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ID: 166633

Between underground and over ground: narratives on the identity of women insurgents in Assam’ / Deka, Dixita

Deka, Dixita	Journal Article
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The Assam Movement (1979–1985) has been a turning point in the politics of Assam in India that has raised the question of identity and at the same time triggered the struggle to self-determination by the insurgent organization United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). This paper aims to take identity as the point of departure to mark the transition of women’s role from the Assam Movement into their underground roles in ULFA. In such narratives of hero-making and patriotism, under-representation of women’s strategic involvement and self-sacrifices in the insurgent outfit often leaves the lives of the women members misrepresented and fails to highlight the in-betweens of life and death. This paper pushes the idea of identity assertion in Northeast India beyond citizenship and questions the way women’s presence in the insurgent organization gets narrated, documented, and established. Oral histories are crucial sources of data for this study.

Key Words

ULFA ; Identity ; Northeast India ; Oral History ; Women Insurgents

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ID: 188192

Women Insurgents, Rebel Organization Structure, and Sustaining the Rebellion: the Case of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party / Başer, Çağlayan

Başer, Çağlayan	Journal Article
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How do women insurgents affect rebel organizations’ structure and survivability? Scholars acknowledge the importance of organization-level dynamics and unit composition for conflict outcomes. However, our understanding of how gender-diverse cadres influence rebel survivability remains limited. I examine the mechanisms through which women sustain armed conflict. I analyze micro-organizational dynamics of rebellion through a qualitative case study of the Kurdish armed movement in Turkey between 1982 and 2015 based on the official archives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. I show that women insurgents enable tactical diversity, aid the organization’s coup-proofing strategy against factions, and mobilize domestic and international audiences. Women contribute most to their organization during crises and due to exploitation of gender inequalities. Analyzing the relationship between gender dynamics, group structure, and evolving rebel strategies, this study shows that the gender composition of the membership is an important factor influencing rebel survivability.

Key Words

Kurdistan Workers’ Party ; Women Insurgents ; Rebel Organization Structure

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