Awards

• Winner of Mazlum Bagok 2018 (Turkey)
• Winner of Mazlum Bagok 2018 (Türkiye)

Overview

The Kurdish territory of Rojava in Syria has become a watchword for radical democracy, communalism and gender equality. But while Western radicals continue to project their own values onto the revolution, the complexities of the situation are often overlooked or misunderstood. Based on over 17 years of research and fieldwork, Thomas Schmidinger provides a detailed introduction to the history and political situation in Rojava. Outlining the history of the Kurds in Syria from the late Ottoman Empire until the Syrian civil war, he describes the developments in Rojava since 2011: the protests against the regime, the establishment of a Kurdish para-state, the conflicts between the parties about the administration of the Kurdish territory and how the PYD and its People's Councils rule the territory. The book draws on interviews with political leaders of different parties, civil society activists, artists, fighters and religious leaders in order to paint an complex picture of the historical conflict and the contemporary situation.

Full Product Details

Author:   Thomas Schmidinger (University of Vienna)
Publisher:   Pluto Press
Imprint:   Pluto Press
Weight:   0.396kg
ISBN:  

9780745337722

ISBN 10:   0745337724
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   20 June 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Language:   German

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Preface to the English Edition Preface to the Fourth Edition Preface to the Third Edition The Development of Kurdish Parties 1. The Long Struggle for Autonomy 2. Background and Methods of Social Science Research in War 3. Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, and Assyrians: Rojava as Part of the Ethnic Diversity of Syria 4. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Alevi, and Êzîdî: Religious Pluralism in Rojava 5. Kurdistan: Country without a State or Country against the State 6. Syrian Kurdistan under the French Protectorate 7. Kurds in Independent Syria 8. In the Crosshairs of Pan-Arabism: From the United Arab Republic to Ba‘athism 9. Special Census and Statelessness 10. The Kurds under Ba‘athist Rule 11. Between Two Brief Springs: Rojava under Bashar al-Assad 12. The Kurdish Party Landscape 13. From Revolution to Civil War 14. Military Developments since 2012 15. Political Economy in the Civil War 16. The Kurdish Districts of Aleppo 17. The Kurdish Para-State in Rojava 18. Voices from Rojava 19. Conclusion: Rojava, Quo Vadis? Bibliography List of Interviews Notes Index

Reviews

'Dealing extensively with Syrian history and politics, Schmidinger's book is one of the most accurate contributions to Rojava's history' -- New Middle Eastern Studies 'Preferable to most journalistic accounts that reduce the Rojava revolution to a single narrative. It will remain an informative resource even when the realities have further changed' -- Martin van Bruinessen, Kurdish Studies 3 (2), (2015)

'...Preferable to most journalistic accounts that reduce the Rojava revolution to a single narrative. It will remain an informative resource even when the realities have further changed' -- Martin van Bruinessen, Kurdish Studies 3 (2), (2015)

Author Information

Thomas Schmidinger is a Political Scientist and Cultural Anthropologist, Associate Professor and Program Director at the Department for Politics and International Relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH). He also teaches at the University of Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences Oberösterreich in Linz. He is Secretary General of the Austrian Association for Kurdish studies. He is the author of Rojava, which received the Mezlum Bagok award.

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