The Discourse about Kurdishness and Indigeneity: Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey

by Aynur Unal, Bahar Baser (Editor)

Overview

The Discourse About Kurdishness and Indigeneity: Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey presents a comprehensive analysis of the self-identified Kurdish identity within the Kurdish political movement in Turkey, adopting an indigenous perspective. The analysis is mainly focused on the parliamentary politics of three distinct periods in Turkey, including the inception of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the emergence of other pro-Kurdish political parties since the 1990s, and the parliamentary politics through the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). In addition to the central perspective of indigeneity, the theoretical framework of the book, including internal colonialism and Orientalism within Orient perspectives, is also employed to critically investigate the relationship of post-colonial nation-states with multi-ethnic societies in the case of Turkey and the Kurdish struggle. The research consists of a mixed methods approach to explore the discourse on Kurdishness by analysing party programs, statements, and semi-structured interviews. The book utilises the Discourse-Historical Approach to analyse data and provide an interpretation of the concept of indigeneity within the discourse on Kurdishness. It sheds new light on the Kurdish political movement and other indigenous peoples in Mesopotamia, who were rendered invisible after the First World War due to the emerging political discourse in the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666945232
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/20/2024
Series:	Kurdish Societies, Politics, and International Relations
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Aynur Unal is Associate Lecturer at Arden University, England.

Table of Contents

Introduction. The Discourse on Kurdishness through the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Movements

Chapter One. The Notion of Self-Identification within the Discourse on Kurdishness

Chapter Two. Struggle over Mother Tongue and Culture

Chapter Three. Kurdistan as a ‘Homeland – Ancestral Land’

Chapter Four. The Kurdish Political Movement Turkey: Struggle for Self-Determination and Women’s Rights

Conclusion. Implications of Indigeneity for the Kurdish Political Movement

Editorial Reviews

The Discourse About Kurdishness and Indigeneity: Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey significantly contributes to indigenous and Kurdish studies by examining the indigeneity of Kurds and Kurdistan from multiple angles. The author draws on Kurdish history, culture, literature, and contemporary politics to illustrate how Kurdistan has been colonized, with a primary focus on Turkey's colonization of Northern Kurdistan. By comparing Kurdistan to other colonized territories and the indigeneity of Kurds to other nations, the study provides a broader understanding of the diversity in the Kurdish political and armed movement's resistance against Turkish occupation in Kurdistan, enriching the existing literature on the topic.

Dr. Yasin Duman

Queen Margaret University and KU Leuven

Yasin Duman

Aynur Unal is a talented scholar who writes with passion and conviction in a way that delivers on what C Wright Mills positioned as the intersections of history and biography. Using biographical starting points as the anchor for the research problem, Aynur Unal examines the revelatory power of political ephemera to significant effect. Such an approach means this book will appeal to a broad audience, extending beyond those focused on Kurdishness, indigeneity, or rights movements.”

John D. Goodwin

Uri Dudash’s The Fragmentation of World Trade skillfully guides readers—analytically and geographically—through the new fragmented world of trade. Looking beyond the catchalls of globalization and protection, Dudash reveals the dynamism and adaptability of the trading system in the face of big shifts—including great power rivalries, technological change, climate rules and subsidies, regionalization, and new barriers. He concludes by offering practical counsel—and a possible pathway—for the two most important economies, the United States and China, to accommodate their rivalry within a system of rules and a modernized WTO.

Robert B. Zoellick

Former US Trade Representative, president of the World Bank, and US Deputy Secretary of State.

Robert Zoellick