Rojava Today: Where is the Movement Now?

The Kurdish democratic revolution in Rojava captured international attention in the wake of the heroic defense of Kobane from ISIS. This multi-ethnic, feminist, grassroots experiment in direct democracy has been an inspiring beacon of hope throughout the world. Yet much has changed in the intervening years, including the U.S. military abandoning their Kurdish allies, the Assad regime consolidating power in the Syrian Civil War, and ongoing regional military intervention by Turkey and Russia. What has all of this meant for the revolution today?

This panel conversation will address this question, discussing the present and future of the movement with contributions from international volunteers Viyan Qereçox and Argeş , and Kurdish activist and author Dilar Dirik. Sponsored by the Institute for Social Ecology.

Speaker bios: Viyan Qereçox is a former volunteer with Andrea Wolf Institute in Rojava and internationalist with the movement Dilar Dirik is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Refugee Studies Center at the University of Oxford. She is also a member of Cenî Kurdish Women's Office for Peace. She is also the author of the forthcoming book "The Kurdish Women's Movement: History, Theory, Practice" (PlutoPress). Argeş Tolhildan is an internationalist currently based in Rojava.