NEWS CENTER – What Jineolojî does is bring us to our roots and I think that’s something important. You see that everywhere in the world women have tried to connect to these roots. Like researching their own history, the unwritten history, like all these traces or sources of resistance that give us a lot of strength for the present day. And I think this is something that is immensely important. I think Jineolojî gives us a common framework or common language also to connect also these experiences. To deepen them and develop them in a way that is also connected to a certain ethical understanding of why we are looking at this because we are actually struggling for a free society
What is the purpose of your structure, the Andrea Wolf Institute?
Collective: To build the science of Jineolojî and educate women who come here, as well as to work with other Jineolojî centers in North and East Syria and abroad. To create space for exchange [between] women from different contexts and different histories, struggles and resistance histories to come together on the basis of Jineolojî and share their knowledge with each other. To learn and to translate that knowledge contextually and linguistically. To develop Jineolojî means to develop alternatives to the patriarchal, statist and liberal mentality. It is a process of liberation, individually and collectively. In these times of war, injustice, global social and economical crisis, we more than ever need a common base of knowledge, free thought and action, perspectives that allow us to develop revolutionary alternatives and [to] organize our struggles to build democratic modernity together.
How old is the Andrea Wolf Institute and what is the story of Şehîd Ronahî? why choose to name the Institute after her?
C: This particular institute was opened on the 18th of May 2019. But, that was really a consolidation of a lot of work that was happening for years prior. The opening of this institute gave [that work] a place to be based.
N: It was named after Şehîd Ronahî. Şehîd Ronahî was an internationalist revolutionary who grew up in Germany and participated in the struggle of the Guerrilla in the mountains of Kurdistan. For [many] years she was part of anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and anti-fascist movements. On this base, with this spirit and understanding of internationalism she became guerrilla herself. She thought a lot about how to connect the struggles and what movements and collectives in Europe can learn from the struggle in Kurdistan. In 1998 she [was] killed by the Turkish army in the mountains of Kurdistan. To name the institute after her was also a decision in the way of making a continuation of this internationalist struggle, actually with this consciousness of what brings us together, also as women, from different parts of the world with this internationalist consciousness. To actually continue this path and also take in [the] consequences [we face on] the way. Because of course in [a] way what we are doing here is another aspect [of, and]another way to continue, the struggle.
Zi: Also maybe it’s important to also mention the role of Şehîds, the vanguards of our movement. Our struggle’s şehîds, hevalên şehîds, who have now fallen martyr. It’s a way of continuing their struggle to give their names to institutions and other spaces. Each of our institutions has a name belonging to one of the şehîd friends, and each friend takes another şehîd’s name. It’s a way to make their struggle continuous and commemorate them. The opening day [was] the 18th of May. It’s not an ordinary day this 18th of May: it’s also the date when Şehîd Hakî Karer became şehîd, and other friends also. It’s important to combine the internationalist friends who are part of the struggle [with] the Kurdish friends; it’s a unification of spirit. And also, to feel this responsibility and the content of the institution, your responsibility rises up with this because when you think about the Şehîds you also think that you have to be there for them. You have to do good work to make their struggle continue. We cannot simply be ordinary, we cannot [view] our structures, institutions or responsibilities [with] daily or short term aims, but [rather] in this long struggle and revolutionary sense.
What drew you to Rojava? Why did you come? What things give you hope about being here, both before and after coming?
C: There’s a lot to be learned for women everywhere and it’s a living, growing ecosystem and experiment. People can come here to learn about Jineolojî specifically.
A: It was also that the Kurdish Women’s Struggle gives a lot of hope. Especially for people in Europe, maybe have an idea that the capitalist system is not the system you want to live in and that patriarchy is attacking you every day. But, you don’t have methods or organizations where fighting has been going [as] long, and that don’t have as much experience. [The friends here] really believe that the change is possible and that you can be part of this change. This is something which gives me a lot of hope.
