The Political Economy & Identity Politics of a Stateless Nation:
THE CASE OF KURDS
Written by Vincent Ramil*
FSU Honors Staff and students were pleased to welcome Dr. Ömer Tekdemir and his presentation on October 20th, 2021. Titled “The Political Economy and Identity Politics of a Stateless Nation: The Case of Kurds,” Dr. Tekdemir details three main cases of historical details regarding the Kurdish political economy. Hosted by the FSU Honors Program’s Urban/Middle East/Utopian Studies Student Committee and Dr. Azat Gündoğan, this was the latest of the “3D” (Discuss, Dialogue, Deliberation) event opportunities for Honors Program students to enjoy and learn from.
Dr. Ömer Tekdemir is currently an Assistant Professor in Political Economy at the University of Coventry and an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Opposition Studies for the University of Bolton, UK.
Dr. Tekdemir focuses and contributes to topics of political economy, international relations, and political theory, more specifically referencing the Kurds and Turkey as shown in his presentation. Dr. Tekdemir is also a published author with his book Constituting the Political Economy of the Kurds: Social Embeddedness, Hegemony, and Identity relating to his overall research focuses.
This presentation briefly detailed the history of the Kurdish people and their experience as one of the largest populations of stateless people and just what that means. It discussed the struggles that the Kurds have faced throughout history and their vision to establish an accepting nation-state that focuses on community and culture over economic drivers. This presentation was packed with history and information that is new to many people. Those who attended left with a deeper understanding of a topic not well discussed in current events and a desire to learn more about the Kurdish people.
FSU honors students who attended Dr. Tekdemir’s presentation found how intertwined the information he presented was with what they were learning in their classes. Especially for students in Dr. Gündoğan’s classes, the presentation connected to their class learning in many ways. For students to experience real-life events that connect to their classes provides them with a better understanding of the topics and shows how important these ideas can be. "3D Series" events offer these types of experiences to honors students and Dr. Tekdemir’s discussion of the Kurdish people was no different. Dr. Ömer Tekdemir continues his research and writing on these topics and we look forward to the possibility of him speaking here again.
*Vincent Ramil is a junior and third-year honors student from Palm Beach, Florida. Majoring in Political Science, he plans to attend law school after graduation. He has taken numerous HEP courses including multiple with Dr. Gündoğan such as Utopias/Dystopias and Global Urbanization: Urban Diversity and Culture in the Age of Globalization. He looks forward to completing the Honors Program