Weaving Another Future

Book excerpt: A collection of essays on the intellectual foundation of the Kurdish women's revolutionary movement. Over the past decade, Western audiences have grown used to seeing images of Kurdish women in army fatigues fighting as part of Women's Protection Units in the Syrian Civil War. But these striking images are not the whole story. Kurdish women's militias are part of a revolution built on a sophisticated intellectual foundation that places the empowerment of women at the center of the struggle for political self-determination. Jineolojî is the name of this new social science, and Weaving Another Future is the first in a series of English-language books, collected and translated from the journal Jineolojî, that illustrate the scope and depth of this lively new discipline. In the wake of Western feminism that struggles to produce profound change in many women's lives, the promise of Jineolojî is spreading to communities around the world. Weaving Another Future features essays on the goals and methodology of Jineolojî, matriarchal history and society, challenging patriarchal systems, building democratic autonomy outside the state, women's participation in emancipatory struggles, self-defense, and self-governance.