Overview

Ethnic and religious identity-markers compete with class and gender as principles shaping the organization and classification of everyday life. But how are an individual's identity-based conflicts transformed and redefined? Identity is a specific form of social capital, hence contexts where multiple identities obtain necessarily come with a hierarchy, with differences, and hence with a certain degree of hostility. The contributors to this book examine the rapid transformation of identity hierarchies affecting Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, a symptom of political fractures, social-economic transformation, and new regimes of subjectification. They focus on the state's role in organizing access to resources, with its institutions often being the main target of demands, rather than competing social groups. Such con- texts enable entrepreneurs of collective action to exploit identity differences, which in turn help them to expand the scale of their mobilization and to align local and national conflicts. The authors also examine how identity-based violence may be autonomous in certain contexts, and serve to prime collective action and transform the relations between communities.

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9780190845780

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Reviews

This volume showcases the stunning ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of Iran, Turkey and Pakistan but also examines how this can be mobilized towards conflict. This fascinating collection forms a valuable and original resource for those interested in international affairs and deepens our understanding of transitions to apparent identity-based conflicts. --Elizabeth Monier, Leverhulme Fellow, University of Cambridge, and author of Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings This is a very useful set of studies, full of insights into the political cultures of three countries that have all played outsized but very different roles on the world stage despite deep domestic similarities. -- Jarrett Blanc, Senior Fellow, Geoeconomics and Strategy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace This is an extremely important book, and an invaluable contribution to the field of ethnicity, politics and identity based-conflicts. Employing conceptual analysis of societal identities and engaging case studies, the book superbly underlies the hitherto understudied areas of societal insecurity in these three countries. It is indispensable reading, and strongly recommended for anyone seeking to study ethnicity, identity politics, and conflict in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan and beyond. -- Alam Saleh, Lecturer in Middle East Politics, Lancaster University and author of Ethnic Identity and the State in Iran This book is a remarkable examination of three intriguing states by renowned scholars who have deftly combined political and sociological analyses. This hugely appealing text focuses on the complex interplay between politics and identity, providing many insights into the puzzle-like issues of identity politics in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. -- Gokhan Bacik, Professor of International Relations, Ipek University and author of Hybrid Sovereignty in the Arab Middle East

The book not only studies the pivotal role of identity politics in Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan but also in the formation, mobilization, and escalation to violence of identity hierarchies that can be seen in multiethnic and multireligious states across the world today. --The Middle East Journal This volume showcases the stunning ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of Iran, Turkey and Pakistan but also examines how this can be mobilized towards conflict. This fascinating collection forms a valuable and original resource for those interested in international affairs and deepens our understanding of transitions to apparent identity-based conflicts.--Elizabeth Monier, Leverhulme Fellow, University of Cambridge, and author of Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings This is a very useful set of studies, full of insights into the political cultures of three countries that have all played outsized but very different roles on the world stage despite deep domestic similarities. -- Jarrett Blanc, Senior Fellow, Geoeconomics and Strategy Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace This is an extremely important book, and an invaluable contribution to the field of ethnicity, politics and identity based-conflicts. Employing conceptual analysis of societal identities and engaging case studies, the book superbly underlies the hitherto understudied areas of societal insecurity in these three countries. It is indispensable reading, and strongly recommended for anyone seeking to study ethnicity, identity politics, and conflict in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan and beyond.-- Alam Saleh, Lecturer in Middle East Politics, Lancaster University and author of Ethnic Identity and the State in Iran This book is a remarkable examination of three intriguing states by renowned scholars who have deftly combined political and sociological analyses. This hugely appealing text focuses on the complex interplay between politics and identity, providing many insights into the puzzle-like issues of identity politics in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.-- Gokhan Bacik, Professor of International Relations, Ipek University and author of Hybrid Sovereignty in the Arab Middle East

Author Information

Gilles Dorronsoro, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment, Washington, D.C., is an expert on Afghanistan, Turkey, and South Asia and the author of Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present (Hurst, 2005). Olivier Grojean is a political sociologist who teaches at CERIC-CNRS, Aix-en-Provence.

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