Syria's Kurds History, Politics and Society

Auteur :

Éditeur : Routledge	Date & Lieu : 2009, London
Préface :	Pages : 190
Traduction :	ISBN : 0-415-42440
Langue : Anglais	Format : 155x230 mm
Code FIKP : Liv. Ang. 2648	Thème : Histoire

Présentation	Table des Matières	Introduction	Identité	PDF
Syria’s Kurds This book is a decisive contribution to the study of Kurdish history in Syria since the Mandatory period (1920–1946) up to the present. Avoiding an essentialist approach, Jordi Tejel provides fine, complex and sometimes aradoxical analysis of the articulation between tribal, local, regional, and ational identities, on one hand, and the formation of a Kurdish minority awareness vis-à-vis the consolidation of Arab nationalism in Syria, on the other hand. Using unpublished material, in particular concerning the Mandatory period (French records and Kurdish newspapers) and social movement theory, Tejel nalyses the reasons behind the Syrian “exception” within the Kurdish political phere. In spite of the exclusion of Kurdishness from the public sphere, especially ince 1963, Kurds of Syria have avoided a direct confrontation with the central ower, most Kurds opting for a strategy of ‘dissimulation’, cultivating internally the forms of identity that challenge the official ideology. The book explores the ynamics leading to the consolidation of Kurdish minority awareness in contemporary yria; an ongoing process that could take the form of radicalization or ven violence. While the book offers a rigorous conceptual approach, the ethnographic material akes it a compelling read. It will not only appeal to scholars and students of he Middle East, but to those interested in history, ethnic conflicts, nationalism, ocial movement theories, and many other related issues.


Table des Matières
Contents Acknowledgements / vii A note on transliteration / ix List of abbreviations / xi Frontispiece map 1: Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria / xiii Frontispiece map 2: Areas inhabited by Kurds / xiv Introduction / 1 1 The Kurds during the French Mandate / 8 Kurdish populations under the French Mandate / 8 The mandate system and the birth of the Syrian state / 13 The Mandate and “colonial expertise” / 15 The Kurdish cultural movement in Syria and Lebanon / 21 Fragmentation of the Kurdish community: politics in Jazira / 27 2 Syria in transition, 1946–63 / 38 Minorities under suspicion / 40 Searching for new political horizons / 42 The triumph of Arab nationalism and the United Arab Republic / 47 3 The Ba‘athist system and the Kurds / 53 Ba‘athism: an exception in Arab nationalism? / 54 The years of ideological purity (1963–70) / 59 The years of exploitation (1970–2000) / 62 4 The Kurdish issue and its transnational dimension / 69 The emergence of Hafiz al-As‘ad’s game / 71 The fall of Saddam Husayn and the collapse of Syrian strategy / 79 5 The Kurdish response and its margins: “dissimulation” of a hidden conflict / 82 The Kurdish parties at the margins of the legal system / 85 Kurdish identity at the margins of official Islam / 95 The defense of Kurdish culture / 102 6 The Qamishli revolt, 2004: the marker of a new era for the Kurds in Syria / 108 The events preceding the Kurdish upheaval / 110 The Qamishli revolt / 114 Toward a radicalization of ethnic divisions? / 126 Conclusion / 133 Appendix / 139 Notes / 141 Bibliography / 169 Index / 182