Resistance is A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on the armed self- defence of the YPJ in Rojava

Sophie Polig

Global Political Studies Peace and Conflict Studies Bachelor Thesis, 15 credits Spring Semester 2020 Supervisor: Dr. Ane Kirkegaard Word count: 13773

Abstract

This Bachelor Thesis focuses on the ideological, philosophical and political discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the feminist revolution of Rojava with specific attention to the armed self-defence of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The aim of this study is to understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ from within the women’s movement and their logics, and the power systems and mechanisms of structural violence their understanding is embedded in. To answer the research question, how can one understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ in relation to the discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the revolution in Rojava?, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (archaeology and genealogy) is applied to explore the discourse of women’s liberation to outline the discourse of self-defence of the YPJ. The aim of this study can be said to be counter-reactionary to the critiques of liberal feminists towards the YPJ, that seem to disregard the power relations women in Rojava are trapped in. The thesis concludes that to understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ it is imperative to consider the freedom proposal of Abdullah Öcalan, the mental leader of the movement. The discourse of women’s liberation regarding armed self-defence clearly leans on and results in the freedom proposal, resisting the hegemonic systems and power relations of nation-, , and . The YPJ makes use of legitimate and natural self-defence in their struggle for liberation. The struggle is realized on an organizational level in the army by breaking free from patriarchal stereotypes and oppression and re-creating a new army culture in women’s terms. The constant struggle for liberation and for an ethical society is understood as the necessary process in which freedom is found. Therefore, the armed resistance of the YPJ evolves around the deep desire to achieve and maintain freedom. The YPJ and their armed resistance inspires to rethink violence and an anti-militarist redistribution of the means of violence. The study implies that there is an urgent need in social science and specifically peace research to abandon universalized models concerning peace, freedom and resistance, to be more inclusive towards understandings of the matter that are not based in the Euro-Christian tradition.

Key words: armed self-defence; discourse analysis; feminist revolution of Rojava; freedom; resistance; women’s liberation; women’s self-defence.

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List of Abbreviations

AKP = Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party) FDA = Foucauldian Discourse Analysis FSA= al-Jaysh as-Sūrī al-Ḥurr (Free Syrian Army) ISIS = The Islamic State of and , known as well as ISIL, IS or Daesh PKK= Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (’s Worker’s Party) TEV-DEM = Tevgera Civaka Demokratîk (Movement for a Democratic Society) WANA = West Asia and North Africa YAJK = Yekitiya Azadiya Jinên Kurdistan (Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Union) YJWK = Yekitiya Jinên Welatparezên Kurdistan (Kurdistan Patriotic Women’s Union) YPG = Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (People’s Protection Unit) YPJ = Yekîneyên Parastina Jinê (Women’s Protection Unit)

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Table of Content

1. Introduction 4 1.1. Problem Statement 4 1.2. Research Aim and Research Questions 5 1.3. Relevance and Academic Contributions 6 1.4. Delimitations 7 1.5. Thesis Outline 8 2. Methodological Consideration and Analytical Framework 9 2.1. Design and Methodological Choice 9 2.2. About the Researcher 10 2.3. Method 11 2.4. Research Technique 12 2.5. Data 15 2.6. Analytical Framework: Capitalist Modernity versus Democratic Modernity 16 2.6.1. Capitalist Modernity in Northern Syria 17 2.6.2. Armed self-defence of the YPJ in the Democratic Modernity 20 3. Analysis: Our Resistance is Freedom – Slogan YPJ 23 3.1. Freedom and Mental Defence 23 3.2. Mental Defence and Physical Defence 26 3.3. Physical Defence and Community 29 3.4. Physical Defence and Freedom 32 4. Concluding Discussion 35 5. Bibliography 39 5.1. Main Dataset 42 6. Appendix I: Timeline 47 7. Appendix II: List of Elements 50 8. Appendix III: List of Original Quotes 55

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1. Introduction

In the spring of 2011, a revolution arose in Rojava, , within the context of the Arab Spring in Syria and the following Syrian war (Flach, et al., 2016:xxiii). Rojava makes up the area in northern Syria where the majority of the Syrian Kurdish population resides in an otherwise ethically mixed area, including Ezidis, , Armenians, Syriacs, Chaldeans and other smaller population groups like Turkmens, Chechens, Circassians and Nawar (Ibid:2,18- 33). Many people of the different ethnic backgrounds in the area encouraged a new system for Northern Syria according to the concepts of ‘Democratic Modernity’ and ‘Democratic Confederalism’ (Ibid:51). The alternative system for Rojava is based on , , and radical grassroots , promoting the principles of freedom and justice (Dirik, 2014:17,19). The models were developed by Abdullah Öcalan, the ideological leader of the Kurdish Freedom Movement in South-East and one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê - PKK), after his paradigm shift in the late 1990s and 2000s (Flach, et al., 2016:36, 38). The Revolution of Rojava is often labelled as ‘’s Revolution’ since it has the liberation of women at its heart and uses it as a starting point to simultaneously liberate men from the colonialist disparagement, as a consequence of patriarchy, capitalism and nation-statism (Dirik, 2014:19, Flach et al., 2016:61). Women in Rojava play an active and all-encompassing part in the organization of the revolution, but they are especially known for being part of the autonomous women’s protection units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin- YPJ) and for taking up arms themselves (Flach et al., 2016:61). The YPJ has been involved in the Syrian war, especially in an armed struggle against Daesh (also known as Islamic State - IS) and other Salafist-jihadist groups since 2013 and against the attacks and occupation of norther-west Syria by the Turkish state since the beginning of 2018 (Kongra Star, 28/06/2020:3). Nevertheless, the Kurdish feminist freedom movement defines itself as being anti-militarist and solely acting out of legitimate self-defence (Daudén, 2016, Dirik, 07/03/2017).

1.1. Problem Statement

Liberal feminists have been criticizing the supposed paradox between the feminist and democratic approach of the women’s movement in Rojava and their violent resistance. Based on that, they have accused them of militarism (Daudén, 2016, Dirik, 07/03/2017). However, the Kurdish feminist activist, lawyer and ex-parliamentarian Ayla Akat Ata concisely responded to 4 this accusation: “in the context of life or death, non-violence is a privilege” (Daudén, 2016). The liberal notion of non-violence needs to be problematized, because it ignores “the intersecting power systems and mechanisms of structural violence” in the struggle of women in Kurdistan (Dirik 07/03/2017). Liberal feminists fail to make a distinction between “statist, colonialist, imperialist, interventionist militarism” and legitimate self-defence that is necessary (Ibid).

Put bluntly, in an international system of sexual and racial violence, legitimized by capitalist nation-states, the cry for non-violence is a luxury for those in privileged positions of relative safety, believing that they will never end up in a situation where violence will become necessary. While theoretically sound, pacifism does not speak to the reality of masses of women and thus assumes a rather elitist first world character. (Ibid)

Essentially, the white, middle-class standard in Europe is used as a universal norm. However, it is important to look away from universalized models when it comes to non-violent resistance, as it can be argued to constitute an attempt to erase the experiences and knowledges of, first and foremost, women in Rojava. Fanon criticized the Western understanding of non-violence already in the 1960s as a colonial tool in itself, used for the pacification of the colonized and to take away any epistemological argument for resisting the fabric of violence they experience in the context of hegemonic European imperialism (2004:23,28). In other words, liberal feminists are perpetuating epistemological and cultural violence when they are accusing women of the YPJ in Rojava of militarism. Therefore, we have to question the way we see and understand violent resistance here in Europe. That is not to say that violence is good, but we need to consider that there are discourses in which self-defence and resistance include a violent response when seen as necessary.

1.2. Research Aim and Research Questions

Departing from the reasoning above, the focus of this paper is on the ideological, philosophical and political discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the feminist revolution of Rojava with specific attention to the armed self-defence within the YPJ and their logics. Essentially, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) is used to outline the discourse of self-defence of the YPJ. The aim of this discursive study is to understand the self-defence of the YPJ from within the discourses of liberation in the feminist revolution of Rojava and better grasp how locally situated “intersecting power systems and mechanisms of structural violence” (Dirik 07/03/2017) influence this ideological, philosophical and political understanding of women’s 5 liberation in relation to armed self-defence. Therefore, the research question is as follows: How can one understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ in relation to the discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the revolution in Rojava?

Since the study applies an FDA, the research question is consciously very wide as there is the need to be open to what one will find. Overall, the formulation of the aim of this study and the research question can be said to constitute a counter reaction to the critiques of liberal feminists, that seem to disregard the power relations people, and especially women, in Rojava are trapped in. It should be seen as an attempt to challenge their critique by trying to understand and focus on the perspectives of the women directly involved in the struggle.

1.3. Relevance and Academic Contributions

This study is of considerable relevance to the field of Peace and Conflict Studies and will make several contributions. Firstly, as aforementioned, it is relevant to the field since the focus is on the notion that legitimate armed self-defence may sometimes be necessary to achieve freedom and peace. It may stimulate people to rethink their perceptions of the role and means of violence in the predominant approaches to peace, violent and non-violent resistance in peace research. Thereby, the study will contribute to an enriched understanding of different forms and approaches to violence and peace from a different perspective. Secondly, there can be said to be a lack of research when it comes to female fighters, particularly concerning their agency and how they transform armed struggles through their own values. Women in war are mostly researched with a focus on their peacefulness and victimhood reproducing stereotypes (Coulter, 2018:55). Therefore, the issue studied here is relevant to better understand the war system as not only confined to men (see Connell, 2013, Goldstein, 2003, Withworth, 2013). When it comes to the Kurdish feminist revolution in northern Syria, considerable research has been done in relation to the Western depiction and understanding of the Kurdish female fighters in Rojava. A sudden interest arose in Europe when the women of the YPJ, who have been seen as victims of their oppressive cultures, unexpectedly started to defend themselves against groups such as Daesh. As a consequence, more and more young European women started to go to Syria and take up arms together with women of Rojava. However, results of different academic papers have shown that the portrayal of YPJ female fighters is often inaccurate (see Dean, 2019, Dirik, 2018b:74) or of orientalist nature (Shahvisi, 2018:3, Şimşek and Jongerden,

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2018:2-3) and therefore undermines the voices and agency of the women involved in the revolution. Thus, this study will contribute to bridge this lack of research concerning the agency of female Kurdish fighters of the YPJ and to get an understanding from within the logic of the group concerning their resistance.

1.4. Delimitations

This study is limited to the self-defence of women and the ideological, philosophical and political discourse of the YPJ in the context of the feminist revolution in Rojava. The reasoning behind this is to focus on the voices of those who are at the heart and forefront of the revolution. The perspective of men that are part of the movement and the protection units are therefore not included. Clear delimitations are also the geographical dimensions and the timeframe. Since the resistance of varies in the different parts of their settlements, this study will be confined to the area of Northern Syria and partly South- East Turkey. The revolution in Rojava is ideologically and philosophically linked to the Kurdish freedom movement that originated in Turkey. The Kurdish resistance in this area has been ongoing since the past 40 years. However, in this paper the concentration will lie on the discourse of the Kurdish women’s movement in Rojava that has been crystallizing since after the paradigm shift of the ideological leader, Abdullah Öcalan, that he developed between the late 1990s and early 2000s. This means that this paper must be seen as the first step to do an exhaustive genealogy. The dataset is also limited, specifically because of the data collection field for the main dataset, that is the internet, and the language. Only online media sources have been available, because interviews with female fighters are unrealistic for the scope of this Bachelor thesis. In addition, the data used are confined to English and some German sources as I do not understand nor speak the Kurdish language1. In other words, the discourse studied is limited to the one available to an international audience online. This brings us to the last delimitation. The fact that I, a white, European woman, study online from a movement that I have never been part of, nor have I talk to any of the YPJ women directly, is essential to mention. Due to this fact, there might be aspects of the discourse that I miss to include in this study, but which are important to the women of the YPJ in their armed self-defence for their liberation.

1 It is important to acknowledge and note here that there is no standard Kurdish language but various dialectic groups (Flach, et al., 2016:1). 7

1.5. Thesis Outline

Following the introduction, this thesis entails a chapter with methodological considerations and the analytical framework. A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) will be used, which is why the analytical framework, as in theoretical considerations, is linked to the methods (archaeology and genealogy) and therefore outlined in relation to it. Thereafter, comes the analysis outlining the discourse of self-defence of the YPJ in relation to women’s liberation, followed by the concluding discussion in which all threads of the analytical framework and analysis are pulled together, referring back to the research aim and research question and also the problem statement. Lastly, three appendices are provided. Appendix I includes contextual information in form of a timeline about the origins of the Kurds according to the women movement’s , about colonialism, imperialism and the Assad regime in Syria, about the Kurdish Freedom Movement in South-East Turkey and, finally, about the Revolution in Rojava. Essentially, all the historical events mentioned in the paper are put together to give a more comprehensive overview. Appendix II provides a complete list of statements and elements of the discourse of women’s liberation regarding the armed self-defence of the YPJ, which forms the main data on which the analysis is based. Appendix III entails a list with original quotes that are used in the analysis but have been modified in terms of grammar for a better comprehension.

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2. Methodological Consideration and Analytical Framework

This study applies a discourse analysis according to . It is centred on making sense of history in the present or using history to diagnose the present (Kendall and Wickham, 1999:5), by examining discourses and their truth claims. For instance, truth claims of the discourse of violence, resistance and peace in the predominant Enlightenment tradition in Europe today, can be said to build on discourses and truth claims that date back millennia. Authors from St. Augustine (Just War Theory) to Bertrand Russell (concept of Non-Resistance) and their philosophical notions of war and peace developed out of the early Christian tradition and the violence, wars and resistance that occurred during these times (Kinsella and Carr, 2007). The problematic understanding of non-violent resistance that crystallized out of it is now used to justify and legitimize the liberal feminists critiques to the armed resistance of the YPJ perpetuating epistemic and cultural violence by silencing them because they do not align to a Western ideological, philosophical and political stance.

In this chapter, methodological considerations and the theoretical framework of this thesis will be detailed. It includes a discussion of the design and methodological choice explaining why an FDA is suitable to study the phenomenon at hand, followed by a positioning of the researcher in relation to the phenomenon studied. The subsequent outline of this chapter will follow the logics of an FDA where the method discussion is directly linked to the theoretical considerations. A description of the methods, archaeology and genealogy, the used research techniques and data is provided, next to a discussion of the analytical framework.

2.1. Design and Methodological Choice

While the design for this paper is a discourse analysis, the methods are Foucault’s archaeology and genealogy. They are based in a constructivist tradition of social science and, as said, imply an interpretative analysis based on history of present . Essentially, it is about exploring how something has come to be the way it is. The YPJ, in the context of the Revolution of Rojava, develops its own ongoing discourse of women’s liberation as a form of resistance to what they consider as threats, that build on their own truth claims and contribute to their understanding and practice of armed self-defence today. The ever-present question of why the discourse crystallized the way it did in an FDA (Foucault,

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1972:28) facilitates to explore the research purpose, i.e. to understand how power relations influence the discourse of women’s liberation in relation to the armed self-defence of the YPJ. In addition, the design and method are suitable for this study as they provide the tools to study the phenomenon from within the Kurdish women’s movement and not through predefined and generalized theories. This is essential to better understand the ideological, philosophical and political approach of the female fighters of the YPJ in relation to their self-defence and to not undermine their agency. Alternatively, an ethnographical study could have served the purpose of this analysis as it is used to qualitatively explore values, behaviours, and beliefs of a group from within, without generalizing (see Bernard, 2006). However, a field study was not realistic for the scope of a bachelor thesis as the time frame and circumstances would not allow me to travel to northern Syria to conduct such research. Also, a content analysis could have been used, which has the purpose of rigorously analysing written texts, spoken texts and visual images (Rose, 2016:85). However, even though it is possible to include a “qualitative interpretation” to some extent in a content analysis (Ibid:86), it is limited in the interpretation of “the audiencing, circulation and production sites of meaning-making” (Ibid:88). In other words, it would not provide the necessary tools to investigate the power systems and mechanisms of structural violence that influence the discourse of women’s liberation concerning armed self-defence of the YPJ.

2.2. About the Researcher

Macias (2015:222) claims that “we all live at the intersection of historical and socio-political power relations that sustain conditions of inequality and privilege and shape our subjectivity”. Certainly, this applies also for the researcher, me! In other words, one needs to recognize that research is unavoidably embedded in historical, political and social power relations that concern the researcher, especially in constructivist and qualitative research. As a white European cis woman in the higher education context I enjoy several privileges and I am unquestionably biased in this regard, even though, as a student of Peace and Conflict studies, I have always been invoked to think critically, and discussions on power and have been very frequent. Apart from being female myself in a patriarchal system, this is also where my interest in women’s struggles derives from, as I believe it is of great importance to attain a more just and equal society. However, I am also aware that specifically white feminists from the Global North have been contributing to an orientalist representation of non- white women perpetuating domination and supremacy (see Mohanty, 1984 and Said, 1977).

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Notably, this is also the case for Kurdish women, which is why Jineoloji International has called for white feminists and academics from the Global North to stop to interpret West Asia and North Africa (WANA), to question orientalist assumptions in research, to incorporate theories and literature form WANA and to take a thoughtful stance when trying to understand the issues and developing solutions with a women’s point of view (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020a). Also, Khatami (2013:3-15), scholar and former president of Iran, emphasizes that there is the need for a dialogue, including genuine listening, between the West and the East, where both parties think of the other as equal in order to reach a mutual understanding. In other words, there is the need for scholars that genuinely try to understand the other side by listening and by taking them seriously. Based on these calls, with this study I endeavour to make a first step in trying to understand the self-defence of women in Rojava from within their movement and how they reason by taking these women seriously and with respect. I am aware of Foucault’s words when he says that you cannot hope to gain an in-depth understanding of a discourse unless you know it well from the inside (Foucault, 1984b:77). Yet, this does not mean that you cannot endeavour to learn and understand as much as possible about it.

2.3. Method

As aforementioned, this study applies the methods of archaeology and a genealogy. Both complement each other and involve a systematic ordering of discourses to make sense of their last state. In Foucault’s words, the knowledge acquired through these methods is “the final result of a long and often sinuous development involving language (langue) and thought, empirical experience and categories, the lived and ideal necessities, the contingency of events and the play of formal constraints” (Foucault, 1972:76, emphasis in original). Overall, it can be said that an FDA involves a process of de-construction of meaning (archaeology), followed by a re-construction that demonstrates how a discourse crystallized (genealogy). More concretely, the archaeological research is concerned with “the process of investigating the archives of discourse” (Kendall and Wickham 1999:24). To understand what that means, one has to consider that a discourse is made up of a group of statements2 that build the basis of how we understand certain things and how we act based on this understanding (Rose, 2016:187). The meaning of a statement depends not only on the statement itself, but also on the meaning of other statements (Ibid:187-188). The relationship between the meanings of

2 A statement can be a text, but also visuals such as images 11 different statements are ‘discursive formations’ (Foucault, 1972:107). To sum up, a discourse is defined as a “group of statements that belong to a single system of formations” (Ibid) and to “investigate the archives of discourse” (Ibid) therefore means to uncover such discursive formations. “The archaeological description of discourses is deployed in the dimension of a general history” (Foucault, 1972:164 in Kendall and Wickham, 1999:24), which means the method is descriptive and historical. However, under general history Foucault refers to differences, transformations, discontinuities, mutations and so forth, as opposed to total history, which is concerned with chronological developments (Kendall and Wickham, 1999:24). The historical reading of the discourse is hence based on contingencies, which try to dictate how it is “that one particular statement appeared rather than another” (Foucault, 1972:27). Thereafter, the genealogical research comprises the strategic development of what was uncovered through archaeology and links it to the present concerns, or in other words, demonstrates its ongoing character in discourses (Kendall and Wickham, 1999:31). It focuses on the process of how mechanisms of power produce certain truth claims and what is accepted as knowledge through that. In other words, it describes how something becomes to be known as the truth (Macias 2015:226). More concretely, one must show that pre-existing forms of continuity and syntheses did not come about by themselves, but they are constructed and justified through specific rules (Foucault, 1972:25). These rules must be scrutinized to demonstrate in what circumstances they are legitimate and which ones can never be accepted (Ibid:26).

2.4. Research Technique

When doing an FDA, one always begins with the archaeological analysis, i.e. the process of scrutinizing the archives of a discourse. For this step, one can envision the researcher to be an actual archaeologist who investigates the soil layer by layer, uncovering findings. For a discourse analysis this means that elements, which refer to words or conceptualizations, are uncovered in a discursive field. It is important, that in the process of doing so, one is free of any previous notions that potentially “[diversify] the theme of continuity” (Foucault, 1972:21). In this specific study, this suggests that words and conceptualizations used by the YPJ concerning women’s liberation through armed self-defence were identified and listed. Thereafter, these uncovered and dispersed elements are re-ordered. Re-ordering in practice means, one needs to define statements, which can also be imagined as an epicentre around which elements hover. Essentially, a statement is “an atom of discourse”, which can be “isolated

12 and introduced into a set of relations with other similar elements” (Foucault, 1972:80). This process of re-ordering specifically means,

to grasp the statement in the exact specificity of its occurrence; determine its conditions of existence, fix at least its limits, establish its correlations with other statements, that may be connected with it, and show what other forms of statements it excludes […] we must show why it could not be other than it was, in what respect it is exclusive of any other, how its assumes, in the midst of others and in relation to them, a place that no other could occupy. (Ibid:28)

For instance, one specific statement of the discourse of women’s liberation through armed self- defence is physical defence. The meaning of physical defence as understood by the YPJ is made up of different elements, for example, preservation of existence, protection of people, land, ethical society and many more. However, the meaning of physical defence is also linked to the meaning of other statements, such as freedom. The notion of physical defence can therefore be linked to the idea of freedom in the YPJ as the two can be said to lean on each other and borrow elements from each other. The mentioned elements that make out these meanings can therefore be said to be part of discursive fields, which coexist next to one another and feed into the understanding of freedom and physical defence. In short, statements are therefore part of discursive fields, domains where they coexist and influence one another (Ibid:98) and where several adjacent discursive fields contribute to what we think to be true values of the statement. A whole collateral space, a web of discourses, needs to be brought into operation to define a statement (Ibid:97). Important to consider here are also the elements and statements that are excluded from certain discursive fields, i.e. something which the statement is not. Map 1 will help to visualize this process. Note that the exclusions of the discursive fields are not included, and it is solely there for the purpose of visualization, not to represent a full list of statements and elements identified in this study.

