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

  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.   Review “The authors in this edited volume carefully and clearly peel back the myth of a single, homogenous Kurdistan and Kurdish nation. For readers interested in understanding the complexity of the Kurds and the Middle East in general, such a focus on intra-Kurdish actors, identities and politics proves invaluable. Readers should very much appreciate not only the clear language and objective approach of this text, but also the high relevance of the subject matter (given current events in the Middle East) and the theoretically grounded analyses of each of the book’s contributors. Kurdish and Middle East studies are lucky to have collections like this one being published.” (David Romano, Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics Missouri State University, Author, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement and co-editor, Conflict, Democratization and the Kurds in the Middle East) From the Back Cover 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.   About the Author 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.