Academic literature on the topic 'Rojava revolution'

Although the gendered media portrayal of female Kurdish fighters has drawn academic attention, the representation of the socio-political model of Rojava by the British and American media is often neglected. This paper surveys the British and American media to understand the kinds of opinions found in the media, the discursive means that make the Rojava model intelligible, and what is rendered either commonsensical or unimaginable. The Rojava project is framed as “a separatist rebellion”, “an experiment”, and “a genuine social revolution”. By excluding the anti-capitalist and ecological principles of Rojava, and either dismissing or romanticising its achievements, these discourses render an alternative to capitalism and the nation-state unthinkable, and reproduce Orientalist images of the region, thus serving capitalist and imperialist interests. This study suggests that we should pay more attention to socio-political imaginations and representations of non-state paradigms in order to understand the hegemony of the state. Abstract in Kurmanji Fehmbarkirina şoreşê, pêşkêşkirina nemumkiniya tesewira polîtîk: Xwendineke postkolonyal a temsîlên Rojava di medyaya Brîtanya û Amerîkayê de Li hember teswîra zayendî ya şervanên kurd ên jin ku gelek bala akademiyê kişandiye, temsîla modela sosyo-polîtîk a Rojava ji teref medyaya brîtanyayî û emerîkî ve pirî caran hate paşguhkirin. Ev nivîs li medyaya brîtanyayî û emerîkî dinêre da ku cureyên fikrên di medyayê de, amûrên vegotinê yên ku modela Rojavayê fehmbar dikin vebikole û fehm bike ka çi û çiqas beraqil an jî nexeyalbar tê pêşkêşkirin. Projeya Rojava, weke “serhildaneke cudaxwaz”, “ceribandek” û “şoreşeke civakî ya resen” tê resmkirin. Bi derkirina prensîbên dij-kapîtalîst û ekolojîk yên Rojava û bi paşguhkirin an jî romantîzekirina destkeftên wê, ev dîskûr nemumkiniya alternatîfa kapîtalîzmê û netewe-dewletê îfade dikin û wêneyekî Oryantalîst ya herêmê diafirînin ku xizmeta berjewendiyên kapîtalîst û emperyalîst dike. Ev xebat pêşniyar dike ku divê em bêtir bala xwe bidin tesewirên sosyo-polîtîk û temsîlên paradîgmaya ne-dewlet ji bo fehmkirina hegemonyaya dewletê. Abstract in Sorani Be têgeyandin kirdnî şorrş, bê mana kirdnî endêşe syasîyekan: Xwêndneweyekî postkolonyalaney wênakirdnî mîdyay berîtanî û emrîkî bo rojawa Egerçî wêne mîdyayye cênderekanî jne şervanekanî kurd sernicî ekadîmîyekanî rakêşawe, zorcar wênakirdnî modêlî syasî-cvakî rojava lelayen mîdyay berîtanî û emrîkayewe feramoşkrawe. Bo têgeyîştin lew bîruboçunaney le mîdyakanda bedî dekrêt, em babete rumallêkî mîdyay berîtanî û emrîkî dekat, amraze gutarîyekan ke modêlî rojava bê mana deken û yan wek ştêkî asayî yan xeyallî dexrête rû . Projey rojava xrawete çwarçîwey “yaxîbunêkî cudaxwazî”, “ezmunêk” we “şorşêkî rasteqîney komellayetî”. Be wedernanî bnema dje-sermayedarî û îkolojîyekanî rojava, we yan be nadîdekirdin û romantîkirdnî deskewtekan, em gutarane bedîlêk bo sermayedarî û dewllet-netewe dexate derewey bîrkirdnewe. Em twêjîneweye pêşnyar dekat ke bo ewey le hejmûnî dewllet têbgeyn, pêwîste bayexî zyatir be endêşey syasî-cvakî û nwênerayetîkrinî paradaymî nadewlletî bdeyn. Abstract in Zazaki Şoreşî dayîşfehmkerdiş, fikranê sîyasîyan nêdayîşfikirîyayîş: Medyaya Brîtanya û Amerîka de temsîlê Rojawanî ser o wendişêko postkolonîyalîst Herçiqas ke nawitişê medyaya cinsîyetperwere de rolê şêrvananê cinîkanê kurdan bala akademîkan ante, modelê komel û sîyasetê Rojawanî zafê reyan hetê medyaya Brîtanya û Amerîka ra peygoş bî. Na meqale qayîtê medyaya Brîtanya û Amerîka kena ke wina tede qeneatê ci yê cîya-cîyayî, usûlê munaqeşeyî yê îzahkerdişê modelê Rojawanî û çîyê bimantiqkerde yan zî nefikrbarî fehm bibê. Projeyê Rojawanî sey “serewedaritişo cîyaker”, “ceribnayîş” û “şoreşê komelî yo raştikên” name beno. Bi îhmalkerdişê prensîpanê Rojawanî yê antîkapîtalîst û ekolojîkan û bi redkerdiş yan zî romantîzekerdişê serkewtişanê ci, nê munaqeşeyî alternatîfê kapîtalîzm û dewleta netewe nêdanê fikirîyayene. Wina herêm ra resimo oryantalîst yeno xêzkerdene ke menfeatanê kapîtalîst û emperyalîstan rê fayde dano. No cigêrayîş pêşnîyaz keno ke ma hîna zaf bala xo bidîme fikranê komelkî û sîyasîyan û estbîyayîşê paradîgmayanê nedewlete ser ke bandura dewlete fehm bikerîme.

