The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts

Harriet Allsopp, Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Bloomsbury Publishing, Aug 8, 2019 - History - 264 pages

Based on unprecedented access to Kurdish-governed areas of Syria, including exclusive interviews with administration officials and civilian surveys, this book sheds light on the socio-political landscape of this minority group and the various political factions vying to speak for them.
The first English-language book to capture the momentous transformations that have occurred since 2011, the authors move beyond idealized images of Rojava and the Kurdish PYD (Democratic Union Party) to provide a nuanced assessment of the Kurdish autonomous experience and the prospects for self-rule in Syria. The book draws on unparalleled field research, as well as analysis of the literature on the evolution of Kurdish politics and the Syrian war. You will understand why the PYD-led project in Syria split the Kurdish political movement and how other representative structures amongst Syria's Kurds fared. Emerging clearly are the complex range of views about pre-existing, current and future governance structures.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Identity and Representation I Foundations of Identity Formation and Representation: 13
• Kurdish Political Parties A Comparison of Political Values: 47
• PYDled Governance Structures From DAAs to Federalism: 89
• Identity and Representation II The Democratic Autonomy Project: 141
• The Role of Regional and International Actors: 167
• The Prospects of Kurdish SelfRepresentation and SelfGovernance: 199
• Bibliography: 219
• Index: 231

About the author

Harriet Allsopp is a researcher and consultant. Her research has focused on Kurdish political organisation, nationalisms and channels of representation and dissent in Syria. She holds a PhD in Politics from Birkbeck College, University of London and is the author of The Kurds of Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the Middle East (I. B. Tauris, 2014).

Wladimir van Wilgenburg is an analyst of Kurdish politics and a journalist living in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Much of his work is based on first-hand research and interviews conducted on the ground in Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria. In 2013, he received an MA from the University of Exeter's Kurdish Studies program.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts; Kurdish Studies
• Authors: Harriet Allsopp, Wladimir van Wilgenburg
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019
• ISBN: 1788315987, 9781788315982
• Length: 264 pages
• Subjects: History / Middle East / General; Political Science / General; Political Science / World / Middle Eastern; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General; Social Science / Islamic Studies; Social Science / Minority Studies