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Map 1: Discourse of of Liberation Women’s Discourse 1: Map

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The genealogical part of research can be said to overlap with the archaeological analysis, since the scrutiny of these discursive formations make up an essential part of the genealogy, too (Kendall and Wickham, 1999:30). However, it also adds a further function, which is to trace all the discursive field that form a discursive web with concern to the origins and functions of a discourse. Leaning on the statements and fields one looks at the “processual aspects” of the discursive web and the ongoing character it has in relation to present concerns (Foucault, 1981: 70-1 in Kendall and Wickham, 1999:31). Hence, in the case of the women’s liberation discourse the concept of freedom and the elements connected to it can be traced back to the Kurdish movement’s historical interpretation of what the society looked like during the Neolithic times. Which then in turn dictates rules which influence the contemporary understanding and practice of physical defence making it appear natural and true. Physical defence can thereby be associated with the ultimate desire to achieve freedom through it. A more concrete explanation of this argument can be found in the analysis. The statements and elements in this section only serve as a specific example of how the research was conducted practically. A concrete description of the statements and elements are provided in the analytical framework.

2.5. Data

For an FDA a “vast accumulation of source material” is necessary (Foucault, 1984b:76-77). The materials used for this thesis are divided into two different datasets. Firstly, various materials are employed that are provided directly from the Kurdish women’s movement through online platforms such as YouTube and their own websites. From YouTube mainly interviews with YPJ female fighters that have been published since the beginning of the revolution by different organizations and networks of Rojava (The New International, The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, Women Defend Rojava, YPG Press Office, YPJ Media Center) are sourced, but also very recent webinars which are frequently organized by the Kurdish women’s movement to educate and raise awareness of their situation around the world (Koç, 05/07/2020, Nagihan, 14/06/2020, Rojava, 19/07/2020). The videos are either in English or have English subtitles. Next to that, written interviews, diary excerpts, articles and brochures composed by people or organizations from Rojava are sourced from the websites of different organizations or structures of the movement. These include the Komun Academy, Women Defend Rojava and Jineolojî International. In addition, booklets (Öcalan, 2012, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c) that have been

15 compiled by the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan” based on different works by Öcalan himself are used, next to an original book by Öcalan (2001) that has been translated into German. These works all represent and explain his ideology and political thinking after the paradigm shift. Interviews, diary excerpts and articles eventually make up the main dataset (section 5.1 in the bibliography) from where statements, elements and also contingencies are identified, deconstructed and re-constructed. The webinars, booklets, brochures, and some articles are mainly used to get an understanding of the context and the theoretical thinking of the women’s movement, the fabric behind the statements and elements, and thereby build the analytical framework, but also guide the analysis.

The second set must be understood as extant data, which means it is data that has been collected and analysed by others. It is comprised of academic productions, such as a book (Flach, et. al., 2016) and various academic articles (Çağlayan, 2012, Dilar, 07/03/2017, 2014, 2018a, 2018b,2018c, Duzel, 2018, Grojean, 2014, Jongerden and Akkaya, 2011, Üstündağ, 2016). Overall, the academic productions are used to deepen the knowledge on the matter, for contextualization and as instruments to assist the analysis and specifically the concluding discussion. This dataset has been thoroughly selected to make sure the voices of the YPJ female fighters are not misrepresented. Most of them are therefore based on primary source material or written by authors that consider themselves as being part of the movement.

It is important to note that in this paper, only the most representative and explicit quotes that relate to the statements will be cited, because of the vast amount of data. Some of the persons quoted have a poor English or the subtitles of the interviews are grammatically wrong, which is why they have been corrected for better comprehension. The corrected quotes are marked with a footnote and a list of the original quotes will be provided in Appendix III.

2.6. Analytical Framework: Capitalist Modernity versus Democratic Modernity

In this section, the theoretical considerations that were discovered by practicing the methods of archaeology and genealogy on the discourse of women’s liberation in relation to armed self- defence are analytically outlined. In other words, the discursive truth claims against and within which the YPJ operates are craved out. The section can therefore be seen as a first step of the analysis, building the framework for it. 16

To understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ, the power relations it operates in and the roots it derives from, the freedom proposal of Öcalan and his ideological, philosophical and political thinking after the paradigm shift of the Kurdish freedom movement was found to be fundamental. His freedom proposal, the realization of a new societal system called ‘Democratic Modernity’ as opposed to the “present-day hegemonic civilization”, ‘Capitalist Modernity’ (Öcalan, 2017b:10) can be said to frame the understanding of how the YPJ understands power to operate in their society. Therefore, it shapes the development of the truth claims of the ongoing discourse of women’s liberation as a form of resistance to what they consider as threats and based on that how the YPJ thinks about armed self-defence.

Thereby, this section is divided into two parts. The first part will consist of a short discussion of Öcalan’s theorizing of power regarding the dominant systems of ‘Capitalist modernity’ in relation to the experiences of the Kurdish society in Northern Syria and in part South- East Turkey. The second part, on the other hand, will provide an overview of his conceptualization of ‘Democratic Modernity’ in reference to the armed self-defence of the YPJ. Here, the most important statements and elements identified in this discourse analysis will be discussed. They will be visible in cursive and a full list of a total of 154 elements is provided in Appendix II, where one can also see how the statements overlap and intersect, i.e. how they relate to one another.

2.6.1. Capitalist Modernity in Northern Syria

According to Öcalan, the fabric of violence the Kurdish society is facing lies within the systems and power relations of ‘Capitalist Modernity’, namely nation-statism, capitalism and patriarchy (Öcalan, 2017b:10). The nation-state is understood to hold the most developed and complete monopoly in all aspects, that is trade, industry, finance, power, ideology, use of force/military, and all social processes (e.g. assimilation and homogenization) (Öcalan, 2017c:12, 14). As a matter of fact, nation-states create colonial opportunities and imperialism (Öcalan, 2017b:12). Their aim is to create a single national culture, identity and religious community, which means all forms of diversity and plurality are fought against, which often resulted in the forced assimilation or physical annihilation of minorities, cultures or languages (Öcalan, 2017c:14-15). The ‘ of ’ serves to validate the interests of the monopolies of power and exploitation by hiding or legitimizing them (Öcalan, 2017b:14). The hegemonic powers Turkey and Syria, both,

17 but differently, perpetuated assimilation efforts to suppress the emancipation of their Kurdish populations by forbidding their language and culture (Öcalan, 2013:18-20). While Turkey can be said to be more radical in its repression and assimilation efforts, leading Turkish Kurds to flee to Syria (Flach, et al., 2016:19), some of the Syrian Kurds enjoyed certain rights through the recognition of the Kurdish population as a minority (Öcalan, 2001:165). Nevertheless, were denied to Syrian Kurds in relation to citizenship, education in their mother tongue, freedom of press and political rights (Öcalan, 2001:166). Due to the Kurdish immigration form Turkey a census of the Kurdish residence in the province of Hesekê was conducted in 1962. Kurds who were not able to prove that they had lived there before 1945 were declared as foreigners, even those who had immigrated before. They were ripped of their citizenship and its connected rights, leaving them stateless and prone to poverty (Flach, et al., 2016:19). The Ba’ath Party, that came into power a year later, established a twelve-point plan for the of the Kurds in northern Syria (Ibid:20). According to Öcalan (2017c:11-12)., the economic system of the nation-state, namely capitalism, is based on the unregulated accumulation of capital and the unhindered exploitation of the population. Hence, exploitation is not only accepted by the state, but even facilitated. The nation-state detaches the peoples from their natural foundations, exploits the potential of ideas and labour of the society, colonizes people’s minds and makes them into slaves of the state, all through the agency of capitalism (Ibid:14-15). Society and the environment are disintegrated through capitalism and its law of maximum (Öcalan, 2017b:15). The Kurds experienced a new kind of colonialism with the arrival of imperial European powers and European capitalism at the beginning of the 20th century on top of colonial conditions they had already experienced in the course of history since the Sumerian times (Öcalan, 2001:71, Öcalan, 2013:16). They increasingly lost their national and social characteristics through the modernization that came with the colonialism (Ibid:70). Due to the lack of consciousness and self-knowledge that come with capitalism, the Kurdish individual has become especially vulnerable (KOMUN, 06/12/2018). The root of it all can be said to be patriarchy and the enslavement of women, or as Öcalan labels it ‘houswifization’ (Öcalan, 2017a:28). , as the basic ideology of power (Ibid) is employed to strengthen the power of men by turning women into sexual objects and commodities (Öcalan, 2017c:17). Discrimination based on gender not only refers to the power relations between women and men, but is also indicative of state power (Öcalan, 2017a:28). Öcalan states: ”the first oppressed class, the first colony and nation are women” (Diyar 27/06/2018) and “capitalism and nation-state are the monopolism of the despotic and

18 exploitative male” (Öcalan, 2017c:18; Öcalan, 2017a:45). According to Öcalan (2017a:28, 31, 2017c:18), ‘houswifization’, above all, constitutes the institutional foundation on which all other forms of slavery, oppression and colonization are implemented upon and become intertwined. Capitalism specifically led to the poverty of the Kurdish woman, to the occupation of her body-spirit through rape culture and the elimination of her “natural and ecological habitat” (Kaya, 22/04/2020). Kurdish women were excluded from public life; marriage and being economically dependent on men was the only option for them, and domestic violence was and still is very common (Flach, etl al, 2016: 62). Honour killings are also a very frequent phenomenon in Kurdish society. The Kurdish man, who has no moral or political strength due to the oppression based on his ethnicity, proves his power by exercising it upon his women. Öcalan (2017a:42) describes the phenomenon of honour killings in Kurdish society as the symbolic revenge for the loss of honour in their society. In addition, apart from being trapped in patriarchal domination within their societies and nation-states, Kurdish women in Rojava have been specifically targeted by outside forces such as Daesh and Turkey since the beginning of the revolution. Femicide, the murder of women precisely because they are women, and gender specific violence (Kongra Star, 18/03/2020:6) are used as a systematic practice under the occupation of these forces (Rojava, 19/07/2020, Kongra Star, 28/06/2020). Women and girls are raped, half of all refugees are women, and they are abducted and enslaved, forced to prostitution or marriage, or they are sold (Kongra Star, 18/03/2020:14). Daesh is especially known for using such practices, but also Turkey, aside from supporting Daesh indirectly, physically attacks women. Examples of the occupation of Afrin are the videotaping of naked arrested women that have been published by Turkish troops (Rojava, 19/07/2020). In other words, it can be said that these forces wage an occupation war on female bodies perpetuating gender specific violence (Kongra Star, 18/03/2020:14). This account shows, that through the centralized power and monopoly of the nation-state and the intersection with capitalism and patriarchy, Kurdish society and especially women are left defenceless in all aspects of their lives (Öcalan, 2017c:23). However, these were only the discursive truth claims against which the YPJ forms their discourse of liberation and navigates their armed self-defence. This means for the YPJ power does not only work in the form of top- down oppression but can be countered from the bottom up and it is relational. How this works concretely will be displayed in the following section.

