Khdhir, Dilshad
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Room: A1
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Tel: +44 (0)1158467081
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Fax: +44 (0)115 951 4859
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Email: Dilshad Khdhir
Dynamics of Kurdish identity formation in Iraq since 1991
What makes the Kurdish identity in Iraq? Kurds occupy a significant Geographical and social and political landscape in the Middle East. However, my focus is on the Kurds as a collective group in a particular geographical area of the Middle East known to Kurds as ‘Iraqi-Kurdistan’ and to most other outsiders as ‘Northern Iraq’. My study is an attempt to identify the inner dynamics of Kurdish identity formation, more precisely since 1991. My understanding is that there is not a single way to approaching my question. I am working on three levels of analysis in order to solve a puzzle as difficult as the issue of identity. I understand that there elements in identity formation that can not be tackled without some kind of structural considerations (i.e. particular political and socio-economic contexts) these issues have been traditionally dealt with by modernist approaches to identity formation. However, cultural and historical considerations have proved to work very well in our quest to understanding issues of identity especially in the form of ethnic and nationalist identities. In the meantime, social constructivist approaches to identity have cautioned us not to take everything for granted and accept identity as fixed and essential. We ought to examine the language and discourse of identity in their particular societal and political contexts which are characterised by mutual interaction.
My approach to the question of Kurdish identity formation capitalises on the many elements of the available literature on identity formation without fully subscribing to any single approach, as I believe, they fail to give us the full picture individually.
Dr Tony Burns and Dr Malika Rahal
School Fee Waiver
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Middle Eastern Politics & nationalism
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Theories of nations & nationalism
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IR theories
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Discourse analysis
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British social & public policy