Isabel Käser is a PhD candidate at the Center for Gender Studies at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies, London. The topic of her thesis is the Kurdish women’s movement in Rojava, the de facto autonomous region formally established in northern Syria in January 2014 by the Movement for a Democratic Society, a coalition dominated by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Käser was in Beirut to attend a Carnegie panel titled A New Age for Female Militancy in the Middle East, held in late April. Diwan took advantage of her presence to discuss her research.
The Women of Rojava
In an interview, Isabel Käser discusses Kurdish female participation in northern Syria.
More work from Diwan
Anatomy of a Military FallWhy did Bashar al-Assad’s armed forces fail to act, unlike those in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Sudan?
Eastern Syria After AssadThe SDF has expanded its control over Deir al-Zor, but may soon find itself overstretched and facing Turkish allies.
- Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Bashar al-Assad of Syria Has Been Ousted From PowerSpot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.
Why Did Iran Allow Bashar al-Assad’s Downfall?Tehran may have assumed there would be opportunities to exploit in Syria’s likely instability in the future.