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2.6.2. Armed self-defence of the YPJ in the Democratic Modernity

The ideological conception of ‘Democratic Modernity’ is in essence a form of resistance to counter patriarchy, capitalism and the nation-state and the problems and violence deriving from these power systems. Above all, the aim is to achieve freedom for Kurdish society. ‘Democratic Modernity’ as solution shortly means an alternative system for Rojava that is “open to different political formations, multicultural, closed to monopolism, ecological and feminist, […] [with] an economic structure that is grounded in satisfying society’s fundamental needs and […] at the disposal of the community” (Öcalan, 2017b:18, emphasis added). In this context, the individual finds freedom in the communality of society. It is important everyone knows how to live in a community and how to make use of one’s talents, labour force and diversity in respect and commitment to communal life (Ibid:33-34). Politically speaking, this means that the revolution of Rojava entails the implementation of the system of ‘Democratic Confederalism’, a decentralized without a state (Öcalan, 2017c:21). It is based on the self- determination, self-organization and self-governance of all societal groups and cultural identities (Ibid:24). This structure implies an attempt to overcome the centralized power and hierarchy that a nation-state structure holds, which brought so much misery to the people of Rojava, and at the same time to build structures that are resistant to efforts to monopolize power. Accordingly, this also applies to the military structures in Rojava and specifically to the YPJ. As aforementioned, in the ‘Capitalist Modernity’ the nation-state holds the monopoly over the use of force and the military in a society. Thus, according to Öcalan, and their societies should build self-defence mechanisms to collectively (collectivity, collective force) defend themselves in order to sustain their lives (Öcalan, 2017b:55). Considering that women embody the most oppressed group in society, self-defence mechanisms are especially critical explicitly for them (women’s self-defence) (Ibid:56). The YPJ is an example of an autonomous and collective women’s force where women practice self-organization and contribute to a new army culture by bringing their own bodies (women’s bodies), minds (women’s minds), spirit (women’s spirit), values (women’s values) and policies (women’s policies) to war. In the context of ‘Democratic Confederalism’ in Rojava, there is no military monopoly for armed self-defence forces, but they are placed within democratic structures of the society and are solely there to ensure internal and external safety (Öcalan, 2017c:27). According to Öcalan’s ‘Rose Theory’, every living organism possesses a defence system by nature (natural defence) in order to preserve its own existence (preservation of existence). Just like roses have their thorns to resist, but not to destroy, external threats (Öcalan, 2017b:54, Dirik, 07/03/2017). When armed self-defence and the use of force become indeed necessary to protect the struggle 20 for a free and democratic society, as it is happening in Rojava for the YPJ, it is essential that military organizations do not distance themselves from such functions, as otherwise they quickly transform into “offensive forces that are instruments of hegemonic tendencies” (Öcalan, 2017b:56). However, preserving one’s existence, as the ‘Rose Theory’ suggests, does not only entail physical self-defence, but extents much wider and also refers to mental self-defence. As mentioned before the ideological conception of ‘Democratic Modernity’ ensures the preservation of the identities of the people in Rojava and their capability of democratic decision making and their political awareness (Öcalan, 2017c:26). First and foremost that is central to ensure self-defence mechanisms specifically for women, since the demand for freedom and equality through democracy is meaningless if the liberation and of women is not at its core (gender liberation, gender equality, emancipation, women’s empowerment) (Öcalan, 2017a:54). To disentangle women from the deep-seated slavery, their thoughts and emotions regarding subjugation need to be overcome (ripping off victim role, creating women outside patriarchy and capitalism), and the mentality of the dominant male needs to be changed (recreating minds, transformation of men). A culture of constructive criticism based on friendship (hevaltî), including critique for others but also self-critique is pivotal to expose the effects of patriarchy, capitalism, fascism, colonialism, and the nation-state (O’Keeffe, 11/08/2018). The YPJ is therefore not only an armed unit, but a space where women can develop as a unity. This is done through and based on the science of women, Jineolojî’ (Öcalan, 2017a:55-56), which derives from the studies of the identity of nature-women and a reflection on the historic society and on the reconstruction of institutions, structures and concepts that stem from the definition of women (Diyar, 27/06/2018). Essentially, it is seen as a self-defence mindset against patriarchal attacks. It provides women with the economic, social and political knowledge of being women and how to build an ethical and moral society free from hierarchies and statist political formations based on that (Öcalan, 2017a:56-58). Notably, knowledge (historical, ideological and scientific) and self-knowledge are seen as crucial instruments to strengthen the feminist revolution and resistance. Mental defence is basically the foundation of physical defence as it provides the women with the background and tools to create (creating/building up) themselves and institutions such as protection forces where they can realize and express themselves (self-realization, self-expression). The ‘Women’s Liberation Ideology’, encompasses the five most important principles of the armed struggle of female fighters, and is one of the theories that was sourced out of the

21 epistemology of Jineolojî (Diyar 27/06/2018). The first principle is welatparêzî, which refers to the protection and love of the land and links women to land, production, and culture and therefore rejects the colonialism and estrangement of women. Second comes free thought and free will, which aims to beat the patriarchal control of the mind through self-knowledge and self-consciousness. The principle of self-organization is third and is seen as a fundamental necessity in order to survive and realize one’s vision. Fourthly, women need to follow the principle of struggle in all areas of their lives to strengthen themselves, resist the patriarchal system and create alternatives. Lastly, ethics and aesthetics need to be considered as important aspect in the women’s political and armed struggle. Aesthetics transcends the notion of seeming beautiful and attractive to a man, and is rather equated with freedom, cultural and ethical values (Jin_Int 22/04/2020).

To conclude, in the YPJ’s discourse of women’s liberation in relation to armed self-defence the statements around which the elements outlined above circulate may be defined as mental defence, physical defence, community and freedom.

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3. Analysis: Our Resistance is Freedom – Slogan YPJ

The analysis of the data has displayed that to understand the armed resistance of the YPJ, one needs to look at their discourse of women’s liberation and its statements of mental defence, physical defence, community and freedom. Building up on the discursive landscape outlined in the analytical framework, the following analysis will further demonstrate the discursive fields, how they share and borrow or exclude elements from each other and it will be structured around contingencies of how the discourse of women’s liberation of the YPJ in relation to defence flourished, and respectively what it is rooted in. In other words, how verifications were and are constructed.

3.1. Freedom and Mental Defence

Central in the YPJ’s discourse of women’s liberation and in their struggle is the notion of achieving a life in freedom for everyone through the liberation of women. Kurdistan Washukani, a YPJ fighter claims: “If you can liberate women, you can liberate society. When you build a society around women, you also build an ethic” (Women Defend Rojava, 30/12/2019, emphasis added). In relation to that, Nesrin Abdullah, the spokesperson of the YPJ says:

we see more and more the necessity that women [intervene] and build a new world. A world built in their own colours, that represents their essence. That is peace, safety, freedom, equality, and even more. (Ibid, emphasis added) 3

As ideological starting point for the connection between freedom for everyone and the liberation of women, or in other words that women discover their essence and build a society based on that, the YPJ uses the supposed mother-goddess cult of the Neolithic era. The goddess- cult symbolizes the worshipping of the woman and her role in society (Öcalan, 2017a:15). With the development of the new paradigm in the ideological, philosophical, political and organizational approach of the Kurdish freedom movement the focus was shifted to the liberation of women (Komun, 27/06/18) according to the “mythological golden age of Kurds”, the Neolithic era (Çağlayan, 2012:18). Around 20,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Kurds supposedly lived in a matricentric social order shaped around freedom and equality in the Taurus-Zagros mountain system (Öcalan, 2017a:15-16). In the society of that time all the

3 The quote has been modified in terms of grammar for better comprehension 23 central issues that the Kurds face today deriving from patriarchy, capitalism, the nation-state, colonialism, fascism and the underlying ideology of the dominant male, were absent precisely because life was constructed around women and their values (women’s values). However, it is also claimed that contemporary Kurdish society still shows features of their ancestors, the ‘protokurds’ (Öcalan, 2001:37). This historical reading of the Neolithic time can be said to be central in shaping the discourse of women’s liberation of the YPJ. It is used to strengthen their development in all spheres of life, and specifically for their self-defence, to achieve freedom.

A YPJ fighter declares: “we devote our life for the protection and development of a new ethical society placing the freedom of our people above all” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added). Let us focus on the development of an ethical society to achieve freedom for the moment and come back to the protection of it in a second. Janda Kocher, the responsible of the Academy Martyr Linda where YPJ fighters are trained and educated, explains:

Generally, the work that we are doing is based on an education culture. […] We say that everybody needs education, […] any person or entity needs to educate him or herself. To know ourselves, each of our personalities, and to improve our ethical awareness. […] We [the educators of the military academies] give all the essential knowledges about Kurdistan. Most of them are also about women’s culture, so that they can know again their own nature, reality, and history. […] In this democratic nation everybody needs to know their own truth. (Ibid, emphasis added)

Departing from Jineolojî, as opposed to positivist social sciences embedded in capitalist modernity and perpetuating sexism (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020), the women of the YPJ look for their truths through the education they receive in military academies. It is all about disconnecting oneself from hegemonic sets of meanings, from scientific knowledges that are handed down as truths, and build a science in the language of women (Üstündağ, 26/07/2020). According to the women’s movement, the truth needs to be constructed on its roots and can only be found where it was lost in history (Nagihan, 14/06/2020). Therefore, it can be said that since it is believed that the Kurdish nature and self-awareness was lost little by little through the construction of capitalist modernity, they look for their truths before these systems evolved, in the Neolithic times, when society was seemingly still ethical and free, especially for women. This education culture, which aims for mental transformation, goes hand in hand with criticism and self- criticism to expose the effects capitalist modernity has on every single individual of the YPJ. Personality evolvement and development signifies liberation and therefore freedom (Komun, 27/03/2020, O’Keeffe, 11/08/2018). 24

The YPJ’s protection of the development of an ethical society can be said to be twofold as we have seen in the analytical framework above. On the one hand, there is the physical defence referring to the military sphere of the YPJ (which we will discuss more thoroughly in the next sections of this analysis). On the other hand, there is the mental defence, which can be understood as a non-armed form of self-defence and is of relevance now. The chairwoman of Jineoloji Heseke, Hena Daud, clarifies:

It [mental defence] is about building up, creating. As a woman, it is important to build from the inside. A woman has to develop and build herself with a scientific and mental approach, socially, historically, mythologically and economically. She must know herself from the inside, do research. As soon as she knows herself, she can develop. (Women Defend Rojava, 22/06/2020, emphasis added)

This means, that development is essentially synonymous to protection. Similarly, the teachings of Jineoloji about the Neolithic times in relation to defence hold: “Self-defence was defined by acts of creating and building” (Jin_Int, 03/05/2020, emphasis added). Self-defence at that time was facilitated by women who were aware of their reality and nature of being women (awareness of women’s reality, awareness of women’s nature) through the observation of themselves and nature (Erzîncan, 30/11/2018). In other words, the existence of mother- goddesses themselves was the utmost form of self-defence (Ibid). The education based on the historical readings of the Neolithic times builds the foundation for the development and protection or defence of liberated women, of an ethical society and of freedom outside of and from suppression, occupation, annihilation and colonization. Thus, the assumptions of the times of the mother goddesses are utilized in their approach and struggle today to question mechanisms of domination, the effects that dominant systems have on their minds and lives, what characteristics they have internalized and practiced and based on that, how to recreate themselves and their truths outside capitalist modernity (Komun, 27/03/2020, The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019). Mental defence is therefore of utmost importance to the YPJ. For instance, when it comes to the ongoing femicide by external patriarchal forces that attack the women of Rojava precisely because they do not conform to patriarchal rules. Aryen Rojava, a YPJ commander who has been part of the protection unit since the beginning of the revolution, delineates how women have been attacked by Daesh not only physically but also on a mental and cultural level. Thousands of brainwashed women are staying in camps where they live according to the (misogynist) ideology of Daesh. They are not only manipulated to conform to their standards

25 but also used as a tool to spread their ideology and ideas. The commander emphasizes that such practices are even more dangerous than physical attacks. Being aware of themselves (self- awareness) enables the women to resist such attacks and to prevent the spreading of misogynist that restrain their freedom (Rojava, 19/07/2020).

