Rojava, Revolution and Militant Democracy: Session 3

Popular Education Network (PEN) Scotland organises radical and political education events in communities around Scotland based on principles of popular education.

Popular Education Network

A seminar series exploring the theory and practice of participatory democracy in the context of the revolution in Rojava.

Session 3. Rojava and the democratic revolutionTuesday 26 March, 2024 In this session we welcome Jenni Keasden and Natalia Szarek’s, authors of Worth Fighting For: Bringing the Rojava Revolution Home (Active Distribution, 2023. Jenni and Natalia spent several years as volunteers working with the women of the YPJ (Women’s Defence Units), an important section of the Syrian Democratic Forces established in 2015 and operating since then in Rojava and the northern Syrian region. Jenni and Natalia will speak about some of their experiences of the ‘democratic revolution’ in Rojava, considering the relative importance of values, cultures, and institutions in sustaining this new social-political formation.  Reflecting the aims of their book, the authors will consider how we can ‘make bridges between worlds’ and ‘translate some of the big ideas of the movement to our context.’ In the session, we will discuss these big ideas and consider their applicability and relevance to our own, crisis-ridden liberal-democratic systems. Extracts of Jenni and Natalia’s book, as well as a range of other sources that help to contextualize the discussion, will be made available to participants before the session.      You can find an outline of the session and reading materials that will be referred to during the seminar on the PEN Scotland website: <a href="https://www.penscotland.com" title="https://www.penscotland.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">http://www.penscotland.com</a> More about this seminar series...Rojava’s democratic revolution is over a decade old. Emerging from the labyrinth conflicts of the Syrian civil wars, and coming to prominence in their fight against ISIS in Raqqa and Aleppo districts in northern Syria, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has built upon a the national liberation struggles of the Kurdish people, but has also taken on new social and political meanings as it has developed over the last twelve years. For many commentators and participants, Rojava’s revolution is a new model for a movement that is at once democratic, feminist and ecologically informed. So what is actually happening in Rojava? Is this kind of social-political formation really sustainable in a region scarred by armed Western interventions, ethnic and religious conflicts, and authoritarianism? What can we learn from Rojava’s ‘militant democratic revolution’?This short series on radical democracy is run by PEN in support of an event promoting and discussing Jenni Keasden and Natalia Szarek’s Worth Fighting For: Bringing the Rojava Revolution Home (Active Distribution, 2023).

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Rojava, Revolution and Militant Democracy: Session 3

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