Open Access
Armed social movements and insurgency : the PKK and its communities of support
Loading...
Files
2014_O_Connor.pdf (2.82 MB)
Embargoed until 2018
License
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Florence : European University Institute, 2014
EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
Cite
O’CONNOR, Francis Patrick, Armed social movements and insurgency : the PKK and its communities of support, Florence : European University Institute, 2014, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/34582
Abstract
The supportive environments which sustain armed groups are arguably an understudied aspect of political violence; it is widely acknowledged that all armed groups necessitate a degree of popular support if they are to be successful but the relationship between armed movements and their supporters is often underdeveloped or considered self-explanatory. This project puts forth the argument that the relationship between armed groups and their supporters is of fundamental importance to how and where armed groups mobilise and the repertoire of contention they adopt. Making use of Malthaner's concept of "constituency" (2011a), the PKK's armed struggle from its foundation in the 1970s until 1999 will be analysed. The particular manner in which the PKK actively constructed and maintained extensive support networks across contrasting socio-spatial contexts ensured its ongoing legitimacy and the material resources necessary for its survival. Although a noted power disparity exists between armed and unarmed actors, the relationship between them is always characterised by degrees of reciprocal influence; influence that is often expressed in a variety of subtle and contextually specific fashions. The project will therefore examine the dialectic between the PKK and its communities of support and how this has evolved over time and space from rural Kurdistan to the urban centres of western Turkey, and consider how it has impacted on the nature of violence deployed by the PKK in the course of its insurgency.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
Defence date: 18 November 2014
Examining Board: Professor Donatella della Porta, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Olivier Roy, European University Institute; Professor Joost Jongerden, Wageningen University; Professor Jocelyn Viterna, Harvard University.
Examining Board: Professor Donatella della Porta, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Olivier Roy, European University Institute; Professor Joost Jongerden, Wageningen University; Professor Jocelyn Viterna, Harvard University.