With an estimated population of 35 million, Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without an independent state of their own. The majority of Kurds live in Turkey, where they constitute 18 percent of the population. Since the foundation of the Turkish republic in 1923, the history of the Kurds in Turkey is marked by state violence against them and decades of conflict between the Turkish military and Kurdish fighters. Although the continuous struggle of the Kurdish people is well-known and the political actors involved in the conflict have received much scholarly attention, little has been written from the vantage point of the Kurds themselves. Alemdaroglu and Goecek's volume develops a fresh approach by moving away from top-down, Turkish nationalist macro analyses to a micro-analysis of how Kurds and Kurdistan as historical and ethnic categories were constructed from the bottom up and how Kurds experience and resists marginalization, exclusion, and violence. Contributors looks beyond the politics of state actors to examine the role of civil society and the significant role women play in the negotiation of power. Kurds in Dark Times opens an essential window into the lives of Kurds in Turkey, generating meaningful insights not only into the political interactions with the Turkish state and society, but also the informal ways in which they negotiate within society that will be crucial in developing peace and reconciliation.
Ayca Alemdaroglu is a research scholar and associate director of the Program on Turkey at the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. Fatma Muege Goecek is professor of sociology and women's studies at the University of Michigan.
A fresh approach to the study of Kurds in Turkey.
The book includes voices from a new generation of scholars in the emergent field of Kurdish studies.-- "Esra OEzyuerek, University of Cambridge" In dark times, light is an imperative. This tome is a wonderful collection illuminating the Kurdish situation in Turkey. Their current suffering has a long history and, in examining this history, the various authors address things such as Turkishness as whiteness, the racialization of Kurds and Armenians, women as central actors in the Kurdish resistance, the prolonged history of the Kurds in what we call today Turkey, and much more. Alemdaroglu and Goecek have produced an enormously important book that will be of interest to students of race, ethnic, and nationalist matters.-- "Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Duke University" A hugely important contribution to shedding light on the structural violence, everyday violence, and political violence against Kurds in Turkey; a preciously collective effort of scholars across generations to think and stand against the 'evil' and 'dark times' of totalitarianism. This book is timely and urgent, thoughtful and compelling.-- "Zerrin OEzlem Biner, University of Kent" An admirable set of essays on what it means to live as Kurdish women and men in today's Turkey, documenting the many forms of everyday oppression and resistance. Unlike much of the recent writing on the Kurds, the authors consistently and convincingly present the view from below; they deserve credit for their committed scholarship. -- "Martin van Bruinessen, professor emeritus, Utrecht University"
