The intellectual justification of sovereign power: representations of the Kurds in Turkish scholarship

Abstract

ABSTRACT Through scrutiny of academic research in the context of ethnic conflict, the present article advances the agenda of critical policy studies. To that end, it conducts a case study of representations of the Kurds in Turkish scholarship and aims to highlight a nexus between nationalism, state policy, and scholarship. Two arguments are advanced herein. First, Turkish scholars who adhere to the dominant nationalist ideology in Turkey represent the Kurds in accordance with the dictates of this ideology and justify sovereign power in the maintenance of relations of ethnic domination and subordination. Second, while Turkey no longer denies the physical existence of the Kurds, the state and Turkish scholars persist in withholding recognition of Kurdish identity. The scholars in question do so under pretenses of scientific objectivity, political universalism, and a commitment to peace. However, the lingering of the policy of denial and the justification of it constitute a fundamental hurdle to a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue. A critical approach to state policy and scholarship not only makes it possible to debunk pretenses of scientific objectivity and political universalism, but may also be more conducive to scholarly autonomy and commitment to peace in societies marked by ethnic conflict.