The Song Remains the Same

Mélisande Genat is a doctoral student in the Stanford University history department. Her current research focuses on interrelations between tribal, political and religious phenomena in Iraq and the Sinjar region between the 19th and the 20th century. Genat has been living and conducting research in Iraq since 2010. Her research interests include Kurdish studies, development economics, rural sociology, collectivization in Iraq, and rural land reform. Diwan interviewed Genat in mid-June to get her perspective on the relationship between the different communities and tribes in Sinjar, northern Iraq, as well as the fluid identities among Arabs, Kurds, and Yezidis.