Tribes and Empires. The Russian-Kurdish Case in Comparative Perspective
International workshop
EHESS
Paris, 5-6 June 2018
‘’Tribes’’
– both as a concept and a highly diverse reality – loomed large in the
policies of the empires and imperial assemblages that shaped world
politics in the last two centuries. Across Africa, the Middle East and
Eurasia, they became a key element in imperial, notably colonial,
strategies of domination. From the Maghreb to India, they were used for
their ‘’martial’’ qualities, but also served the ‘’management of
difference’’ so central to the imperial mind. Yet, imperial attention to
the tribal question was in itself indicative of modern evolutionary
conceptions, which ranked socio-political structures in time and space.
As
part of new project on the place of the Kurds in Russian imperial
strategies in Eurasia (hosted by the EHESS), this workshop aims at
providing critical insights into the historiography of relations between
empires and tribes (5 June), before exploring the specificities of the
Russo-Kurdish nexus (6 June). Historically focused, this workshop will
draw on scholarship from disciplines such as ethnology, anthropology,
historical sociology and imperial history in order to understand the
features of these relations. The very concept of tribe and its numerous
derivatives (clans, confederacies, nomads, etc.) will be discussed from
the point of view of concrete imperial strategies.
More
specifically, in a time when Russia’s presence in the Middle East has
been the focus of much international attention, the second day of this
workshop will explore Russo-Kurdish relations as a test case for the
relevance of tribal perspectives on imperial role. Through an
examination of their evolution across two centuries, it will set out
potential directions for further research.
Organizers: Masha Cerovic, CERCEC, EHESS; Etienne Peyrat, Sciences-Po Lille; Adnan Çelik, CETOBAC, EHESS.
Financial Support: LabEx TEPSIS
Tuesday 5 June
Tribes and Imperial Policies: Comparative Perspectives
Venue: 105 boulevard Raspail, room 3
Chair: Willard Sunderland (University of Cincinnati)
14:00: Welcome
14:30 – 15:30
Peter Holquist (University of Pennsylvania)
“Russia Imperial Policies and Imperial Realities on the Ground: Patterns of Violence in Russian Occupation Policies, 1914-1918.”
David Sneath (Cambridge University)
“The Notion of the Tribe and Historical Representations of Inner Asia”
16:00-17:00
Robert Fletcher (University of Warwick)
“Beating Empire’s Bounds: the British and the Bedouin in the Interwar Middle East”
Yazid Ben Hounet (CNRS – EHESS / Centre Jacques Berque, Rabat)
“The French Empire and Algeria’s Tribes : Destruction, Reification, Fascination”
17 :00 – 18 :30 : roundtable / general discussion
Wednesday 6 June
The Russian-Kurdish Case
Venue: 54 boulevard Raspail, room AS1_08 (level -1)
9.30-12.30: The Kurds in Russian Imperial Strategies.
This
panel will discuss the political aspects of Russian policies toward the
Kurds through an exploration of their multiple spaces (Caucasus, Near
and Middle East, Central Asia) and historical contexts. It is also meant
as a forum to present and discuss the RUSKURD research project with all
interested parties.
9.30 Masha Cerovic (EHESS)-Etienne Peyrat (Sciences Po Lille)
General
introduction and presentation of the research project RUSKURD
‘’Russians and Kurds in the Middle East (late 19th-21st centuries) : The
Tribal Factor in Imperial Strategies’’
11.30 Nodar Mossaki (Russian Academy of Sciences)
‘’Russia and Kurdish Tribes on the Turkish-Russian Border during the Crimean War’’
14.-17.30: The Russo-Kurdish Nexus in Intellectual and Cultural History.
This
panel will focus on one of the key aspects of our ongoing project, the
cultural and intellectual impact of Russo-Kurdish relations.
14:00-15:30
Christine Robins (University of Exeter)
‘’Yezidi Cultural Identities between the Caucasus and the Middle East’’
Metin Yüksel (Hacettepe Üniversitesi)
‘’The Calil Family and Soviet-Kurdish Interactions’’
16:00 – 18:00
Adnan Çelik (EHESS-Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes)
‘’Radio Erevan and Russian-Kurdish Relations’’
Davut Yeşilmen (Universität Duisburg-Essen)
‘’Kurdish-Armenian Relations in Soviet Kurdish Novels’’
Concluding remarks