Cem Emrence, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History, will discuss “The Making of Ethnic Insurgency: Lessons for Policymakers in the Post-Cold War Era,” on Monday, April 4, at 12 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is part of the Center for Public Policy and Administration’s Spring 2011 Faculty Colloquium.
Dr. Emrence’s talk will draw on his extensive use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the making of Kurdish armed contention in contemporary Turkey. He will argue that the Kudistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, has successfully challenged the Turkish state over the years by building a mass organization. However, the same tactics and organizational strategies that gave rise to a successful insurgency have now become self-defeating, resulting in the PKK’s decline.
Emrence’s research has important implications for policymakers, as civil wars where domestic groups take up arms against their governments have emerged as important security issues around the globe.
Cem Emrence was trained as a historical sociologist and received his doctorate in sociology from SUNY-Binghamton in 2008. He also has served as a research affiliate at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. In addition to his research on Turkey’s Kurdish insurgency, he has investigated alternative paths to modernity in the Middle East during the 19th century.
This talk is free and open to the public. Brownbag lunches are welcome. For additional information, go to www.masspolicy.org or contact Kathy Colón (kcolon@pubpol.umass.edu).