National Colonialism: Colonization and Decolonization in Kurdistan

Abstract

This dissertation examines the colonization of Kurdistan through the lens of national colonialism, a novel conceptual framework that addresses critical gaps in postcolonial and nationalism studies regarding colonial relations within nation-states. While existing scholarship on the Kurdish question has approached it through paradigms of national oppression, ethno-political conflict, or cultural discrimination, these frameworks remain partial—either neglecting economic exploitation, downplaying cultural racism, or failing to account for the systemic nature of Kurdish subjugation across all four colonizing states (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey). This study contends that the Kurdish question must be re-theorized as a colonial project, one intrinsic to the nation-state form itself, combining political subjugation, economic exaltation, and racist exclusion. The dissertation advances the concept of national colonialism to explain how nation-states, through capitalist uneven development, nation-building and maintenance, as well as nationalist homogenization and coercive minoritization, create and perpetuate colonial domination over non- sovereign peoples like the Kurds. Using a mix of primary and secondary sources, it traces the historical construction of Kurdish colonization, detailing its three pillars: (1) political subjugation (e.g., bans on self-determination), (2) economic exploitation (e.g., underdevelopment), and (3) racial regimes (e.g., anti- Kurdish racism institutionalized in law, education, and everyday practice). Through comparative analysis of all four states, it reveals how national colonialism operates discursively and materially. The study also analyzes Kurdish decolonial thought, contrasting mainstream state-centric solutions (e.g., independence or autonomy) with Abdullah Ocalan’s democratic confederalism. Focusing on the latter and framing it as a democratic decolonization project, the dissertation argues it offers a radical alternative by linking Kurdish liberation to the dismantling of capitalist modernity, the nation-state form, and hierarchical conceptions of nationhood. Instead of replicating state sovereignty, democratic confederalism envisions emancipation through decentralized, anti-capitalist, and feminist self-organization—a model with implications for other colonized peoples. By synthesizing theoretical innovation with empirical rigor, this research redefines the Kurdish question as a case of national colonialism while contributing to broader debates on colonialism, decolonization, nation-state, and post-state political futures. Its conclusions challenge the naturalization of nation-state violence and offer a framework for analyzing similar colonial dynamics in other contested territories.