We were in Bakûr, in the northern part [of Kurdistan], also with Şehîd Sara Dorşin. She made a movie about the women’s struggle there about the different way of living. She was in the women’s academy, in TJA-the women’s organization-she interviewed friends in journalistic works-women journalistic works. And everywhere you got such a lot of strength because you see that it’s possible to organize your life totally in a free way, how you want to live. When we saw this [and then] came back to Europe it was really like “where is this here? this strength?”, because if you are not organized you feel like you have to struggle alone and you cannot really make this change. With this experience especially I would say the mothers-it was the time of the city war-they were the most revolutionary or militant people I ever saw. They would never give up [or] leave their neighborhood. They have many şehîds in their family. They are so connected to this history to this struggle that if just you see how they’re acting, how they organize, how they behave together, it gives [so much] hope. Once we were standing on the other side [of the border] in Mardin and we watched to Rojava and they told us “There is the revolution really more in practice”. It’s the same struggle, the same history, [and] the same movement. But, they are really making it possible [that] everywhere the people are living this ideology. When we stood there and we looked to Rojava really, actually there was a decision [made]: we would like to go to the other side and get to know the revolution in Rojava. And this was in 2016 and 2017, it was kind of like coming here and getting to know how it’s really practically working and to learn. I think really the most important thing [is] how we can learn with this Institute of Andrea Wolf. How we can learn [and] bring these ideas-this possible way of living-everywhere around the world, because this is actually an answer for everywhere. It was really this strength that it gave us and that’s why we came.
What work is the Andrea Wolf Institute currently engaged in right now?
N: In general, the Institute is a physical place but also it goes beyond [that]. There [are] many people who have been here and went again, [to] continue works for example. There’s a lot of exchange in this sense. Also a lot of prospective works, ideas, and practices that we are aiming to develop here also continue. One important work of the Institute is for sure related to education and research. On the one hand, making education processes with the women who are coming here from different parts of the world. [We] also [create] space for meeting between the women who come from other countries and the Kurdish Women’s Movement, Arabic women, or in general, organized women and society in the region here. Also transporting, translating, transmitting the knowledge of the women’s movement and the society and the revolution here to other contexts [and] other languages. We have published some books actually, articles and different brochures. [We] share the experiences from here, the knowledge, the perspectives, the methods [of] Jineolojî, and in general [share] the women’s revolution to other contexts. And also research, deepening certain topics, such as the history of women’s resistance in different parts of the world. One brochure that we published [is] about the question of how to overcome dominant masculinity. This is also a question, [when addressing] women’s liberation and revolutionary change, the transformation of men [and] the overcoming of dominant masculinity is also important.
Another topic is personality analysis. To understand how our personalities grew within the system and where we also have deep power [capable] of resistance and creating another society, another kind of relation, a free way of living together.
One research we now started to do is [on] the influences of Christianity and its effect on women. Women from the Jineolojî research center in Rojava asked us to do [this] to [better understand] this topic. Women who are coming here mostly participate in different works in society too. For example, in Kongra Star, in Mala Jin, in cultural works, in the municipality, in social justice structures. And, importantly, in Jinwar, the women’s village. To become part of life in society, to participate in the works, to learn. In this way getting to know what the Revolution actually means, [what its] daily life [is]. With all its beautiful and difficult parts also. And then also transforming these experiences through maybe writing about it, sharing it in a different way. We are [also] making music, together and with other internationalist friends, to record and share some songs.
We also write articles for Jineolojî magazine, for different webpages for example. Often we participate in online conferences and seminars. Also we work in connection [with the]Jineolojî department of Rojava University. There have been shared seminars, shared discussions and so on.
Then of course all the women that are here together, this communal life we live day by day, is also very important. If we speak about Jineolojî it’s also this question of how do we overcome these splits we have in our lives, in our personalities, and our mentality. And, how can we come to this holistic way of living and struggling. For sure this is the most important and it’s also the most difficult. I think in this daily life we are all learning a lot also. All these things. How to live together, how to solve conflicts, how to plan, how to organize. We plant the garden collectively for example and deal with our surroundings, the neighbors, the village, it’s also a very important part I think.
End of Part I