Abstract This study critically analyzes representations of Kurdish women fighters in US mainstream media from January 2014 to December 2018. The article argues that the narrative articulated through the presentation of Kurdish women in the US media as “badass” soldiers fighting against the violence and extremism of the Islamic State serves to eschew a deeper understanding of their political and ideological motivations. Although they do not fit into the stereotypical category of oppressed Muslim women in need of saving, Kurdish women too are the subject of misrepresentation in US media in ways similar to the monolithic and essentialized representations of Afghan women in the post-9/11 era or Iranian women following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The present work questions why this misrepresentation takes place and what renders the representation of Kurdish women Orientalist despite its differences from the previous discursive constitutions of Muslim women in US media.

Rojava is a region in Northern Syria, which, after its abandonment by the Syrian government in 2011 following the outbreak of the Civil War, has undergone a profound social and political transformation carried out by its Kurdish population, who are a majority in the region. The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent these transformations constitute a true social revolution which have shifted the focus towards gender equality, direct democracy, diversity and sustainability. This is done not only by looking at the scholarly work surrounding Rojava, which allows us to understand the project more thoroughly and critically than through media coverage and self-representation; but also, by analysing the works of the two most influential thinkers of the movement: Murray Bookchin and Abdullah Öcalan. Simultaneously. The article also analyses some of the limits of the project in Rojava and some of the negative comments it has received from recent scholarly work.

Abstract The Syrian conflict has contributed to major debates in culture, media and politics around transitions linked to borders, ethnicity and identity. Against this backdrop, this article explores the use of ‘Rojava’, a keyword referring to Kurdish-majority areas in the country. It examines the term’s changing meanings and usage against the evolving backdrop of the governance project led by Kurds since the post-2011 power vacuum in North(eastern) Syria. The article identifies how the term has been both operationalized and later abandoned and replaced by other nomenclature while highlighting the implications of these changes on public and political discourse. The term ‘Rojava’ traces its origins to the context of (pan-)Kurdish nationalism, with its literal meaning of ‘western’ (Kurdistan) implying a notion of trans-border Kurdish identity. From this point of departure, the author considers how it has been popularized in anarchist and Western solidarity circles as well as through international media in expressions such as the ‘Rojava experiment’ and ‘Rojava Revolution’. The article unpacks how it has become shorthand in Western media for an ideology of women’s liberation and leftist grassroots governance, as well as considering the term’s less favorable reception in the Arab press, where the word ‘Rojava’ itself is treated as a foreign, and sometimes threatening, concept. Finally, the article presents how from 2016 the Kurdish-led authorities in this region of Syria sought to formally distance themselves from the term they had introduced. This change was due to realpolitik imperatives to re-brand their governance project under the ‘Syrian Democratic’ banner when incorporating non-Kurdish-majority territories (Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Menbij). In the context of its official abandonment, the term has nonetheless retained currency in the media as well as popular everyday contexts among Kurds on street level.