3.2. Mental Defence and Physical Defence

When it comes to the physical self-defence of the YPJ, mental defence is allegedly reflected and translated into it. The education of the YPJ aims to create awareness of what it means to be a woman in general and in the military sphere specifically. Hena Daud says: “once she knows herself, she can defend herself, she can create institutions, found an army” (Women Defend Rojava, 22/06/2020). The YPJ commander Azima adds: “If you wanted to protect your land, your country, you had to know your own history. To defend your land and to defend your gender, as woman” (women’s self-defence) (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016). The military can be seen as one area in life where women have the possibility to re-create themselves outside capitalist modernity. The YPJ therefore specifically pushes forward women’s roles in the defence forces to protect the society and land in Rojava (Ibid).

For thousands of years we have been taught to be quiet, we have been taught that the only legitimate violence is the one of the patriarchal state in all its different faces. But we understand that the power that uses the violence to oppress and repress the people can never be legitimate. The time has arrived to destroy this and retake what has always been ours, the use of self-defence. We decided that the YPJ recognized the importance of taking responsibility of our own self-defence from the oppressors. We have to defend ourselves because no one else can do it for us. In the YPJ, self-defence means more than just military practice. YPJ involves women […] with their bodies, minds, and spirit. (Women’s Revolution, 01/05/2019)

Mental Defence is used to taking on the responsibility to break free of the oppression by creating themselves as women within the military sphere. Or as the fighter says, taking back the use of self-defence, something that is in every living organism’s nature and right, so too in women’s (Women Defend Rojava, 23/05/2020). It is also used to re-define what legitimate self-defence is supposed to mean, namely self-empowering, and what purpose it should have, namely the defence of women who want to liberate themselves and their societies from mental and physical domination, occupation, and colonization. Related to that, Azima continues:

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The women’s situation in is globally known. The frame is drawn for them by the society. […] Nobody could go beyond these frames. How would women organize themselves on a military level? How would they develop as soldiers? How would they fight? … and against strong attacks from ISIS? ISIS is well organized. People were saying that the women forces would not be strong enough. We did not only organize ourselves against ISIS, but the conditions previously imposed by our society. (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added)

Let us first stay with the argument that women organized themselves (self-organization) against the conditions imposed on them and took their defence in their own hands and go into the rhetorical questions the fighter raised later. In the mid- 1980s and early 1990s, during the Kurdish freedom struggle of the PKK in Turkey, women increasingly started to participate. The first women’s structures were build such as the Kurdistan Patriotic Women’s Union (Yekitiya Jinên Welatparezên Kurdistan – YJWK) followed by the first autonomous women’s army and finally the Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Union (Yekitiya Azadiya Jinên Kurdistan – YAJK) (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b). They started to claim their presence, autonomously organize in realms where they had previously been excluded and by that went beyond the identity that had been imposed by patriarchy (Diyar, 09/11/2018). They showed that women have the capacity to break out of those conditions that are inflicted upon them by self-organizing.

When we research, we find the traces of resistance, of rebellion, of the beauty in not accepting the destruction and exploitation around and inside us. Which is, since then ongoing, every day, every hour, every minute, every second… an ongoing struggle. (Jin_int, 03/05/2020, emphasis added)

Hence, women in Rojava are now continuing this practice through their organized armed self- defence against oppression from within their society and from outside forces, such as Daesh, whose violent attacks symbolize the mentality that they show against women who organize and defend themselves (women’s self-defence) (Rojava, 19/07/2020).

It’s kind of empowering to go and to not hide. […] You do this for other people, but also, it’s a bit for yourself because it’s Daesh. What they did to women is unbelievable. The enslavement, how they cut people. It’s really awful, how they enslaved women and sold them to men. […] So, when you go and you fight them it is also a good feeling, because you say: “we go, we are women and we fight them”, not just the men. (The new international, 06/02/2019, emphasis added)

In the words of another female fighter, the armed struggle is about “not accepting the reality and fighting back, […] not accepting deprived gender roles the society forces us into. We are 27 ripping off the role of victim and finding strength as women” (The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019, emphasis added). Specifically, the resistance of women in the famous battle of Kobane against Daesh “gave birth to a symbol that transcended any previous conception of women’s capabilities.” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016). A YPJ fighter remarks: “People told me to stay at home, that I am too soft to carry weapons, that I’m not tough enough to fight” (Ibid). Patriarchal attributes of women such as being soft and not though enough are purposefully rejected and excluded from the discourse. Emphasis is put on the strength of women in the fight for their liberation to empower them. Two other female fighters explain: “as members of the YPJ we dedicate ourselves to grow and fight as revolutionary women with courage, empathy and integrity” (Ibid) and “with our strength, with our will, we defend ourselves” (Women Defend Rojava, 16/05/2020). To come back to the rhetorical questions from above, but also to the goddess-cult, women are now said to develop goddess-like characteristics (Diyar, 09/11/2018), to become goddesses in their struggle for freedom (Çağlayan, H., 2012:18-19, Duzel 2018:148-149). This rhetoric emerged during the armed struggle of the female fighters of the PKK in the 1980s and 1990s, when the resisting martyred women came to be personified as goddess symbols (Çağlayan, 2012:18-19, Stêrk, 16/11/2018). For instance, Sakine Cansiz, one of the co-founders of the PKK and an important figure for the women’s movement, is thought to have revealed the “struggle spirit, potential will power and resistance capacity of women” through her powerful resistance against the brutal torture while she was imprisoned after the coup in 1980 (Stêrk, 16/112018). Or comrade Berîtan, who rather threw herself off a cliff than being captured by the enemy and therefore became the representation of courage, women’s creation and the spirit of freedom that women can have within their personalities (Ibid). These women, amongst others, are believed to have opened the way to discover their nature and to re-build their truth. The culture of the goddess-cult lives on in the armed struggle of the YPJ (Nagihan, 14/06/2020). It contributes to the formation of the ideology behind it, empowers the women and provides the fundamentals to “bring their own values to the war“(women’s values) (Zilane Britania, YPG Press Office 25/09/2016). Values of how they want to fight and develop as soldiers in the context of the revolution of Rojava in accordance with their nature and ethic. In other words, it inspires them to organize themselves “with another mindset, away from patriarchy and domination” (Jin_Int, 03/05/2020). Indeed, one of the YPJ’s aims is to “build a new army culture” (Nesrin Abdullah in YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added) and by that create “an alternative to rebel with a feminine sense” (The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019). The next section will develop on the women’ s values in war.

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3.3. Physical Defence and Community

One thing is for certain, a place liberated by women becomes a source of morale. A source of strength. Of equality. It becomes a source of peace, and of hope and belief. And so, if we unite as women, and organize on the basis of cooperation, we can win a new world. And truly, now is that time. If we are together in struggle, with a common path and goal, we are certain to succeed. And so, I hope that all women shoulder to shoulder work together in this, and build a new world, which will benefit everyone. (Nesrin Abdullah, Women Defend Rojava, 30/10/2019, emphasis added)

Next to the already above discussed essence of women as ethical, peaceful, strong and so forth, in the discourse of women’s liberation regarding armed resistance, the emphasis on community and collectivity is central. The YPJ must be understood as a collective force (Women Defend Rojava, 08/09/2019) living a “communal lifestyle” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added). An internationalist fighter from describes:

In normal militaries you just go to fight, but here it is really different. You have a communal life, you make food together, you sing together, you talk a lot, you learn a little about your friends. You spend your life together with them, it is really about this more than about the fight actually. (The New International, 06/02/2019, emphasis added)

When talking about fellow fighters they do not simply speak about comradeship, but rather about friendship, or Hevaltî in Kurdish. Hevaltî is all about , helpfulness, sharing, trusting, and believing in each other (O’Keeffe, 11/08/2018). Communal life is essentially about living and growing together (The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019). The YPJ units are composed of Kurdish, Arab, and Christian women from the area, but also women from European countries or the US join the struggle. Berîtan Derezor, a female fighter, stresses that because the members in the units are so different, they show that women can become a unity and defend the whole society through this unity (Women Defend Rojava, 17/02/2020). Division between women is argued to cause vulnerability to patriarchal attacks from within the society, or colonization and invasion from outside powers. Collectivity and solidarity, however, contribute to the strength of these women (Women Defend Rojava, 08/09/2019). A fighter explains: “We are […] recreating the unity that capitalism has destroyed” (The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019, emphasis added).

Being aware of our communities’ pains and joys, defending their [the communities’] means of life, rising up to mobilize, are all expressions of a communal spirit that can challenge capitalist modernity. […] The divorce of 29

beings from sociality and community pacify their will and ability to resist. Without access to production, care, sharing, solidarity, community and love, in a world of isolation, individuals are condemned to a terrifyingly meaningless life (Komun, 06/12/2018, emphasis added)

In other words, their communal lifestyle gives them the strength to mobilize and resist against physical attacks and at the same time combat ‘Capitalist Modernity’ and by that discover their truth. One of the female fighters insists, that they are not individuals fighting for their rights, but they are eventually finding their strength as a community (The Women’s Revolution in Rojava, 01/05/2019). The German YPJ fighter, when talking about what touched her the most during her time being part of the women’s unit, points out further how strong the friendship between the female fighters makes them:

A friend was telling [me about the fights she was in before], especially [about] the airstrikes from Turkey. […] Friends that she knew […] were hit in pieces and because they don’t let the bodies there, she had to pick up the pieces […] This is something [that really touches me], that […] friends do not give up and that this revolution is already so strong from the inside that Turkey can attack, but they cannot destroy this revolution anymore, because of the strength of the people here. (The New International, 06/02/2019, emphasis added)4

She continues with another story:

A friend saw a photo of two [martyrs] and [she] was looking so touched [by it] and she was smiling really sweet. I asked her if she knew them and she said: “No, but they are friends, they are hevals [Kurdish word for friends]”. […] We always have this in Germany. We don’t know someone, so we don’t care. But [the women in the photos were fighting for the same thing, they were hevals, they were also humans] […]. It really touched me a lot and I understood how deep [their idea of Hevaltî is]. (Ibid, emphasis added) 5

The communal spirit and Hevaltî of the YPJ is contrasted with the individualism in countries were ‘Capitalist Modernity’ is prevalent. Individualism, materialism and instinct-driven behaviour are features that are excluded from the discourse, because they are not in line with societal values and a collective social consciousness, according to the women’s movement (Komun, 06/12/2018). Here again, the reference to the understanding of self-defence from the

4 The quote has been modified in terms of grammar for better comprehension 5 The quote has been modified in terms of grammar for better comprehension 30

Neolithic time becomes clear, namely self-defence as defined through “acts of […] connecting and loving” (Jin_Int, 03/05/2020).

