Beyond Feminism? Jineolojî and the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement

In December 2020, Nadje Al-Ali co-wrote, "Beyond Feminism? Jineolojé and the Kurdish Women's Freedom Movement." In it, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies Nadje Al-Ali and co-author Dr. Isabel Käser explore the concept of Jineolojé, a new science and paradigm developed by Kurdish women to challenge Western androcentric knowledge production and address gender-based inequalities within Kurdish society.

Beyond sensationalist representation of Kurdish women engaging in armed struggle against ISIS, there is limited understanding about the ideological and political underpinnings of the Kurdish women's movement. Over the past years, Professor Nadje Al-Ali, has been researching the relationship between feminist peace activism as well as feminism and nationalism in relation to Kurdish women's mobilization. This recent article, co-authored with Dr Isabel Käser, explores the concept of Jineolojî, a new science and paradigm developed by Kurdish women to challenge western androcentric knowledge production, and address gender-based inequalities within Kurdish society. Beyond providing original empirical material about the Kurdish women's movement, the article speaks to recent debates about decolonizing transnational feminist approaches.