Includes bibliographical references and index.

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This book explores the conditions that encourage non-violent civic engagement in emerging civil societies. Gürbüz examines the radical transformations over the past decade in the politics of Turkey's Kurdish minority. On the eve of the new millennium, the Turkish state was still openly denying the existence of Kurds, calling them "mountain Turks," and Kurdish populated cities were ruled under martial law. Kurdish politics in Turkey was dominated by a revolutionary movement, the PKK, which engaged in violent clashes with the state. Less than a decade later, the PKK's rebellion had all but ended, and Kurdish political and civic movements of numerous stripes had emerged. The Turkish state even introduced an official Kurdish-language TV channel. How did this rapid change occur? Gürbüz proposes that contending social movements has transformed the politics of the region, ushering in an era of post-conflict political and cultural competition.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Ethnic Conflict and Social Movements -- A Multi-Institutional Politics Approach -- What Makes a Kurdish Activist -- The Argument of the Book -- How Does Meaning-Making Matter? -- Organization of the Book -- 2. Kurdish Movements in the Southeast -- The Kurdish Ethno-Nationalist Movement -- Hizbullah in Turkey -- The Gülen/Hizmet Movement -- Locating the Pro-Islamic AKP -- 3. Exogenous Shocks on the Eve of the Millennium -- Abdullah Öcalan: The Role of the PKK Leader in Shaping Kurdish Politics -- The EU Factor: Turkey's Membership Process and De-Securitization -- Changing International Political Environment -- The Rise of the AKP: Radical Shifts in Turkish Politics -- 4. Civic Competition and Conflict Transformation -- Emerging Arenas of Competition in the Kurdish Civic Sphere -- Arenas of Competition and Strategy-Making -- 5. Resemblance and Difference -- Constructing Kurdish Civil Society -- Why Charity Organizations? -- Exogenous Shocks: Increasing Poverty and the Emergence of Kurdish Slums -- Constructing Competition through Resemblance: The Charity Initiatives -- "Education is Our Job": The Gülen Movement Goes to Slums -- Namûsa Me Azadîya Me Ye: The Democratic Free Women's Movement -- Religious Public Symbolism: Hizbullah Finds Its Niche -- Civic Activism and Conflict Transformation -- 6. Going Native -- Contesting Kurdish Islam -- Revolutionary Ideology as a Discursive Process -- The Kurdish Ethno-Nationalist Movement, Islamic Identity, and Symbolic Localization -- Symbolic Localization and Conflict Transformation -- 7. Îslam Çareser e -- Islamic Activists Discover Kurdish -- Increasing Competition over Kurdish Language -- Hizbullah: From Ayatollah Khomeini to Said Nursi -- HÜDA-PAR: Calling the Party of God in Kurdish -- 8. Enemies of the "Deep State."

Narrative Contests and Symbolic Localization -- The "Deep State" and Kurds -- The Rival Movements and Competing Narratives on Ergenekon -- The Gülen/Hizmet as Enemy of the Deep State -- The PKK: "The State wants to sweep its filth under the carpet!" -- Hizbullah: "We're the Victims of the Deep State!" -- Narratives in Conflict Transformation: Reputation Work and Symbolic Localization -- 9. Conclusion -- Strategic Engagement and Conflict Transformation -- Global Dynamics and Pro-Ethnic Strategies -- Toward a Multi-Institutional Politics Perspective -- A Kurdish Spring on the Horizon? -- List of Abbreviations -- References -- Appendix: Data and Methods -- Index.

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