After the outbreak of the Syrian war, the armed resistance of the Kurds against the radical Islamists drew considerable attention from across the world. Although the Kurdish movement has a history of forty years of armed fight in the region, especially against Turkey, they gained global fame during the war in Syria. Apart from media attention to the resistance of women, in particular, the establishment of a political system, democratic confederalism, which the world was not familiar with, came to exist in the area liberated from the religious fundamentalists in Syria. The Kurds during the Syrian civil war, on one hand, gained international fame for their fight against the radical Islamists; on the other hand, they put a new theory of governance, democratic confederalism, in practice in northern Syria. This paper seeks to provide a brief review of the theory of democratic confederalism and its practices in Rojava to build an argument regarding its future. This case study aims to explore how and why the theory and practices of democratic confederalism co-exist and which factors may influence the Rojava revolution’s future. This review’s central argument is that while democratic confederalism is a revolution in the field, it is also an experiment whose future depends on how the people will adopt it and how the global and regional powers will approach it.

Thomas Schmidinger, Krieg und Revolution in Syrisch-Kurdistan: Analysen und Stimmen aus Rojava, Wien: Mandelbaum, 2014, 262 pp., (ISBN: 978-3-85476-636-0).Bahar Baser, Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts: A Comparative Perspective. Farnham: Ashgate, 2015, 302 pp., (ISBN-10: 1472425626). Bryan R. Gibson, Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War, New York: Palgrave, 2015, 284 pp., (ISBN: 978-1137487117). Alex Danilovich, Iraqi Federalism and the Kurds: Learning to Live Together, Farnham, Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate, 2014, 181 pp., (ISBN: 9781409451112).Sherko Kirmanj, Identity and Nation in Iraq, Boulder Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner, 2013, xviii + 321 pp., (ISBN: 978-1-58826-885-3).Cenk Saraçoğlu, Kurds of Modern Turkey: Migration, Neoliberalism and Exclusion in Turkish Society, London : IB Tauris, 2011, 228 pp., (ISBN: 978-1-84885-468-0).Tatort Kurdistan. Demokratische Autonomie in Nordkurdistan, Rätbewegung, Geschlechterbefreiung und Ökologie in der Praxis. Hamburg: Tatort Kurdistan/Informationsstelle Kurdistan, 2012, 183 pp., (ISBN: 978-3-941012-60-8).Anja Flach, Ercan Ayboğa and Michael Knapp, Revolution in Rojava, Frauenbewegung und Kommunalismus zwischen Krieg und Embargo, Hamburg: VSA Verlag, 2015, 352 pp., (ISBN: 978-3-89965-665-7).

This commentary seeks to examine the extent to which Kurdish liberation projects are free from the global colonial continuities. While the discussion on colonialism and Kurdistan typically centres on the Kurds’ relationships with their immediate colonisers, it obscures at least two forms of colonial continuities in Kurdish liberation projects. A decolonial perspective built on the coloniality concept enables these colonial continuities. Firstly, the manifestation of politico-tribal domination in Başûr (South Kurdistan, Iraq) is a common feature of postcolonial states that perpetuates the originally colonial power relations within internal structures. Secondly, the Rojava (West Kurdistan, Syria) revolution, which, despite its extensive criticism of orientalism, inadvertently reproduces the frustration of Rojava’s people arising from the feeling of abandonment, by equating “we fight for humanity” with “we fight for Western values.” The reproduction of internal coloniality and Western superiority are, I argue, inextricably linked to the colonial nature of modern power.

