The Kurdish Women's Freedom Movement - Gender, Body Politics and Militant Femininities

Going beyond Orientalist tropes of female fighters, this book traces the history, ideology, and everyday practices of the Kurdish Women's Movement.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. The PKK - a woman's party? A history of the Kurdistan women's freedom movement 1978-2020; 2. Diyarbakir under fire: women at the barricades; 3. The mountain life: on learning to become free; 4. Mothers and martyrs: the struggle for life and the commemoration of death in Maxmûr camp; 5. Unmaking and remaking sexuality: body politics and the PKK; Conclusion.

About the author

Isabel Käser is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and Research Associate at the University of Bern. She gained her PhD at SOAS University of London and has previously worked in journalism and diplomacy, most recently leading the research project 'Art in Peace Mediation' for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She has lectured at the University of Bern, and the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH), and is currently the Principal Investigator of a collaborative project between the LSE and the UKH entitled 'The Kurdistan Region of Iraq Post-ISIS: Youth, Art and Gender'.

Summary

Despite international focus on Kurdish women revolutionaries, little is known about who these women are, where they came from and what keeps them engaged in this costly fight. This book traces the history, ideology, and everyday practices of women in the political, activist and armed branches of the Kurdish Freedom Movement.

Additional text

'With great analytic care and sensibility, Isabel Käser depicts the contradictions and challenges, aspirations and imaginaries that mark the lives of the women at the forefront of the Kurdish liberation movement. Her remarkable book challenges us to rethink what freedom might mean - and how it can be achieved.' Marlene Schäfers, Utrecht University

Product details

• Authors: Isabel Kaser, Isabel (London School of Economics and Poli Kaser, Isabel (School of Oriental and African Stud Kaser, Isabel Käser
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.08.2021
• EAN: 9781316519745
• ISBN: 978-1-316-51974-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 235 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Print on Demand
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Ethnic Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, HISTORY / Middle East / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Process / Political Advocacy, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, Political activism, Social and cultural history, Middle Eastern history, Gender studies, gender groups, Political activism / Political engagement, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General