Engagement militant et phénomènes de radicalisation chez les Kurdes de Turquie: Article paru originairement en 2009

Why and how do people engage in a radical movement? To answer this question, this paper analyses two Kurdish movements in Turkey, the PKK and the Hizbullah, under three different aspects. First, the constitution of radical groups is explained as a way for political entrepreneurs without social and economic capital to mobilize ressources. Radicalisation is also results of the competition with others groups belonging to the same political field. Secondly, personal dispositions are actualised during the process of adhesion. Here, the first group of militants linked by strong and multiple links has to be distinguished from the second generation, more likely to be made up by isolated individuals. Finally, the paper analyses two ways to bridge the old values of the primary socialization and the new world of the party: values such as charism and honor (namus) work in both universes and biographies (or autobiographies) allow individuals to recreate a coherence in their self-perception.