Cette recherche examine les raisons, les mécanismes et les conséquences sous-jacents à la dynamique diversifiée et intensifiée de l'engagement politique parmi les Kurdes à travers l'Occident depuis la révolution du genre au Rojava. La première partie, qui comprend les deux premiers chapitres, met en lumière les raisons qui poussent les participants à la recherche, en particulier la jeune génération, à s'engager dans la défense du mouvement kurde dans son ensemble et, plus spécifiquement, de la cause du Rojava, en se penchant sur leurs expériences vécues du genre et de l'identité kurde, deux identités contestées dans un contexte transnational. En outre, elle se concentre sur la reconfiguration du spectre politique kurde depuis la révolution du Rojava. La deuxième partie, qui englobe les quatre chapitres suivants, examine minutieusement les perspectives des participants à la recherche sur les différentes facettes de l'expérience du Rojava. Ce faisant, elle examine les significations et l'importance que les participants attribuent à la bataille de Kobané en particulier et au projet politique plus large du Rojava. Elle analyse également leurs critiques de la performance politique des acteurs du Rojava, ainsi que leurs critiques de la politique étrangère occidentale à l'égard de la question kurde dans son ensemble et du Rojava en particulier. La troisième partie, qui comprend les trois derniers chapitres, met en lumière les principales dynamiques de l'engagement politique kurde transnational dans l'ensemble de l'Occident après la révolution du Rojava. L'analyse empirique s'appuie sur plus de 101 entretiens menés auprès d'un large éventail de Kurdes, dont des politiciens, des artistes, des universitaires et d'autres personnes résidant principalement en Europe occidentale (notamment en France, en Angleterre, en Allemagne, en Belgique, en Suisse et en Suède) et, dans une moindre mesure, en Nouvelle-Zélande, au Canada et aux États-Unis. La révolution du Rojava, avec son immense puissance douce et son bilan démocratique à l'échelle mondiale, marque un tournant dans la (re)formation de l'imaginaire collectif et de la praxis politique des participants à la recherche concernant divers aspects de la politique kurde ainsi que de l'identité collective. Cela inclut la restructuration du spectre politique kurde et la reconfiguration de l'imaginaire national en fonction du genre. Par conséquent, il sera avancé que la révolution a apporté de nouvelles dynamiques à l'engagement politique kurde transnational dans l'ère post-Rojava. Trois dynamiques principales ont été identifiées: Premièrement, les efforts déployés par les acteurs politiques kurdes, principalement mais pas exclusivement, pour retirer le PKK de la liste des organisations terroristes de l'UE. Deuxièmement, les effets domino de cette révolution dans toute la région du Moyen-Orient et en Occident, illustrés par son slogan féministe kurde, Jin Jiyan Azadi, qui s'est transformé en une protestation nationale contre le régime théocratique de la République islamique d'Iran et a ensuite gagné l'Occident, principalement, mais pas exclusivement, par le biais des communautés iranienne et kurde depuis septembre 2022. Enfin, la montée des acteurs politiques kurdes en tant que force motrice du processus de démocratisation au Moyen-Orient, bien qu'ils soient statistiquement minoritaires, en s'appuyant sur les antécédents démocratiques des acteurs kurdes, notamment illustrés par le HDP en Turquie, la révolution du genre au Rojava et le mouvement "Femme, Vie, Liberté" en Iran
This research investigates the underlying rationale, mechanisms and consequences behind the diversified and intensified dynamics of political engagement among Kurds across the West since the gender revolution in Rojava. The first part, comprising the first two chapters, sheds light on the reasons driving research participants, particularly the younger generation, to engage in advocacy for the Kurdish movement as a whole and, more specifically, for the cause of Rojava, by delving into their lived experiences of gender and Kurdish identity as both contested identities in a transnational setting. Furthermore, it focuses on the reconfiguration of the Kurdish political spectrum since the Rojava revolution. The second part, encompassing the four subsequent chapters, scrutinizes research participants' perspectives on various facets of Rojava's experiment. In doing so, it examines the meanings and importance that participants ascribe to the Kobane battle in particular and to the broader Rojava political project. It also analyzes their critiques of the political performance of the Rojava actors, as well as their criticisms of Western foreign policy towards the Kurdish question as a whole and Rojava in particular. The third part, consisting of the last three chapters, throws light on the main dynamics of transnational Kurdish political engagement across the West in the post-Rojava revolution era. The empirical analysis draws from insights gleaned from over 101 interviews conducted with a diverse range of Kurdish individuals, including politicians, artists, academics, and others residing primarily in Western Europe (including France, England, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden), and to a lesser extent in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The Rojava revolution, with its immense soft power and democratic record on a global scale, marks a turning point in (re) shaping the collective imagination and political praxis of research participants regarding various aspects of Kurdish politics as well as collective identity. This includes the restructuring of the Kurdish political spectrum and the gendered reconfiguration of the national imaginary. Therefore, it will be argued that the revolution has brought new dynamics to transnational Kurdish political engagement in the post-Rojava era. Three main dynamics have been identified: Firstly, the endeavors of mainly, but not exclusively, Kurdish political actors to remove the PKK from the EU's list of terrorist organizations. Secondly, the domino effects of this revolution throughout the Middle East region and the West, epitomized by its Kurdish feminist slogan, Jin Jiyan Azadi, which has evolved into a national protest against the theocratic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran and then gained traction across the West, primarily but not exclusively through the Iranian and Kurdish communities since September 2022. And finally the rise of Kurdish political actors as a driving force for the democratization process in the Middle East, despite being statistically a minority, drawing on the democratic track record of Kurdish actors, notably exemplified by the HDP in Turkey, the gender revolution in Rojava and the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement in Iran

Esta tese explora o conflito de Rojava, conhecida como a revolução de Rojava. Esta descreve o contexto histórico e político desta batalha e enfoca o papel da mulher curda como tornaram, Rojava, um estado seguro com as suas próprias regras, éticas tradições e cultura. Apesar desses pontos de referência verificáveis, algumas estudiosas feministas apontaram para os pontos de vista positivos dos desenvolvimentos patriotas, que frequentemente abrem espaços para debates baseados em gênero. As mulheres pertencentes ao PKK e sua organização prima, o Partido da União do Governo da Maioria (Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat, PYD), falam sobre a exemplificação da filosofia moderna do PKK, a fim de estabelecer uma administração independente, no nordeste da Síria. As mulheres curdas, situadas em Rojava, mudaram a imagem que criaram de si mesmas: tornaram-se "combatentes femininas". Elas contribuíram para a criação de um estado autônomo pleno, principalmente representando o seu poder. Ao longo da minha pesquisa, cheguei à conclusão de que o envolvimento político das mulheres em Rojava tentou alterar as estruturas de gênero, em particular para criar uma cidadania feminista. Este trabalho contribui para compreender a construção de Rojava com sua ligação com a história curda, e a relação entre gênero e a ideia de nação, a partir do conceito de identificação de gênero do nacionalismo (Şimşek e Jongerden, 2018).
This thesis explores the Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava revolution. It outlines the historical and political background of this battle and focuses on the role of Kurdish women in making Rojava a safe state with its own rules, ethics, traditions, and culture. Notwithstanding of these verifiable points of reference, a few feminist scholars have pointed to the positive viewpoints of patriot developments, which frequently open spaces for gender-based debates. The women belonging to the PKK and its cousin organization, the Majority rule Union Party (Partiya Yekîtiya Demokrat, PYD), speak to the exemplification of the PKK’s modern philosophy, to set up an independent administration in northeast Syria. Kurdish women situated in Rojava made a change in the image they created about themselves: they became ‘female combatants. They contributed to the creation of a full autonomous state, mainly representing their power. Throughout my research, I concluded that women’s political involvement in Rojava has tried to alter gendered structures, to create a feminist citizenship. This work contributes to understand the making of Rojava with its link with Kurdish history, and the relationship between gender and the idea of nation, based on the concept of gender identification of nationalism (Şimşek and Jongerden, 2018).

Abstract While the Islamic State governed by weaponizing women, the Autonomous Administration governs by empowering them. With a co-chair system and 40 percent women’s quota in all levels of governance, the Autonomous Administration has achieved a level of women’s participation and leadership unparalleled elsewhere in Syria, or even the wider region. They were able to achieve this precisely because women and their male allies built a statelet where they were able to make their own laws and institutions, as well as promote women into positions of power. Second, the statelet was able to expand beyond the Kurdish heartland because many Arab, Christian, Yezidi and Turkmen women seized the opportunity to take part in governance. Furthermore, I show how these ideas of full gender equality—not token inclusion—were developed by Kurdish women inside the PKK since the 1970s. Finally, my survey data show that the ideas of gender equality are now embraced by the rank-and-file, not just supported by the elite cadre.