Kurdish Studies Guide
KURDISH2000PLUS
January 2000
RESEARCH GUIDE: KURDISH STUDIES
by Hamit Bozarslan
"Kurdish studies" began during the first three decades of the
Twentieth Century with the works of Basil Nikitin, Vladimir Minorsky and
Thomas Bois. In spite of some major studies (F. Barth, I. C. Vany, D.N.
MacKenzie...), the later decades however, saw a decline of Kurdish
studies. The apparent pacification of Kurdistan by the central
governments
of Iraq, Iran and Turkey explains largely this lack of interest for this
issue from the 1940s up to 1960s.
THE RENEWAL OF THE 1970s-1990s
From the 1960's to the 1990's, however, this situation changed
gradually. The Barzani rebellion in Iraq (1961-1975), the guerrilla
warfare in Iran (1979-1980) and in Turkey (1984-1999), the two Gulf Wars
(1980-1988, 1991) and the establishment of a "Safe Haven" in Iraqi
Kurdistan (1991) put the Kurdish issue once again on the regional and
international agenda. These events increased the interest of the Western
mass media on the Kurdish issue. At the some time, some "raw materials"
and works of Kurdish and Turkish researchers become accessible. Parallel
to this evolution, academic Kurdish studies in Europe and, to a lesser
extent, in the United States also increased both in quantity and in
quality.
Martin van Bruinessen, a Dutch anthropologist, played a decisive
role in the renewal of these studies from the 1970s up to now. Alongside
his major work, Agha, Sheikh and State. The Social and Political
Structures of Kurdistan (Zed Press, 1992), van Bruinessen has published
a
countless number of articles on various aspects of the Kurdish issue as
well as on Kurdish society (history of the Kurdish emirates, tribal
structures, urban society, religion, nationalism, Kurdish diaspora
abroad). His linguistic skills allowed him to acquire a deep knowledge
of
the Middle East and to attain a high degree of erudition that goes
hand-in-hand with a constant theoretical concern that is in sharp
contrast
with the Orientalist traditions.
During the last two decades, and partly due to the lead of van
Bruinessen, other scholars in Europe and in the United States have also
contributed to the development of the Kurdish studies. A non-exhaustive
list would include the following names : Salih Akin (France, languages
and
politics), Ali Babakhan (France, Kurdish issue in Iraq), Henry Barkey
(USA, Kurdish issue in Turkey), Gunter Behrendt (Germany, emergence of
Kurdish nationalism), Joyce Blau de Wengen (France, Kurdish language,
religious studies), Gerard Chaliand (France, Kurdish issue), Michael L.
Chyet (USA, Kurdish language), Nelida Fuccaro (U.K., Yezidism, Iraqi
Kurdistan), Graham Fuller (USA, Kurdish issue in Turkey), Gulistan
Gurbey
(Germany, conflict solution), Hocham Dawod (France, state-tribe
relations), Farhad Ibrahim (Germany, civil society), Michael Leezenberg
(Netherlands, contemporary Iraqi Kurdistan), David MacDowell (U.K.,
modern Kurdish history), Amir Hassanpour, (Canada, culture and
politics),
Mirella Galetti (Italy, Kurdistan observed by travellers), Philip G.
Kreyenbroek (U.K.-Germany, language, Yezidism), Hans-Lukas Kieser
(Switzerland, Kurdish Alevis), Kendal Nezan (France, Kurdish issue),
Robert Olson (USA, modern Kurdish history), Abbas Vali (U.K., Kurdish
nationalism and historiography), Jelle Verheij (Netherlands,
Kurdish-Armenian relations), Heidi Wedel (Germany, Kurdish migrants,
gender studies), Paul White (Australia, Kurdish nationalism), Andreas
Wimmer (Switzerland, state-tribe relations), Lale Yalcin-Heckmann
(Turkey-Germany, state-tribe relations), Burhaneddin Yasin (Sweden,
Kurdish issue in Iraq).
The SOAS in London (Philip G. Kreyenbrok, Maria O'Shea,
Christine
Alison), the INALCO in Paris (Joyce Blau de Wengen, Halkawt Hakim),
Berliner Institut fur Vergleichende Sozialforshung (Robin Schneider,
Jochen Blashke) and the student circle on the Frei University of Berlin,
as well as collective initiatives due to the Kurdish Institute in Paris,
Navend in Cologne and the Kurdish Library in New York also contributed
to
the development of the Kurdish studies. Finally, some remarkable works
have been accomplished by reporters such Chris Kutchera, Jonathan Randal
and Susan Meiselas.
THREE OBSTACLES
In spite of this evolution, Kurdish studies remain insufficient
and one cannot assume a prosperous future. Most of the work done has
been
the result of individual investments, forbidding scholars of this field
to
project long-term research programs. Parallel to the scarcity of
material
resources and adequate academic structures, those scholars face three
major obstacles.
The first obstacle should be sought in the very nature of Middle
Eastern studies both in Europe and in the United States. They are
unequally developed. While studies on the "ancient" and "medieval"
Middle
East are fortunately well institutionalized, modern and contemporary
history--as well as some disciplines as sociology--are rather poorly
developed. Similarly, some countries are more studied than the others.
Kurdish studies, as well as some other crucial issues, thus become
"marginal subjects," being only mentioned rather than properly explored
in
the scientific literature.
The second obstacle is linked to political situations in the
countries concerned by the Kurdish issue. The states in Turkey, Iraq,
Iran
and Syria largely control academic life, deciding which subjects are
"scientific" ones and how they should be studied. Even in Turkey, the
most
democratic among those countries, some subjects, like the Kurdish issue,
are either discouraged or become practically non-existent. This
ideological domination is partly reproduced in the Western countries. A
scholar working on the Kurdish issue becomes automatically suspect of
perhaps being linked to the PKK or even a disguised terrorist. Such a
scholar must constantly explain and justify his/her personal positions
on
the Kurdish issue, resist the pressures and public denunciations of the
Turkish mass media, and, at the some time, try to create working
conditions equal to colleagues studying "non-dangerous" aspects of
Middle
Eastern societies. To complete this picture, one should also add that
the
Kurdish nationalist movements themselves impose an ideological mortgage
on
the Kurdish studies. Subjects like the intra-Kurdish ethnic groups,
"linguistic plurality" of Kurdish society, and sociological aspects of
the
Kurdish nationalist movements remain largely "forbidden" subjects.
The final obstacle is linked to the difficult conditions of
conducting research in the field. In fact, Kurdish scholars can return
to
their home countries and conduct field work only if they pay a very high
cost that can include imprisonment and death. But for non-Kurdish
scholars
the work conditions are also hard. Many of them are refused a visa and
almost none of them can have access to the field. They must worry about
compromising the security of the people interviewed for academic
purposes.
None of them can access archives.
In spite of those obstacles, one should recognize that during
the
last decades, some remarkable progress has been accomplished in the
field
of the Kurdish studies. The increase of the number of Ph.D. students
studying the Kurdish issue and society in Germany, France, Netherlands,
United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States, could be understood as an
ongoing interest for this field. One should hope that these students
will
be able to overcome the above-mentioned obstacles by innovating new
research methods and new scientific approaches.
Hamit Bozarslan is an Associate Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes
en Sciences Sociales, Paris. Author of La question kurde. Etats et
minorites au Moyen-Orient (Paris, Presses de Sciences-Po, 1997), he is
currently working on the issues surrounding violence in Turkey and the
Middle East.
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