Kurdish diasporic matters: Signaling new epistemologies of difference

Abstract

Kurdistan and Kurdish diasporas are often conceptualized in singular, essentialized, and monolithic terms. Instead of working through essentializing terms, this article intervenes to insert difference within the category of Kurdish diasporas. By engaging with Lisa Lowe’s (1996) conceptualization of “heterogeneity, hybridity, and multiplicity,” the article looks at the ways through which Kurdish diasporas differ both in relation to other diasporas and within itself. While engaging with the emergent and growing literature on Kurdish diasporas in Europe, this article introduces new destination sites for Kurdish diasporas that force us to engage with new epistemologies of difference operating within diasporic communities. In the process, this article challenges the ideas of Kurdish diasporas as a coherent, knowable object of study and stresses the need to engage with the fluidity of Kurdish diasporas. Finally, this article introduces the articles for this special issue on Kurdish diasporas.