The Kurds: A Concise Handbook
Mehrdad R. Izady
Crane Russak
This book rethinks the relevance of the social sciences, both Marxist and liberal, to social change in the "Third World." The authors are concerned with the failure of contemporary development theory to explain and take seriously the dynamic histories of the peoples of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Breaking with unlinear, ahistorical approaches in economics, sociology, political science, and psychology, the essays explore a broad range of issues in an attempt to break new ground.
Topics discussed include: the link between democracy and raising productivity; the respective influence of technology and social relations in industrialization; the contribution to and participation in development of peasants; the conflict between individual freedom and authoritarianism; the changing relations of governments; and political alliances formed around development issues.
Mehrdad Izady is currently a lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. He has undergraduate degrees in History, Political Science, and Geography and masters degrees in International Affairs, Geography, and Middle Eastern Studies. His doctorate is in Middle Eastern Studies from Columbia University. He has lectured widely and testified before two U.S. Congressional subcommittees on the Kurds. He has published extensively in the Kurdish Times as well as The Middle East Journal. He has also contributed to the Encyclopedia of Asian History and has published maps on the distribution of Kurds.
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