Governance of Resistance in North and East Syria

Zeynep Kaya is a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK. She is the author of Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism (2020). Zeynep is co-editor of I.B. Tauris's Kurdish Studies Series and an Academic Associate at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, UK.Robert Lowe is Deputy Director of the LSE Middle East Centre, UK and co-editor of I.B. Tauris's Kurdish Studies Series. He was formerly a Research Fellow at Chatham House and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Exeter.

• AcknowledgementsMap of North and East SyriaNote on Transliteration and PlacenamesList of Acronyms and AbbreviationsList of FiguresList of ContributorsIntroductionZeynep Kaya, University of Sheffield, UK, and Robert Lowe, London School of Economics and Political Science, UKSection I – GovernanceThe Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria: State-like Entity or Hybrid Form of Governance Beyond the Nation-State?Katia Zagoritou, University of the Peloponnese, GreeceSearching for Theoretical-Methodological Approaches to the Study of Democratic Confederalism in RojavaErika Aguilar, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, MexicoDemocratization Through Kurdish Decentralization? A Critical Comparison of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution and the 2023 Rojava Social ContractDastan Jasim, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), GermanyFarewell ‘Rojava’, Welcome North and East Syria: Democratization in the Autonomous Administration’s Arab RegionsMatt Broomfield, University of Sussex, UKThe Role of Education in Conflict: How AANES’ Education Policies Fuel Grievances in North and East SyriaBenoîte Martin, Ulster University, IrelandSection II – IdentityKurdish Resistance (Berxwedan) Narratives in Contexts of Territorial Loss and Recovery: From Liberated Kobanî to Occupied Afrîn and Serê KaniyêThomas McGee, University of Melbourne, AustraliaKurdish Syrians: Balancing Kurdish and Syrian IdentitiesYunus Abakay, University of Exeter, UKContributing to the Rise of Rojava from Afar: The Role of Education and Family in National Identity Among Migrating KurdsNubin Ciziri, Uppsala University, SwedenSection III – GenderKurdish Women, Kongra Star and Gender Liberation in Post-Conflict Northern SyriaMustafa Kemal Topal, Roskilde University, DenmarkGender, Militarism, and Mythology in the Kurdish Freedom MovementStephen Knight, University of Oxford, UK, and Jenny Schulz, Independent ResearcherSpace, Place, Gender and Struggle in the AANES: Decoration as Political PracticeCharlotte Grace, Royal College of Art, UKSection IV – Foreign RelationsForeign Policy Choices of the PYD/YPG: Commitment Problems and HedgingWilliam Smith, Independent ResearcherThe Syrian Kurdish National Council’s Relationship with Turkey: Symptom and Cause of DeclineNour Albrzawi, Independent Researcher, and Robert Lowe, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

This is a comprehensive, scholarly, and accessible account of Kurds in Syria and their attempt at radical democracy amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war. Must read for anyone interested in Kurds, Syria, andbeyond.