The Role of Internal Forced Migration in Understanding Identity-Power Dynamics Among Kurds in Western Turkey and Bakur Kurdistan

ABSTRACT

The relationship between social identity and power is rarely explored from the perspective of racialized people, especially in the context of forced migration. In this research, we focus on Kurds, an oppressed but resisting racialized group in a non-Western context characterized by internal colonialism. Using an anticolonial and critical race approach, we examine the role of internal migration in understanding the relations between marginalized identities relevant to Kurdishness and dimensions of Kurdish power. We conducted in-person surveys with 207 Kurds from three cities of Western Turkey and three cities of Bakur Kurdistan. We considered the heterogeneity of Kurdish identity (Kurd, Kurdistanî, and Kurdish Movement identifications) and the assimilative “Türkiyeli” superordinate identity. We used dimensions of power attributed to collective resistance (i.e., power from below) and oppressive governance (i.e., privileged power). We tested how different identities predict understandings of power, and we examined the amplifying role of internal migration background. The findings indicate that Kurdish identity (specifically the Kurdish Movement identity) and being internal diaspora are both crucial for power from below among Kurds. However, these associations are independent from each other. These findings contribute to critical perspectives on marginalized (including migrant) identities and agency, especially in relation to racial oppression.

KEYWORDS:

• Kurdishness
• identity
• power
• forced migration
• internal diaspora

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participants who shared their homes, tea gardens and, most important, their free thoughts without holding back. This work would not be possible without their motivation to contribute to science for community.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available at https://osf.io/59tmv/. The stored data do not provide any information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Supplemental material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2024.2315439.

Additional information

Funding

The field and the data work involved in this manuscript was partially funded by EASP Seedcorn Reasearch Grant.