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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Francis O'Connor
Affiliation:
Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence
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Summary

Chapter 1 lays out the main argument of the book, asserting that insurgent groups’ dependence on their support networks ensures that to a certain extent they are obliged to respect their supportive constituencies’ ideological preferences and normative expectations. Relationships between armed groups and their constituencies are not stable and change over time as conflicts develop, ensuring that insurgent groups can also lose popular support. This chapter argues that this important dimension of insurgency is sometimes overlooked in favour of structural, ideological or resource-oriented analyses of conflict. It specifies how the book uses (or not) specific terminology and concepts like terrorism and Kurdistan. The chapter proceeds to discuss the difficulties in working with data in research on insurgencies. It argues that all forms of data – quantitative and qualitative – have inconsistencies and it backs the call for greater data transparency in conflict studies. It elaborates on some of the specific challenges related to data reliability on the conflict in Turkey. It describes the interview process, discusses the representativeness of the interview sample and the challenges of fieldwork. It finishes by outlining the structure of the book.

Type
Chapter
Information
Understanding Insurgency
Popular Support for the PKK in Turkey
, pp. 1 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Introduction
  • Francis O'Connor
  • Book: Understanding Insurgency
  • Online publication: 13 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975087.001
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  • Introduction
  • Francis O'Connor
  • Book: Understanding Insurgency
  • Online publication: 13 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975087.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Francis O'Connor
  • Book: Understanding Insurgency
  • Online publication: 13 August 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975087.001
Available formats
×