Overview

Examines how Kurdish alternative politics and state building result in new forms of governmentality, justice and gender regimes Based on 202 interviews with Kurdish female and male activists, politicians, mayors, former and active guerrillas, unofficial court representatives and judges, local religious leaders, and representatives from different Turkish and Kurdish political parties, secular groups and women's organisations Introduces a new theory of alternative governmentality, and explains how this plays an important role for emerging parallel powers and alternative state-making processes Contributes to and challenges existing debates on authoritarianism and governmentality in the Middle East and Europe Engages critically with 'radical democracy' and 'democratic federalism' as they are articulated and practised by the Kurdish political movement Gives insight into the lived experiences and daily lives of Kurdish women and men under authoritarian rule, from the Kurdish cities of Mardin, Kars and Diyarbakir Latif Tas investigates the triangular relationship between nationalism, justice and gender politics to explore how influencing this dynamic allows authoritarian rulers to stay in power for longer and justify their actions for monopolising power. Based on ethnographic research in Turkey, Syria, and Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as Kurdish diasporas in Europe, the book examines how communities challenge existing state power, authoritarianism and control. It focuses on alternative legal and political practices established by the PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) such as local policing, informal judicial mechanisms and taxing, and shows how this divergence from state-led systems forges a sense of community among Kurds and creates a de-facto parallel state. It pays particular attention to the Kurdish political movement's success in achieving its aim of redressing gender-based injustices to create an equal society.

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9781474457422

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Reviews

"""Betrayed by almost everyone, the Kurdish people have developed a politics of self-reliance and an innovative, democratic and feminist, nationalism. In this book, Latif Tas provides a rigorous ethnographic and political account of what the Kurds have done. Focused on Turkey and Syria, Tas's analysis is wonderfully toughminded, appreciative of the Kurdish alternative"" but also critical of its shortcomings. This is a major contribution to our understanding of the Middle East. """" -Michael Waltzer, Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA"

Author Information

Dr. Latif Tas is Marie-Curie Global Fellow at SOAS, UK. He has also been Member at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton (2019/2020), US. With a PhD from the Law Faculty, Queen Mary University of London (2012), he is a Social Scientist studying political violence, social justice, authoritarianism, social movements, migration and gender. He has been doing ethnographic research in Turkey, Germany, the UK, Iraq and Syria for last 13 years and has published extensively. His articles have appeared in many scholarly journals such as Nation and Nationalism, Third Wold Quarterly, Cambridge Journal of Law in Context, Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, the Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, Dissent and the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern. His political commentaries published such as in Open Democracy, Public Anthropologist and the Brussels Times. He is also the author of Legal Pluralism in Action: Dispute Resolution and the Kurdish Peace Committee (Routledge, 2016).

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