Category: Women
Women’s freedom, or women’s liberation, is one of the three main pillars of the Rojava Revolution and the stateless self-governance model of the Autonomous Administrations of North and East Syria (AANES), as well as the Kurdish freedom movement more broadly, which initiated the revolution.
Women’s liberation is the most central pillar of the Kurdish freedom movement, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Rojava Revolution is a women’s revolution. There are many elements of the new system of radical democracy which have been created to build up women’s autonomy and freedom, such as the co-chair system, women’s co-operatives, and autonomous women’s councils in every democratic structure at every level of the system.
This is a strategy based on a historical understanding that patriarchy was the first system of oppression, developed more than 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, and that all other systems of oppression such as race, class, imperialism, colonialism and slavery, as well as capitalism and the state itself, all have their roots in patriachy – the rule of men and enslavement and subjugation of women.
In the articles below, you can find information about women in North and East Syria, their lives, co-operatives and communal economy projects, and how the new system aims to build up women’s confidence and autonomy. There are also articles about women’s lives, livelihoods and struggles for liberation in the regions of southeastern Turkey known as Bakur by their largely Kurdish populations.
Collective work from women of Amed to make red pepper paste
Preparation for winter of women in Amed continues. The women have worked collectively to make red pepper and tomato paste for winter.
Agriculture project helps women of Afrin to earn livelihood
Displaced women of Afrin try to overcome the economic difficulties due to the embargo by producing. Women taking part in the agriculture project initiated by the Women's Economy Management on seven hectares say that they are happy to have their economic freedom as well as to produce.
Women of NE Syria come together to discuss economic issues
Women of NE Syria discussed the reflection of the economic crisis and chaos in the world on women of the Autonomous Administration. We spoke to Derya Remezan, a member of the Women's Commission in the Cizre Region about the meeting.
The Work of the Health Committee
The Health Committee was established on 6/12/2020 and is responsible for organizing and promoting women’s health work and stands against the policies of global capitalist powers that monopolize health care and make it a profit sector. It deals with the issue of health in all spheres of life physically, psychologically, spiritually, politically and socially, in contrast to the distortions caused by capitalist modernity which defines health only within the framework of the good physical condition of the person.
Fruits of the women’s revolution: A feminist utopia realised through the ‘Jinwar’ project
A female-only ecological village, which welcomes displaced women of all ethnicities and religions of northeast Syria, represents one of many feminist practices that have been born of the women's revolution.
Women of Syria’s Manbij form group to empower women
Women in Manbij were able to break the barrier of marginalization and participate in all administrative institutions in order to develop themselves after the city was liberated from the Islamic State (ISIS), an official of the Democratic Civil Administration institutions in the city of Manbij, northern Syria.
Internally Displaced Women Run restaurant in Syria’s north Aleppo Countryside
Along with three other displaced women, Zeyneb Battal, an IDP [internally displaced person] from the city of Afrin, northwest Syria, is busy preparing kibbeh (a fried ball of spiced ground meat, onions, and grain, popular in Middle Eastern cuisine) and other dishes in a small restaurant in the town of Fafeen in the northern Aleppo countryside.
Rojava’s Everyday Democracy
Drawing on first-hand experience in Rojava, Ramazan Mendanlioglu explores how radical decentralisation and self-administration look in practice.
Self-Sufficiency and Cooperation: How North and East Syria’s Cooperatives Seek to Empower Local Economies
In a region that has seen fierce military battles, instability, conflict, and occupation, new efforts at economic cooperatives are taking root.
The Women of Raqqa Are Rebuilding Their Future
Four years since Raqqa was liberated from ISIS, women are playing a leading role in rebuilding the Syrian city. Their activism shows that socialist feminism isn’t just about gender parity in top jobs — it’s about women taking control of their own lives.
Ecology in Times of War
In 2021, too, the war in Kurdistan has a great impact on the struggle for an ecological society there. So we need to take a closer look at how these two issues relate to each other and what an ecological stance can look like in times of war. To that end, Make Rojava Green Again conducted an interview with Kamuran Akın from Humboldt University in Berlin.