In this context, also the movement’s criticism to the unit of the family must be mentioned. With the establishment of the YJWK in Turkey not only the construction of a certain picture of the woman has been questioned and challenged, but also of the feudal concept of family and marriage (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020). The lifestyle of the female guerrilla of the PKK was described by Öcalan as resembling the tribalism of the Kurdish ancestors when matriarchy and freedom were prominent (Öcalan, 2017a: 41). As a matter of fact, in the YPJ only few women are married or mothers. Specifically, mothers are generally not accepted. Romantic relationships are also forbidden within the defence units because equality is a core principle and if one is in a relationship one always privileges the partner over oneself (Flach, et al., 2016:138, 139, 151). The members of the YPJ are also educated in the military academies on the issue, and study how women are linked to family (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016). Yildiz Shiyar, a female fighter explains the relation between the critique of the women’s position in families and being part of a self-defence unit:

Before, defence meant not letting the neighbors gossip about us. The families see the girls and women as their honor, they must always remain hidden to defend their reputation. But after I joined, I realized that defence is not just that. […] The women were convinced that defence means staying indoors for 24 hours, that nobody talks bad about them, but it is not like that anymore, we women take up arms, we fight against the enemy, who, how shall I put it, attack with all their tools and methods. But we resist against this enemy. We defend ourselves. (Women defend Rojava, 16/05/2020)

Another fighter, Azima, explains: “Before you were a member of your family, now you are a member your nation” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added). One can say, that the female fighters consider the YPJ as space were they are no object and commodity anymore, where they are free from the forces that limit their being as women (Stêrk, 16/11/2018), where they can reconnect with their nature and where they are part of a larger community with a common purpose.

Notably, it is about finding another kind of love, free and meaningful love based on collective life and solidarity (Asî, 27/06/2018), because “love can only grow and live through communality” (Jin:Int, 03/05/2020, emphasis added). This kind of love stands in opposition to the, we may call it ‘false love’, that is fashioned by capitalism, egoism, sexism and alienation 31 and used to justify oppression and violence (Asî, 27/06/2018). ‘False love’ can be said to be the reason for fear and mistrust in today’s world and keeps us stuck in individualism and separation (Jin_Int, 03/05/2020). One of the female fighters says: “our sense of sacrifice wasn’t driven in any way by a selfish wish for paradise, but for the love of our people and friends” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added). Parallel to loving your people and friends is also the principle of welatparêzî, which means loving (and protecting) your land. With the of the women the land is connected to their honour, instead of themselves being the symbol of honour having to keep a good reputation (Women Defend Rojava, 16/05/2020). Azima asked herself the following questions during the initial years of the revolution and the battles against Daesh: “I was wondering how much women would really protect their land, how much [would they] love it, how much [could they] struggle for it?” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016, emphasis added). However, the principle of welatparêzî showed, that women “resist without fearing death” against threats targeting their land (Women Defend Rojava, 30/12/2019). Hence, this revolutionary love for their people and their land leads the YPJ women to thrive in their struggle with a selfless sense of sacrifice and to fight against anything that blocks the way of love and a free society, which brings us to the last section in this analysis, namely the discursive fields around physical defence and freedom.

3.4. Physical Defence and Freedom

Love is a stronger force than anger, fear or hate. Building something might be more difficult, but it is much stronger than destroying something. […] The ones who get to know love, the ones who get in touch with the magic of love, will no longer seek for any higher sense in life. Not in money, wealth and profit, but in love we find life and freedom. (Asî, 27/06/2018, emphasis added)

As we have also seen in the section above, the YPJ’s armed protection of the people and the land in Rojava takes love as a starting point. Hate, anger and aggression are rejected. When talking about the armed resistance against Daesh, a female fighter says: “we saw it as a battle between humanity and barbarity, between freedom and tyranny” (YPG Press Office, 25/09/2016). Their violent resistance is equated with their principles of humanity and freedom based on their readings of the Neolithic times, namely ethical, ecological and societal principles founded on togetherness and therefore love. They purposefully contrast their armed fight with the violent attacks of external patriarchal and militarist forces such as Turkey and Daesh, who systematically target women who defend themselves in an aggressive manner with the aim to

32 destroy the revolution and its goals, committing mass killings and cultural and physical genocide (Rojava, 19/07/2020, Abdullah in YPG Press Office, 22/11/2017, Kongra Star, 28/06/2020). With these actions Daesh and Turkey show their misogynist position and their patriarchal ideas of what role women should play in a society (Rojava, 19/07/2020). The YPJ, however, takes on a very different approach. In the beginning of the revolution in mid-2012, when the armed forces of Rojava started to liberate cities and villages that were occupied by the Ba’ath regime, no blood was shed. The occupying military forces were surrounded and given the chance to surrender, and all of them did. There was no intention of offensive attacks or fighting a war, but to solve the issue at a level of dialogue (Flach, et al., 2016:54-56).

The German YPJ fighter remarks: “we have an aim, and this is to make this revolution, to defend what we want to build up and not to destroy or to kill the enemies” (The new International, 06/02/2019, emphasis added). Sarya Evîndar, a commander of the YPJ details this: “since women have always been the first victims of war, we in the YPJ promised to liberate every single woman living under tyranny. […] We want to build a peaceful, democratic Syria, where all people can live together. This is our main objective and all of our activities are based on realizing it” (YPG Press office, 18/09/17). Hence, here we again come back to what is already mentioned in the first section of this chapter: the YPJ women’s struggle is all about the protection of the women’s revolution, its people and its land with its values and goals. One can say, depending on the way the revolution is targeted, the defence is organized to ensure liberation and freedom. Struggle is therefore also needed on a military level for women to strengthen themselves and to systematize and organize the struggle for change (Koç, 05/07/2020). Therefore, the organization of the struggle of women in general and particularly on a military level is vital to achieve freedom - there is obviously an essential connection between organization and freedom (Üstündağ, 26/07/2020). The organization of women on a military level essentially enables the labour and efforts for freedom in the society of Rojava.

There is a famous saying of the women’s movement, which built the foundation of the women’s liberation ideology and has its origins in the women’s guerrilla fight of the PKK in Turkey. However, it is highly relevant in the fight of the YPJ, too, and goes as follows: “becoming liberated by fighting, becoming beautiful by liberating oneself, and being loved by becoming beautiful” (Stêrk, 16/11/2018, emphasis added). It perfectly summarizes why women are part of, first and foremost, the armed struggle, but also the non-armed (mental) struggle. Through the organization of their physical (and mental) defence they liberate themselves and their

33 communities providing the opportunity to build a new society in their terms. Their liberation means they recognize their essence, their connection with nature, culture and their land, and ethical values, therefore beauty. Lastly, they are loved due to their values, in the sense of meaningful love as discussed above, finding their freedom in it. In essence, they find their freedom in the process of liberation through their fight, or as a slogan of the YPJ suggests: “Our struggle will lead to success and our resistance will lead to freedom” (YPJ Media Center, 07/03/2020, emphasis added).

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4. Concluding Discussion

This thesis started from the argument that non-violent resistance is a privilege when it comes to the YPJ in the feminist revolution of Rojava. The argument partly is a reaction to the criticism made by liberal feminists regarding the supposed paradox between the feminist and democratic approach and the violent resistance of the women’s movement (Daudén, 2016, Dirik, 07/03/2017).With that in mind, a FDA was applied to explore the ideological, philosophical and political discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the Revolution of Rojava and outline the YPJ’s discourse of self-defence with the aim to understand their armed self-defence and the power systems and mechanisms of structural violence it is embedded in.

To answer the research question, how can one understand the armed self-defence of the YPJ in relation to the discourse of women’s liberation in the context of the feminist revolution in Rojava? the study showed that it is imperative to consider the ideological, philosophical, and political thinking and theorizing of Abdullah Öcalan, the mental leader of the movement. The discourse of women’s liberation regarding armed self-defence clearly leans on and results in the freedom proposal, the framework of ‘Democratic Modernity’ and ‘Democratic Confederalism’, that Öcalan developed. The discourse can be said to be created as a form of resistance to challenge the ‘Capitalist Modernity’. The dominant and hegemonic systems that make up the ‘Capitalist Modernity’, namely nation-statism, capitalism, and patriarchy, are claimed to be the root causes of the oppression and violence the Kurds, and especially Kurdish women, experience. The values of the armed self-defence of the YPJ are in line with Öcalan’s freedom proposal and can be traced back to the movement’s historical readings of the social orders in the Neolithic period and the resistance of the female guerrilla fighters of the PKK in South-East Turkey. The armed self-defence of the YPJ is understood as legitimate self-defence. Departing from the ‘Rose Theory’, which implies that every living organism possesses a defence system in order to preserve its own existence, the women of the YPJ make use of their suggested natural self- defence to ensure safety and to be able to protect themselves, their society, their land and the revolution in Rojava. Armed resistance is solely used as a reaction to direct and offensive threats and not to attack and kill the enemies. It is in accordance with values of ‘Democratic Modernity’, namely women’s principles of humanity and freedom. In more detail, the self- defence of the YPJ is grounded in a communal spirit, it departs from the women’s love to their

35 people, their land and the revolution. The fact that the liberations of the cities and villages in Rojava from the Ba’ath regime were handled without shedding any blood, but on the basis of dialogue (Flach, et al., 2016: 54-56), is a suitable example to understand that their attitude is not destructive, aggressive and hateful, but focused on struggling for freedom with morale. Moreover, the instance also hints to the reactionary nature of the armed resistance within the feminist revolution of Rojava. Self-defence mechanisms for women specifically are understood to be vital and necessary in the struggle for liberation. Depending on how the women of the YPJ are targeted they defend themselves in different ways. Essentially, women’s self-defence is multiplied and happens on different fronts (Dirik, 2014). The women of the YPJ do not only defend themselves physically against external forces such as Daesh or Turkey, but they also defend themselves mentally to break free from patriarchal patterns of thinking. Armed self-defence is used to reimagine and recreate themselves as women outside of ‘Capitalist Modernity’. Based on the Science of Women, Jineolojî, the YPJ creates their own knowledges and truths as women and act upon that. Essentially, the women of the YPJ empower themselves through the construction of knowledges and the re-imagination of what it means to be a woman. For the YPJ, this concretely means building a new army culture, an ethical one based on women’s values and morals. Self- defence as a re-creative power is used to facilitate the transformation of the society in Rojava into a ‘Democratic Modernity’, a new ethical society based on gender equality, communality, ecology, peace and freedom. In other words, through armed self-defence women liberate themselves and their society not only physically but also mentally. As Üstündağ also argues, in the women’s movement, freedom is therefore closely linked to organization (26/07/2020). The efforts for liberation of the YPJ are realized on an organizational level in the army. Freedom is understood as a process, a constant struggle for liberation and for an ethical society, which is the responsibility that every single individual has in a community. In sum, it can safely be said that the armed resistance of the YPJ evolves around the deep desire to achieve and maintain freedom. Even if the focus of this thesis was on the Kurdish women’s movement that specifically consolidated with and after the paradigm shift of Öcalan’s thinking and his anti-patriarchal, anti-capitalist, anti-nationalist and anti-statist freedom proposal, it is essential to consider the movement’s beginnings. The PKK was inspired by revolutionary struggles such as in Algeria and Cuba amongst many others (Jongerden and Akkaya, 2011:125) and was based on the analysis that Kurdistan is a colony. The struggle was initiated for the demand for a Kurdish post-colonial nation-state adopting Marxist-Leninist principles (Komun, 27/06/2018, Nagihan,

