Mosul under ISIS: Eyewitness Accounts of Life in the Caliphate

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The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) ruled Mosul from 2014-2017 in accordance with its extremist interpretation of sharia. But beyond what is known about ISIS governance in the city from the groups own materials, very little is understood about the reality of its rule, or reasons for its failure, from those who actually lived under it. This book reveals what was going on inside ISIS institutions based on accounts from the civilians themselves. Focusing on ISIS governance of education, healthcare and policing, the interviewees include: teachers who were forced to teach the group's new curriculum; professors who organized secret classes in private; doctors who took direct orders from ISIS leaders and worked in their headquarters; bureaucratic staff who worked for ISIS. These accounts provide unique insight into the lived realities in the controlled territories and reveal how the terrorist group balanced their commitment to Islamist ideology with the practical challenges of state building. Moving beyond the simplistic dichotomy of civilians as either passive victims or ISIS supporters, Mathilde Becker Aarseth highlights here those people who actively resisted or affected the way in which ISIS ruled. The book invites readers to understand civilians complex relationship to the extremist group in the context of fragmented state power and a city torn apart by the occupation.

Reviews

This is interesting and well-researched book examines the many contradictions behind the so-called Islamic State's governance project and the tragic toll it took on Mosul's civilian population. By putting civilians at the center of her account, Mathilde Becker Aarseth offers an insightful and much-needed perspective on the group's rise as well as on dynamics of rebel governance more in general. * Benedetta Berti, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute, USA *
In this perceptive and vividly written account, Mathilde Aarseth gives us an unparalleled insight into the rule of ISIS in Mosul. Her forensic and authoritative examination of ISIS practices highlights the tensions of ideology, expediency and venality that marked their system of governance but that also provoked everyday forms of resistance. * Charles Tripp, Professor Emeritus of Politics, SOAS, University of London, UK *

Author Bio

Mathilde Becker Aarseth is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Islamic and Middle East Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has published on ISIS in the journal Middle East Policy and in the Routledge Handbook of Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa (2020).