In this thesis, it is provided a thorough analysis of mode dynamics of random distributed feedback fiber lasers. A rigorous investigation is proposed for the feedback mechanism, Rayleigh backscattering, which plays a key role in laser action. Based on the intermediate range order of silica glasses, and on residual stress of optical fibers, a theoretical model was built to predict intensity fluctuations of Rayleigh backscattered coherent light. Model predictions were compared to experimental results, strongly supporting the conclusion that Rayleigh backscattering in single mode fibers is an ergodic process exhibiting ergodicity in the time-frequency sense so that the model can be used to predict the statistical behavior of backscattered intensity fading. The model was used to explain laser action in a novel configuration of random fiber laser, with a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) employed as the gain medium. It is here demonstrated that single-mode operation is only possible in pulsed regime at SOA driving currents close to the threshold, whereas multimode regime dominates under higher currents. Experimental results indicate that the mode power is limited by mode competition, which is observed under high SOA currents. Pulsed regime is shown to be due to randomly driven Q-switching induced by a scintillation effect in the Rayleigh backscattered light, which effectively translates as a time-varying cavity loss. Mode lifetimes of ∼1 ms and narrow linewidths ranging from 4 to 7 kHz were experimentally obtained. Brillouin-based random fiber lasers were also analyzed, showing similar mode dynamics, but due to the much narrower gain spectral width, mode competition did not limit the mode power, which was rather limited by the second order Brillouin-Stokes light. Last, intra-cavity phase-modulation experiments showed that laser action can be efficiently controlled by breaking either phase or gain conditions.