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14/06/2020). The former anti-colonial dress with Marxist-Leninist influences on Öcalan’s and the PKK’s approach are still visible in the Revolution of Rojava today, even if the movement progressed, critically questioned real , especially in relation to nationalism, and opened the woman question with the paradigm shift (Komun, 27/06/2018). Specifically, the creation of a ‘new man’, which the Soviet Communist party wished for and, for instance, also Fanon called for in regard to the liberation of the Algerian colonized subject (2004:219-239) was replicated through political and military education, the combatants of the PKK had to accomplish for individual personality development (Grojean, 2014:3,22). Thus, a war was also waged within the PKK and its individuals to fully liberate themselves from colonization (Grojean, 2014:5). This is still evident in the discourse of women’s liberation from the YPJ in Rojava today, whose female fighters focus on recreating and developing themselves as women to free themselves from ‘Capitalist Modernity’. However, it is important to note that with the paradigm shift, armed resistance as fundamental approach is not thought of as a necessity to break free from colonialization anymore (Grojean, 2014:5, Öcalan, 2013:38), as also Fanon (2004) suggests for Algeria. In the women’s movement, armed resistance is, as mentioned, solely applied for the purpose of legitimate self-defence to protect and preserve the existence of women, the society and the revolution in Rojava in the context of direct physical attacks. However, the notion of non-violent resistance does not even enter the discourse. Why is that so? This question leads us to come back to the argument that non-violence is a privilege and the following words of Dirik:

Put bluntly, in an international system of sexual and racial violence, legitimized by capitalist nation-states, the cry for non-violence is a luxury for those in privileged positions of relative safety, believing that they will never end up in a situation where violence will become necessary. While theoretically sound, pacifism does not speak to the reality of masses of women and thus assumes a rather elitist first world character. (Dirik, 07/03/2017)

In other words, non-violence is simply not an option for the Kurdish women in Rojava. The analysis has shown that Kurdish women face various layers of violence because of the intersection of different systems of power, i.e. nation-statism, capitalism and patriarchy. That is, they are oppressed within their patriarchal family and society, but at the same time they also belong to a discriminated ethnic community within a nation-state where they experience racial, gender and classist violence. To rephrase it, their experiences of violence and disempowerment are constituted by the intersection of different forms of discrimination, namely sexism, racism and classism (see Crenshaw, 1991). The discourse of women’s liberation and the approach of 37 the armed self-defence of the YPJ is built upon this analysis and a response to break free from these conditions and to preserve one’s existence by all means necessary. This is especially critical in the context of the direct attacks by external patriarchal and militarist forces such as Turkey and Daesh, who perpetuate a femicide (Rojava, 19/07/2020). The alternative approach to the armed self-defence of the YPJ to keep the revolution of Rojava up therefore inspires to rethink violence and an antimilitarist redistribution of the means of violence (Üstündağ, 2016:197), which “is situated in relation to how oppressed people can defend themselves against those who monopolize violence” (Üstündağ, 2016:207). To conclude, as this study has shown, there might be differing understandings between peace, freedom and resistance in different contexts. Thus, there is an urgent need to abandon universalized models in social sciences and peace research more specifically. Especially, in the liberal feminist tradition more inclusivity and openness towards understandings and theories that are not necessarily based in the Euro-Christian tradition is essential to overcome cultural and epistemic violence.

Finally, it is important to note again that this study has only uncovered the very top layers of the discourse of women’s liberation to outline the understanding of armed self-defence of the YPJ. Therefore, for further research the suggestion is to dig even deeper. For instance, tracing the resistance of the Kurds even further back or uncover its religious roots (Islam and Zoroastrianism), and thereby conduct an exhaustive genealogy and get a more in depth understanding of the phenomenon at hand. Moreover, it is essential to consider that the self- defence system of women in Rojava is not limited to the military organization, but it spreads throughout the revolution and permeates different kinds of organizations and institutions where women participate and organize themselves, as for instance in the political sphere. Thus, the study could be broadened in that sense, too. There is for sure a lot more we can learn from the Kurdish women’s movement globally!

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5.1. Main Dataset

Amara, V. (29/04/2020) Guerrilla diaries – Step towards the women’s army in Cîlo. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/04/29/from-the-diary-of-a-freedom-fighter-steps-towards-the- womens-army-in-cilo/ [Access: 20/06/2020] — (08/05/2020) Guerrilla diaries – Love, action and sacrifice. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun-academy.com/2020/05/08/guerrilla-diaries-love-action-and- sacrifice/ [Access: 20/06/2020] 42

Asî, H. (27/06/2018) Finding Revolutionary Love in a World of Profound Alienation. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2018/06/27/finding-revolutionary-love-in-a-world-of-profound- alienation/ [Access: 07/04/2020] Diyar, Z. (27/06/2018) What is Jineoloji? [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun-academy.com/2018/06/27/what-is-jineoloji/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (09/11/2018) Kurdistan’s Women’s Revolution: How to Write our History of Struggle. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2018/11/09/kurdistans-womens-revolution-how-to-write-our-history-of- struggle/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Doğan, S. (09/06/2020) From the diary of Selma Doğan – Another new beginning of my life I. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/06/09/from-the-diary-of-selma-dogan-another-new-beginning-of- my-life-i/ [Access: 20/06/2020] — (09/06/2020) From the diary of Selma Doğan – Another new beginning of my life II. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/06/19/from-the-diary-of-selma-dogan-another-new-beginning-of- my-life-ii/ [Access: 20/06/2020] Erzîncan, B. (30/11/2018) Women and Self-Defense. [Electronic] Jineoloji. Available: https://jineoloji.org/en/2018/11/30/women-and-self-defense/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Gönül, K. (22/04/2020) Founders of : Experiences of Women Liberation Movements. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/04/22/founders-of-radical-democracy-experiences-of-women- liberation-movements/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Jin_Int (22/04/2020a) The uprising of the oldest colony: Feminism [Electronic] Jineoloji. Available: https://jineoloji.org/en/2020/04/22/the-uprising-of-the-oldest-colony- feminism/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (22/04/2020b) Kurdistan Women’s Lieberation Struggle. [Electronic] Jineoloji. Available: http://jineoloji.org/en/2020/04/22/kurdistan-womens-liberation-struggle/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (03/05/2020) Every Moment a Revolution. [Electronic] Jineoloji. Available: https://jineoloji.org/en/2020/05/03/every-moment-a-revolution/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Kardo, B. (28/06/2018) Existence and Self-Defense are Two Sides of the Same Coin. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2018/06/28/existence-and-self-defence-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/ [Access: 07/05/2020]

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Kaya, G. (22/04/2020) Founders of Radical Democracy: Experiences of Women Liberation Movements. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/04/22/founders-of-radical-democracy-experiences-of-women- liberation-movements/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Komun (27/06/2018) From State to Democracy: The Anatomy of a Paradigm Shift [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun-academy.com/2018/06/27/the- new-paradigm/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (06/12/2018) Self-Defense is Existential. [Electronic] Komune Academy. Available: https://komun-academy.com/2018/12/06/self-defense-is-existential/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (27/03/2020) Struggling against the system in ourselves: criticism and self-criticism [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2020/03/27/struggling-against-the-system-in-ourselves-criticism-and- self-criticism/ [Access: 07/05/2020] Kongra Star (18/03/2020) Selbstverteidigung: Eine Antwort auf Geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt. [Electronic] Women Defend Rojava. Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/de/2020/03/19/selbstverteidigung-eine-antwort-auf- geschlechtsspezifische-gewalt/ [Access: 06/07/2020] — (28/06/2020) Women under Turkish Occupation: Femicide and gender-based violence as systematic practice of the Turkish occupation in Afrin, [Electronic] Women Defend Rojava. Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/2020/06/30/new-dossier-women- under-turkish-occupation/ [Access: 02/07/2020] O’ Keeffe, P. A. (11/08/2018) Tekmîl: Creating a Culture of Constructive Criticism. [Electronic] Komun Academy. Available: https://komun- academy.com/2018/08/11/tekmil-creating-a-culture-of-constructive-criticism/ [Access: 07/05/2020] The New International (06/02/2019) The New International E07 - YPJ on the front against ISIS, Rojava. [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKrX14s_bI [Access: 05/05/2020] The Women’s Revolution in Rojava (01/05/2019) YPJ International Self-defense. [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG7A2uzhXPg [Access: 05/05/2020] Women Defend Rojava (08/09/2019) What is Self-Defence? [Electronic] Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/2019/08/23/what-is-self-defense/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (30/10/2019) [Women's Voices] YPJ-spokeswomen Nesrin Abdullah calls for women's unity and revolution. [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw9ccTc60_c [Access: 06/05/2020]

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— (12/11/2019) Letter from a woman internationalist who fought in Serekaniye. [Electronic] Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/2019/11/14/carta-de-una-internacionalist- que-combatio-en-serekaniye/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (30/12/2019) Interview with Commander Kurdistan of Region YPJ. [Electronic] Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/2019/12/31/interview-with-commander- kurdistan-of-euphrates-region-ypj/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (19/01/2020) Women’s resistance in North and East Syria: How Women are organizing against the Turkish occupation war. [Electronic] Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/2020/01/21/brochure-the-many-forms-of-womens- resistance/ [Access: 07/05/2020] — (17/02/2020) [Frauenstimmen]"YPJ spielen eine wichtige Rolle in der Verteidigung Syriens und der Frauen weltweit". [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqoNFtF0SUg [Access: 06/05/2020] — (18/03/2020) Selbstverteidigung: Eine Antwort auf Geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt. [Electronic] Kongra Star. Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/de/2020/03/19/selbstverteidigung-eine-antwort-auf- geschlechtsspezifische-gewalt/ [Access: 06/07/2020] — (16/05/2020) [Selbstverteidigung 1] "Verteidigung heißt unser Land zu verteidigen, dass ist unsere Ehre". [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t9r1ipmeQI [Access: 22/05/2020] — (23/05/2020) [SELBSTVERTEIDIGUNG 2]"Verteidigung der Frauen ist Verteidigung der Gesellschaft & alles Lebendigem" [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-9HLdmNCJ4 [Access: 05/07/2020] — (22/06/2020) [SELBSTVERTEIDIGUNG 3] "Wer sich mental nicht wehrt, gibt Raum für eine unterdrückende Mentalität" [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGOeeX-lNxc [Access: 05/07/2020] — (2020) Background [Electronic] Available: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/background/ [Access: 07/05/2020] YPG Press Office (25/09/2016) YPJ: Women’s Defence Units (Women’s Protection Units) - ENglish/Kurdî [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWQ- apZC78 [Access: 04/05/2020] — (18/09/2017) YPJ’s Sarya Evîndar responds to Russian/Syrian regime airstrikes on SDF north of Deir ez-Zor. [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF8dh_aE5Jw [Access: 05/05/2020] — (22/10/2017) YPG and YPJ fighters speak up of Abdullah Ocalan’s struggle. [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVx7nktKCNM [Access: 05/05/2020] — (22/11/2017) YPJ Spox. Nesrin Ebdullah’s statement regarding future of Syrian, Idlib and attacks against #Afrin [Video Online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UfppEb2J54 [Access: 05/05/2020]

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— (24/12/2018) The fight against ISIS is continuing in Deir al- Zour countryside, [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0-N_-uE22w [Access: 05/05/2020] YPJ Media Center (26/10/2019) Nirxandina berdevka YPJ'ê Nesrîn Abdullah [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAwQ13jqCSk&bpctr=1588603255 [Access: 04/05/2020] — (05/03/2020) Our Struggle is our victory, and our resistance is freedom, [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnZKfjIdzrY [Access: 04/05/2020] — (07/03/2020) We Will Defend Our Land With The Spirit Of Amara, Hevrin and Daye Eqida and Guarantee a Free Life! [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJzUE7mnW5o [Access: 04/05/2020] — (12/03/2020) Revenge For The Blood Of The Martyrs is Our Promise. [Video online] Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFoB0r8cKgk [Access: 04/05/2020]

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6. Appendix I: Timeline

This chapter serves to provide the reader with some of the most important contextual information to understand the analytical framework, analysis and conclusion discussion. It puts together all the historical events mentioned in the paper in the form of a chronological timeline to give a more comprehensive overview. Important to mention is that the timeline is following the Kurdish movement’s reading of their history and with their ideological interpretation of the origins of the Kurds. There does not exist a specific knowledge of the origins of the Kurdish people aside from different theories that are ideologically oriented (Flach, et al. 2016:1).

