Asking the 'Kurdish Question' Today: Institutional Paths to Self-Determination for "the Largest Ethnic Group without a State"
Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Political Science
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Open Access
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Most commonly referred to as “the largest ethnic group without a state”, the millions of Kurds who live in the Middle East are divided across the borders of four countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Within each of these states, the Kurds have faced economic discrimination, cultural persecution, and forced relocation or murder. These experiences of repression strengthened Kurdish nationalist sentiment, which has found expression through various political parties, armed groups and other organizations. The discrepancy between the idea of the Kurds as a people and their division and persecution, which seems to run contrary to the norm of self-determination and the right of peoples to decide how they are governed, constitutes the ‘Kurdish question’. Today, this question is more important than ever. The Middle East is in a period of upheaval, with an ongoing civil war in Syria, the rise of ISIS, presenting challenges to the Iraqi and Syrian states. As the states in this region have been slow to accommodate Kurdish culture and interests, the Kurds have continually tried to form their own political institution. The fact that the Kurds are most commonly referred to as “the largest ethnic group without a state” reflects the fact that the discussion of Kurdish self-determination has long been oriented around the nation-state. However, despite the central role played by the state in this discussion and other matters of political theory, there are many reasons to doubt it as a practical or desirable solution in the Kurdish case, and it certainly does not appear to be the only one. In my thesis, I compare the relative benefits and drawbacks of three potential institutional forms with regards to the concerns of Kurdish nationalism: a nation-state, a federalized sub-state territory (as the Kurds in Iraq currently possess) and democratic confederalism, a form of radical democracy and local autonomy currently in effect in Kurdish-majority regions in Northern Syria. Through this analysis, I conclude that despite the ubiquity of the idea a Kurdish nation-state would not advance Kurdish interests, and that democratic confederalism is better suited to the circumstances of the regional situation today.