Jineology: Kurdish “feminism” in the doctrine of democratic confederalism and the political system of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava)
Jineology: Kurdish “feminism” in the doctrine of democratic confederalism and the political system of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava)

Summary/Abstract: There can be no doubt that among many problems of the Middle East inadequate status of women is of paramount importance. It might come as a surprise, then, that the most radical doctrine of feminine emancipation was formulated by the Kurdish socialist freedom movement from Turkey and is being implemented in war-torn Syria in the de facto autonomy called the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, better known as “Rojava”. The doctrine is named jineology (in Kurdish jineolojî) and constitutes one of three pillars of democratic confederalism (together with libertarian democratic socialism and ecologism), the ideology of Abdullah Öcalan. Apo, as he is called, proposed a socialist revolution that would include women’s liberation and would take place in human hearts and minds rather than on the battlefields. First, the system of education needs to accept progressive methods and contents. Second, women ought to become active participants in the political, social, and economic life, especially in order to marginalize the state through creation of a multi-level self-government. Third, they need to be able to defend themselves (also physically) against men, nations-states waging wars, industrialists, and capitalists. The theoretical foundation of these changes is referred to as jineology, understood as a discipline belonging to social sciences, similar to gender studies. These are the ideals that are being implemented in Rojava and manifested in the Social Contract, the constitution of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.

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