Rojava: Revolution, War and the Future of Syria's Kurds - Hardcover

Schmidinger, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745337732 ISBN 13: 9780745337739

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2018

Synopsis

The Kurdish territory of Rojava in Syria has in recent years become a watchword for radical democracy, communalism, and gender equality. This book, however, argues that much of how we see Rojava from the outside is a projection of the values of Western radicals whose understanding of the complexities of the situation are limited. Thomas Schmidinger has been working in Rojava for seventeen years, and here he gives us the clearest picture yet of the history, politics, and society of the region today. He sketches the historical background of the Kurds in Syria, then details the developments since the outbreak of war in 2011, including the establishment of the Kurdish para-state and ongoing conflicts between Kurdish parties about how it should be administered. Drawing on interviews with leaders from different parties, civil society activists, artists, fighters, and religious leaders, Schmidinger delivers an authentic, nuanced, unromanticized portrait of Rojava today.
 

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Schmidinger is a political scientist and cultural anthropologist based at the University of Vienna.
 

Review

'...Preferable to most journalistic accounts that reduce the Rojava revolution to a single narrative. It will remain an informative resource even when the realities have further changed' Martin van Bruinessen, Kurdish Studies 3 (2), (2015)

Edition details

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0745337732
• ISBN 13: 9780745337739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368