic experience.