Why do some ethno-national groups live peacefully with the states that govern them, whereas others develop into serious threats to state authority? Through a comparative historical analysis, this book compares the evolution of Kurdish mobilization in Turkey with the Berber mobilization in Morocco by looking at the different nation-building strategies of the respective states. Using a variety of sources, including archival documents, interviews, and memoirs, Senem Aslan emphasizes the varying levels of willingness and the varying capabilities of the Turkish and Moroccan states to intrude into their citizens' lives. She argues that complex interactions at the ground level – where states have demanded changes in everyday behavior, such as how to dress, what language to speak, what names to give children, and more mundane practices – account for the nature of emerging state-minority relations. By taking the local and informal interactions between state officials and citizens seriously, this study calls attention to the actual implementation of state policies and the often unintended consequences of these policies.

Takes a bottom-up approach to nation-building and state-minority relations

Focuses on the effect of state practices on ethnic contention

An empirically rich analysis based on primary sources

Senem Aslan, Bates College, Maine

Senem Aslan is Assistant Professor of Politics at Bates College. She has published articles in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and the European Journal of Turkish Studies.