Constructive Resistance in Northern Kurdistan: Exploring the Peace, Development and Resistance Nexus

Abstract

Cultural and linguistic repression of Kurdish ethnic identity rests at the heart of the conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdish movement in Turkeys Kurdish region, also known as Northern Kurdistan. Inspired by Peet and Hartwicks conceptualisation of alternative development, combined with Gandhis idea of the constructive programme and Galtungs conceptualisation of positive peace, this article investigates intersections between peace, development and resistance. The discussion is informed and developed by illuminating two empirical cases of what will be argued should be seen as constructive resistance conducted by the Kurdish movement. Both cases seek to undermine repressive Turkish assimilation policies. This article shows how social movements, through constructive resistance practices, can be understood as central actors in processes of social and political transformation, termed self-organised development.