This chapter provides an introduction, chapter outline and theoretical/conceptual framework for the book. Through this introductory chapter the reader will be introduced to the scope and significance, and the two main elements of the book with relevance to the Iranian Kurdish movement: firstly, the formation and politicisation of Kurdish national sentiment, and the reasons for the emergence and continuation of the Kurdish question in Iran; and secondly, the crossborder dimension of the interactions between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish political parties, and the impact of this interaction on the capability and direction of the Iranian Kurdish movement. In addition, this chapter reflects on the early twentieth-century nation-state policy in Iran, and its impact on the emergence of the national liberation movement of the Kurds in Iranian and reasons for the intensification and continuation of the Kurdish question.

This chapter provides an introduction, chapter outline and theoretical/conceptual framework for the book. Through this introductory chapter the reader will be introduced to the scope and significance, and the two main elements of the book with relevance to the Iranian Kurdish movement: firstly, the formation and politicisation of Kurdish national sentiment, and the reasons for the emergence and continuation of the Kurdish question in Iran; and secondly, the crossborder dimension of the interactions between Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish political parties, and the impact of this interaction on the capability and direction of the Iranian Kurdish movement. In addition, this chapter reflects on the early twentieth-century nation-state policy in Iran, and its impact on the emergence of the national liberation movement of the Kurds in Iranian and reasons for the intensification and continuation of the Kurdish question.

This chapter discuss the emergence of a Kurdish student youth and its projection in a decolonization scheme, along with the development and diffusion of new means of communication enabling the different parts of Kurdistan to get more connected. Many developments of the further decade have their roots in the 1946–75 period. Before 1946, the Kurdish movement relied on tribal networks, and it was embedded in rural societies. The founding of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, although its resonance was limited, was a milestone. It was the first attempt to give the Kurds a territorial state and build unity among different parts of Kurdistan. In 1975, Kurdish demands in Iraq and Turkey were inspired by Marxism, even if tribal figures remain stark. The period between 1946 and 1975, therefore, is a transition period where new actors - urban dwellers, student youth - and new discourses - from the quest for a state to the quest for universal emancipation through cultural rights for the Kurds - emerged.