Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: Actors, Ideas, and Interests

ISBN-13: 9783319537146 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 235 str.

Emel Elif Tugdar; Serhun Al

Opis

This volume focuses on contemporary Kurdish politics, with particular interest in Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran (which are recognized as four parts of Kurdistan). Methodologically, the approach is explicitly comparative and analytical, driven by a set of key questions related to internal dynamics that are addressed through theoretical models and case studies. The authors introduce scholars of Comparative Politics and Middle East Studies to pertinent theoretical approaches regarding the Kurds, advance the understanding of causal mechanisms in Middle Eastern politics, and encourage further research on stateless nations that draws on similar models.

Spis treści

Introduction

PART I: ACTORS

Chapter 1: Iraqi Kurdistan’s Statehood Aspirations and Non-Kurdish Actors: The Case of Turkomans

By Emel Elif Tugdar

Chapter 2: Kurdish Political Parties In Syria: Past Struggles & Future Expectations

By Bekir Halhalli

PART II: IDEAS

Chapter 3: Human Security versus National Security and the Function of Nationalism as ‘Security-Provider’: An Analysis of the Kurds and the Turkish State

By Serhun Al

Chapter 4: Ideological Distance, Nationalist Projects, and Kurdish Extra- and Cross-Communal Relations

By Michael Wuthrich

Chapter 5: Statehood, autonomy or unitary coexistence? A comparative analysis of how Kurdish groups approach the idea of self-determination

By Cenap Cakmak

Chapter 6: Islam and the Kurdish Peace Process in Turkey (2013-15)

By Ina Merdjavona

Chapter 7: Ethnic Capital Across Borders and Regional Development: A Comparative Analysis of Kurds in the Middle East

By Serhun Al & Emel Elif Tugdar

Chapter 8: In Search of Tomorrow: Speculation, Futures, and Capitalism in Iraqi Kurdistan

By Umut Kuruuzum

Chapter 9: Explaining Variation in Political Gains: The Case of Iranian Kurdistan

By Idris Ahmedi

Conclusion

O autorze

Emel Elif Tugdar is Visiting Scholar of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University, USA. Her research agenda includes ethno-politics, human rights, politics of gender with a major focus on Middle East, specifically Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Serhun Al is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Izmir University of Economics, Turkey. His research interests include politics of identity, ethnic conflict, security studies and social movements. His recent publications have appeared in journals such as Ethnopolitics, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, Nationalities Papers, Globalizations, Journal of International Relations and Development, and Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies. 

 

Blurb

This edited volume introduces the political, social and economic intra-Kurdish dynamics in the Middle East by comparatively analyzing the main actors, their ideas, and political interests. As an ethnic group and a nation in the making, Kurds are not homogeneous and united but rather the Kurdish Middle East is home to various competing political groups, leaderships, ideologies, and interests. Although many existing studies focus on the Kurds and their relations with the nation-states that they populate, few studies analyze the Kurdish Middle East within its own debates, conflicts and interests from a comparative perspective across Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. This book analyzes the intra-Kurdish dynamics with historically-grounded, theoretically-informed, and conceptually-relevant scholarship that prioritizes comparative politics over international relations.