Conscientious Objection

Özgür Heval Çinar is a lawyer. Currently he is a Ph.D. candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Law Department at the University of Essex. He has also worked at several NGOs, including the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association of Turkey and Human Rights Watch on a voluntary basis. He is the author of "The Effects of European Court of Human Rights' Decisions on the Turkish Legal System" as well as a number of journal articles.Coskun Üsterci is a peace and human rights activist. Graduating from the Department of Economic and Commercial Science at the Ege University, he was a founder of the Izmir War Resisters' Association. He is currently a member of the Human Rights Association, and has been working since 1992 at the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, where he is a board member. In addition, he runs workshops on anti-militarism, conscientious objection and non-violence.

• AcknowledgementsPreface - Cynthia CockburnIntroduction - Coskun Üsterci and Özgür Heval ÇinarPart I: Conscription and resisting conscription in a militarized society1. The militarization of society: conscription and national armies in the process of citizen creation - Suavi Aydin2. Patriotism and the justification of inequality in the construction of militarism - Melek Göregenli3. Refusing to serve by other means: desertion in the late Ottoman Empire - Erik-Jan Zürcher4. Sand in the wheels? Conscientious objection at the turn of the twenty-first century - Ulrich Bröckling5. The morals and politics of conscientious objection, civil disobedience and anti-militarism | Nilgün Toker Kilinç6. The philosophical grounds of conscientious objection - Taha ParlaPart II: Conscientious objection as a critique of patriarchy, sexism and heterosexism7. Where are the women in military conscientious objection? Some feminist clues - Cynthia Enloe8. Refusing to identify as obedient wives, sacrificing mothers and proud warriors - Ayse Gül Altinay9. Conscientious objection and masculine violence - Serpil Sancar10. Rotten report and reconstructing hegemonic masculinity in Turkey - Alp BiricikPart III: Conscientious objection in the world: experiences and problems11. Experiences of conscientious objection movements: South Africa, Greece and Paraguay - Andreas Speck and Rudi Friedrich12. Military conscription, conscientious objection and democratic citizenship in the Americas - Matthew C. Gutmann13. Conscientious objection in Chile - Pelao Carvallo14. Conscientious objection in Spain: disobedience - Cthuchi Zamarra15. Conscientious objection in Israel - Tali Lerner16. Refusing to serve in the army for reasons of conscience in Greece - Alexia Tsouni and Michalis Maragakis17. Conscientious objection in Turkey - Coskun Üsterci and Ugur YorulmazPart IV: Conscientious objection and lawA International law18. A view on international implementation of the right to conscientious objection - Özgür Heval Çinar19. International standards on conscientious objection to military and alternative service - Rachel Brett20. European standards on conscientious objection and alternative service - Friedhelm Schneider21. Conscientious objection in international law and the Osman Murat Ülke case - Kevin BoyleB The case of Turkey22. Conscientious objection and the Turkish constitution - Osman Can23. The criminality of conscientious objection in Turkey and its consequences - Hülya ÜçpinarNotes on contributorsIndex

'This Turkish-oriented comparative study of conscientious objection to military service is illuminating, while exhibiting the courage of morally motivated individuals who defy coercive governments. In essence, this fine multi-authored volume challenges readers to assess the nature of good citizenship in the 21st Century.' Richard Falk, Princeton University.'The world’s hundreds of thousands of conscientious objectors to military labour come alive in this volume, and not simply as figures of moral conscience. They are also revealed as symptoms and powerful critiques of militarism and the diverse problems it both feeds and draws on, including nationalism, patriarchy and class inequality, and racialism.'Catherine Lutz, Brown University.'I wish I had had this book decades ago when I first found my way to conscientious objection and ultimately to draft resistance. It is far and away the best book I have seen on the subject. Çinar and Üsterci have conceived and assembled a remarkable and appropriately complex resource about freedom and resistance to militarism. An important book for scholars and activists alike.'Joseph Gerson, American Friends Service Committee.'At last a book on conscientious objection to military service from the point of view of contemporary objectors ... it expresses the critique objection poses to patriarchy and social militarization and firmly places objection in the context of struggle for social transformation.'Howard Clark, chairperson, War Resisters' International