Kurdish Parallel Justice and Alternative Governmentality

Abstract

This article focuses the emergence of and need for alternative governmentality and Kurdish non-state justice under a conflicted and authoritarian state. It analyses how and why Kurdish de facto judges operate and negotiate prevailing power relations, illustrating the practice of the Kurdish alternative court system before 2000, and the development of local justice in Kurdish towns and cities after 2000. The article maps out the diverse and varied scene of Kurdish parallel justice procedures and mechanisms. The gendered demands and activities of key actors and beneficiaries are analysed, and relations, tensions and political rifts beyond the actual court procedures explored. The article sheds light on the different obstacles and challenges facing women and men under local justice, while also paying attention to ethnic and religious diversities. In this article, the examination of the state and understanding the everyday life of regular people are mainly based on direct ethnographical accounts.