Description

By (author) Sen, Elsa Tulin

Short /annotation:
An analysis of the Kurdish movement in Turkey in the context of social movement theory.

:
This book examines the Kurdish movement in the context of total social movement theory. First tracing its origins as a conventionally nationalist movement, Elsa Sen draws upon Alan Touraine’s concept of a total social movement to argue that from 2000 to 2015 the Kurds in Turkey pursued a policy of engaging in a peace process, channeling energy into civil society activism and electoral campaigns, and promoting an inclusive understanding of national identity for all the components of Turkish society – not just the Kurds – in a hypothetically fully functioning democracy. Both theoretically informed and drawing upon empirical research in the form of interviews with Kurdish and Turkish activists, non-activists and political representatives, the book provides a new perspective on contemporary Kurdish politics as oscillating between nationalist and social movement paradigms, with the recent decline of the latter due to the resumption of military action by the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party after 2015.

Table of contents:

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION
Methodology – Reality not onlytouches our intellect but also our sentiments

CHAPTER 1
Nationalisms and social movements

CHAPTER 2
Rereading the historical foundations of Kurdishnationalism

CHAPTER 3
The emergence of a proto-social movement

CHAPTER 4
The Kurdish movement in Turkey becomes a socialmovement (2000-2013)

CHAPTER 5
A Kurdish Total Social Movement A La Touraine? (2013-2015)

CHAPTER 6
The end of the total socialmovement: ‘the failure of the social’

CONCLUSION –
What now ? – Semantics andadministration

Bibliography

Review quote:
Brilliantly researched and analytically rich, The Kurdish Movement in Turkey is a masterful exploration of one of the most significant and enduring struggles in modern geopolitics. With remarkable depth and clarity, it unravels the intricate dynamics of nationalism, grassroots activism, and recurring cycles of conflict. A groundbreaking work that is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Kurdish movement, identity politics, and the broader conflicts shaping the Middle East.

Biographical note:

Elsa Tulin Sen holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from King”s College London. She is currently teaching political science at the Institut Catholique de Paris and is a visiting research fellow in the Department of War Studies at King”s College London.

Promotional headline:
An analysis of the Kurdish movement in Turkey in the context of social movement theory.

Feature:
Offer an original analysis of the trajectory of the Kurdish movement in Turkey

Feature:
Uses structured and semi-structured interviews and participant observations of Kurdish and Turkish activists, non-activists and political representatives

Feature:
Theoretically informed, employing Alan Touraine”s concept of total social movements in the contexts of the Kurds of Turkey for the first time