Surviving the Islamic State - (Columbia Studies in Middle East Politics) by Austin Knuppe (Paperback)

About the Book

Based on an original survey from Baghdad alongside key interviews in the field, this book offers an insightful account of how Iraqis in different areas of the country responded to the rise and fall of the Islamic State.

Book Synopsis

How did ordinary Iraqis survive the occupation of their communities by the Islamic State? How did they decide whether to stay or flee, to cooperate or resist? Based on an original survey from Baghdad alongside key interviews in the field, this book offers an insightful account of how Iraqis in different areas of the country responded to the rise and fall of the Islamic State.

Austin J. Knuppe argues that people adopt survival repertoires--a variety of social practices, tools, organized routines, symbols, and rhetorical strategies--to navigate wartime violence and detect threats. He traces how repertoires varied among different communities over the course of the conflict. In areas insulated from insurgent control, such as cosmopolitan Baghdad, local residents had the flexibility to support coalition forces while also voicing opposition to government policies. For Iraqis in rural communities confronting insurgent control, collaboration and resistance entailed significant risks. In Sunni-majority communities in the western desert, passive acquiescence and active cooperation temporarily insulated Iraqis from insurgent victimization. For ethnic and religious minorities in the north, however, flight or resistance proved the only viable options. In many communities, local residents mobilized neighborhood self-defense groups and militias loosely aligned with coalition forces once the tides turned against the Islamic State.

Beyond contributing to academic and policy debates about civilian protection during wartime, Surviving the Islamic State foregrounds everyday people's experiences while modeling an ethical approach for conducting field research in conflict-affected communities.

Review Quotes

This work offers new wine from an old bottle as it brings fresh insights to the now-standard paradigm of issues related to resistance and collaboration in the face of the rule of an occupying power.-- "The Developing Economies"

Surviving the Islamic State is a well-written, detailed, interesting study of how Iraqis used heuristics around social identity, reputation, and behavior to determine their responses to the Islamic State. It explores how responses change depending on individuals' circumstances and community contexts, raises important questions around volition and agency, and points to potential long-term implications of politicized identities and socioeconomic inequalities. In doing so, this book provides insights that extend beyond the study of conflict.--Ellen Lust, author of Everyday Choices: The Role of Competing Authorities and Social Institutions in Politics and Development

Knuppe's book is a major contribution to our understanding of civilians' repertoires of survival during wartime. Through his interviews and survey data he takes readers deep inside Iraqi society. He shows how civilians assess insurgent groups and weigh the risks of retaliation as they decide whether to acquiesce, mount 'everyday resistance, ' or pursue even more active forms of opposition. This book is an indispensable resource for scholars and students focusing on the Middle East and civilian-insurgent interactions.--Oliver Kaplan, author of Resisting War: How Communities Protect Themselves

Surviving horrors of war is one of humanity's timeless and gripping tales. Knuppe tells the story afresh, with important new evidence from Iraq that is at once intimately local and tragically universal. Important new data from surveys and interviews share the voices of ordinary Iraqis trying to survive the rise and fall of the Islamic State, with crucial insights for our understanding of political violence everywhere.--Richard A. Nielsen, author of Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad

About the Author

Austin Knuppe is an assistant professor of political science at Utah State University, where he serves on the faculty advisory board of the Heravi Peace Institute.