The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, and IranIn tracing the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, Denise Natali shows that, contrary to popular theories, there is nothing natural or fixed about Kurdish identity or the configuration that Kurdish nationalism assumes. Rather, Kurdish nationalism has been shaped by the development of nation-states in the region. Although Kurdish communities have maintained some shared sense of Kurdishness, Kurdayeti (the mobilization of Kurdish identity) is interwoven with a much larger series of identities within the "political space" of each Kurdish group. Different notions of inclusion and exclusion have modified the political and cultural opportunities of Kurds to express their ethnic identities, and opening the possibility of assuming alternative identities over time. With this book Natali makes a significant contribution to theoretical, empirical, and policy-based scholarship on the Middle East, the plight of the Kurds, ethnonationalism, and ethnopolitical conflict. Hers is the first comparative work to examine Kurdish nationalism as a function of diverse political spaces. As a vital addition to the literature in the field, this book will supplant a number of standard texts on the Kurds. |
Contents
Large Political Space | 1 |
Iraqs Transition to a Colonial State | 26 |
Iraqs Transition to an Independent Republican State | 48 |
Turkeys Transition to an Independent Republican State | 70 |
Complex Political Space | 92 |
Irans Transition to a Constitutional Monarchy | 117 |
Irans Transition to an Islamic Republic | 140 |
Reconfiguring Kurdayeti | 160 |
Rethinking Nationalism Ethnicity and the Kurdish Problem | 180 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alevi alongside Arab nationalist Armenians Atatürk autonomy Ba'thist Baghdad Barzani became British central government colonial Iraq Communist conservative created Democratic dish distinct Kurdish Diyarbakir economic encouraged ethnonationalism factions highly ethnicized Human Rights Iran Iranian Kurdish Iranian Kurds Iraq Iraqi Kurdish Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurds KDPI Kemalist Kermanshah Khan Khomeini Kurdayetî Kurdish communities Kurdish ethnic identity Kurdish ethnonationalism Kurdish groups Kurdish language Kurdish leaders Kurdish leftists Kurdish nationalism Kurdish nationalist Kurdish political Kurdish problem Kurdish regions Kurdish society Kurdish tribal Kurds in Turkey land landowners Mahabad Majlis military mobilize movement Naqshbandiyya national identity nationalist elite officials organizations Ottoman Empire parties peasants percent period Persian policies political space populations programs provinces Qajar refugees religious Reza role salient Sanandaj secular shah Shaykh Shi'a Islam socioeconomic structures Sulaimaniya Sunni Kurdish Sunni Muslim Talabani tion tional traditional stratum transnational space tribal chiefs tribes Turkish Turks ulema urban