Origins of the Kurds according to the Women Movement’s Ideology • Neolithic period (20,000 years ago): the ancestors of the Kurds or ‘protokurds’ (Öcalan, 2001:37) lived in a matricentric social order in the Taurus-Zagros Mountain System (Öcalan, 2017a:15-16). • 3,000BC: development of the patriarchy with the rise of the statist civilization and capitalism (Öcalan, 2017a:15) • 3,000-2,000 BC: in historiography, the Kurds as an are first stated as related to the Hurrians. Therefore, it is believed that the predecessors of the Kurds are the Mittani, Nairi, Urarteans and Medes, which all lived in a society of tribal and kingdoms (Öcalan, 2012:13) • Middle-Ages: the word Kurdistan, meaning ‘the land of the Kurds’ was first used by Seljuk sultans who spoke Persian (Öcalan, 2012:11) • 1299-1922: during the Ottoman Empire (Flach, et al., 2016:2), the name Kurdistan was used to label the areas settled by the Kurds (Öcalan, 2012:11)

Colonialism, Imperialism and the Assad Regime in Syria • 1920: European colonial and imperial powers, France and Britain, drew new borders according to their interests and by that divided Kurdish settlements between Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Syria came under the colonial control of France (Flach, et al., 2016:11) • After 1925: the existence of Kurdish people was denied (Öcalan, 2012:11) • 1946: the independent Republic of Syria was announced (Flach, et al., 2016:12) • 1962: consensus of Kurdish residency in the province of Hesekê (Flach, et al., 2016:20).

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• 1963: the pan-Arabist Ba’ath came into power and established a twelve- point plan for the Arabization of the Kurds of northern Syria (Flach, et al., 2016:20). • 1970: Hafez Al-Assad seized power after the traditional Ba’ath leadership was overthrown by a coup four years earlier and created a presidential monarchy (Flach, et al., 2016:13) • 2000: Bashar Al-Assad took over the regime after his father died and started to promote economic liberalization leading to the impoverishment of the rural population, especially in Rojava (Flach, et al., 2016:14)

The Kurdish Freedom Movement in South-East Turkey • 1978: with the foundation of the PKK, the Kurdish Freedom Movement initially emerged in the late in South-East Turkey, or Northern Kurdistan (Flach, et al., 2016:36, Öcalan, 2012:28), as a Marxist-Leninist liberation movement (Jongerden and Akkaya, 2011:125) • 1980: after the military seized power and arrested thousands of people in Turkey, the Ba’ath regime allowed the PKK to transfer to Syria (Flach, et al., 2016:36), where they cultivated close contact to the local population in Northern Syria (Flach, et al., 2016:51) • 1984: the PKK organized a guerrilla war against Turkey in the occupied area; thousands of female and male Kurds from Syria joined the struggle (Flach, et al., 2016:37, Öcalan, 2012:29) • 1994-1998: Turkey insisted on a military solution despite several proposed ceasefires by the PKK (Öcalan, 2012:30) • In the mid- 1980s and early 1990s: Kurdish women increasingly started to participate in the freedom struggle and claim their presence in the organization of it on all levels, building their movement within (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b) • 1987: the YJWK was founded (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b) • 1993: the first women's army was formed (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b) • 1995: the YAJK was founded (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b) • 1998: the Women’s Liberation Ideology was declared (Jin_Int, 22/04/2020b) • End of the 1990s and beginning of 2000s: the movement and its ideological leader Abdullah Öcalan, underwent a paradigm shift and started to make political and social analyses to develop an approach for a liberated society (Flach, et al., 2016:37)

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• 1999: Öcalan was arrested and abducted, and sentenced to solitary confinement on the island of Imralı as the only prisoner, where he developed the social and political ideology of ‘Democratic Modernity’, including the model of ‘Democratic Confederalism’ (Flach, et al., 2016:38).

The Revolution of Rojava • 2004: Kurdish movement in Syria started to organize itself underground after the Ba’ath regime of Syria secretly agreed to a plan with Turkey to annihilate the Kurdish population (Flach, et al., 2016:47) • 2005: women played a prominent role in the organization of the movement (Flach, et al., 2016:63) and founded the Star Union (Yekîtiya Star), the umbrella women’s movement of Rojava (Flach, et al., 2016:64). • Spring 2011: the Revolution of Rojava emerged within the context of the Arab Spring in Syria and the following Syrian war (Flach, et al., 2016:xxiii) • 2012: the armed defence forces, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) were founded • Mid-2012: the local Kurdish movement started to liberate cities and villages in Rojava from the Ba’ath regime and to build a democratic system (Flach, et al., 2016:xxiii) • 2013: the autonomous Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were founded • 2013: the war started against Jabhat Al-Nusra, Daesh and parts of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) (Flach, et al., 2016:135) • January 2014: the official declaration of a democratic autonomous administration was declared for the three cantons of Rojava, Cizîre, Kobanî and Afrîn (Flach, et al., 2016:xxiii) • September 2014- January 2015: the YPJ waged the famous and successful resistance against Daesh in Kobanî (Flach, et al., 2016:xxiv). • 2016: the announcement of the Federal System of Rojava was made (Flach, et al., 2016:2) • Since 2018: Turkish forces have been occupying and attacking north-west Syria (Kongra Star, 28/06/2020:3)

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7. Appendix II: List of Elements

Below, all the elements of the discourse of women’s liberation with special attention to the armed self-defence of the YPJ are listed. They correspond to the elements and statements framed in the analytical framework and explored in the analysis. The tables also demonstrate the discursive fields. The elements are taken from the main dataset listed in section 5.1 of the Bibliography. There is a total of 154 elements.

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DISCOURSE OF WOMEN’S LIBERATION STATEMTENTS ELEMENTS Physical Mental Community Freedom Defence Defence Resistance x x x x Peaceful force x Enlightening force x Collective force x x Communal self-defence x x Legitimate self-defence x x Natural defence x x Organizational resistance x Protection of people x Self-protection [of women] x x x Protection of the country x Protection of the revolution in x x Rojava Protection of ethical society x x x Protect human values [society’s x x x values] Protection of land (Welatparêzî) x Defence of nature x x x Sacrifice x x Protection of women’s rights x x Protection of self-governance x x Defence of women’s political x x x rights Preservation of existence x x x x Self-realization x x Defence of position x Women’ bodies x Women’s spirit x x Women’s mind x x Women’s knowledge x x Women’s policies x x Ripping off victim role x x Creating women outside x x x patriarchy and capitalism Self-expression x x x Common path x x x Common goal x x x 51

Strength x Women’s empowerment x x x x Defence of women’s values x x x Women’s participation x x Creation of beauties x x x Build own place in society x x Gain morale x Gain courage x Self-organization x x Self-determination x x x Power through organization x x Friendship/comradeship x x x (hevaltî) Love x x x x Revolutionary love x x x x x x x x Meaningful love x x x x Love of friends x x x x Love of people x x x x Collectivity x x Communal lifestyle x x Unity x x Unite as women x x x x Strength as community x x Common identity x Communal spirit x x x x Cooperation x x x Solidarity x x Mutual support x x Care x x Helpfulness x x x Celebrate each other x Rely on each other x x Hope for each other x x Believe in each other x x Sharing x Trusting x x Recreating unity x Plurality/diversity x x Empathy x x Recreating minds x x Living together x x x Growing together x x x Production x x

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Development x x Development of an ethical x x x society Social development/building x x Scientific development/building x x Historical development/building x x Mythological x x development/building Economic x x development/building Mental development/building x x Research x x Education culture x x x Knowledge on Kurdistan x Knowledge on women’s culture x Mental transformation x x Personality development x x Women’s power x Self-knowledge x Self-consciousness x Self-awareness x x Awareness of women’s reality x x Awareness of women’s nature x x Ethical awareness x x x Awareness of women’s power Truth x x Constructive criticism (critique x and self-critique) Exposing effects of patriarchy x Exposing effects of capitalism x Exposing effects of nation-state x Exposing effects of fascism x Exposing effects of colonialism x Recreate lost values x Creating x x Women’s creation x x Building up x x Find back to herself x x Find back to her history x x Find back to her nature x x Scientific knowledge x x x Ideological knowledge x x x Historical knowledge x x x Social knowledge x x x Political knowledge x x x Economic knowledge x x x 53

Struggle x x x Struggle spirit x x x Spirit of freedom x x x Ideological Resistance x x Political Resistance x x Cultural Resistance x x Free thought x Free will x Revolution x Humanity x x x x Nature x x x Culture x x x Safety x x Life x Peace x Gender liberation x x Gender equality x x Liberate women x x x Liberate society x x x Emancipation x x Grassroots democracy x Democratic Nation x Self-governance x Decentralized Syria x Ecology x Tranquillity x Women’s self-defence x x New army culture x Science of Women (Jineolojî) x x Responsibility x Transformation of men x National freedom x Ethnic freedom x Cultural Freedom x Social-democratic freedom x Love for freedom x x x Love for life x x Love of land (Welatparêzî) x x Member of your nation x x x

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8. Appendix III: List of Original Quotes

1. “We see more and more the necessity that women make an intervene, and build a new world. A world built in their own colours, that represents their essence. That is peace, safety, freedom, equality, and even more” (Women Defend Rojava, 30/10/2019)

2. “A friend was telling in which fights she was before and especially with airstrikes from turkey and with friends that she knew that were like hit in pieces and so because you don't let the bodies there, she had to pick up the pieces and […] this is something really touching me that the friends do not give up and that this revolution is already so strong from inside that turkey can attack, but they cannot destroy this revolution anymore because of the strength of the people here” (The New International, 06/02/2019)

3. “A friend saw a photo of two şehîds and was looking so touched of it and she was smiling really sweet and I asked her if she knows them, and she said: “No, but they are friends, they are hevals. And it was so, we always have this individualism from Germany. We don't know someone, so we don't care, actually. But they are really like: “they are fighting for the same things, they were also hevals, they were also humans […]. And so, she was so honestly touched, it really touched me a lot and I understood how deep is their idea of Hevaltî” (The New International, 06/02/2019)

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