A Modern History of the Kurds

This webinar, as part of the LSE Middle East Centre's Kurdish Studies Series, was a discussion around the new and revised edition of David McDowall's book 'A Modern History of the Kurds'. In this latest edition, McDowall analyses the momentous transformations affecting Kurdish socio-politics in the last 20 years. This fourth edition includes new analysis of the Kurdish experience in Syria; the role of political Islam in Kurdish society and Kurds' involvement in Islamist Jihad; and issues surrounding women and gender that were previously overlooked, from the impact of the women's equality movement to how patriarchal practices within the Kurdish community still limit its progress. The foundation text for Kurdish Studies, this book highlights in detail the changing situation of the Kurds across the Middle East. The division of the Kurdish people among the modern nation states of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran and their struggle for national rights continues to influence the politics of the Middle East. David McDowall's ground-breaking history of the Kurds from the 19th century to the present day documents the underlying dynamics of the Kurdish question. Drawing extensively on primary sources - including documents from The National Archive and interviews with prominent Kurds - the book examines the interplay of old and new aspects of the struggle, the importance of local rivalries and leadership within Kurdish society, and the failure of modern states to respond to the challenge of Kurdish nationalism. David McDowall turned to full time writing in 1984 and has written on Lebanon, Palestine, the Kurds and also on Britain and the British landscape since then. The first edition of A Modern History of the Kurds appeared in 1996. The new edition is the first major revision since. McDowall studied Islamic History with Arabic, followed by postgraduate studies in Modern Middle East History. His working life has been varied, with almost seven years in the army, followed by five years with the British Council in India and Iraq, and two years spent with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Lebanon and Austria. He was also an NGO relief worker in Lebanon during Israel’s invasion in 1982. Zeynep Kaya is Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sheffield. Kaya previously worked at SOAS and the LSE. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the LSE. Her main research areas involve borderlands, territoriality, conflict, peace, political legitimacy and gender. She has recently published a monograph entitled Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism with Cambridge University Press. Zeynep is co-editor of I.B. Tauris-Bloomsbury’s book series on Kurdish studies and co-convenor of Kurdish Studies Series with the LSE Middle East Centre. She is also an Academic Associate at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge.