Kurdish Matters: Signaling New Epistemologies of Difference

Stanley Ilango Thangaraj

doi:10.29333/ejecs/240

Authors

Stanley Ilango Thangaraj City College of New York

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/240

Keywords:

Kurdish diasporas, Migration, Kurdistan, identity

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. Instead of foregrounding the dominant 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, knoweable object of study and stressed the need to engage with the fluidity of Kurdish diasporas. Finally, this article introduces the articles for this special issue on Kurdish diasporas.

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Author Biography

Stanley Ilango Thangaraj, City College of New York

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

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