STRUGGLES

adical Kurdish movement came ofage
during bloody protracted insurgencies
outside ofSyria, yet each has exploited the
chaos ofthe war to begin their social
experiments within that country's territory.
And neither ideology is very concerned
about formal borders between nation states.
The war between the Islamic State and
Rojava has a distinct dualist quality about it.
Both gain their strengths from their
ideologies; their soldiers (and indeed many
oftheir citizens and supporters) are willing
to die for their beliefs. The institutions of
the mosques and Koranic schools helped
mould the Islamic State's fighters and
suicide bombers into fearless warriors who
are not only not afraid ofdeath, but actively
seek death in jihad as a direct route to
heaven.
Meanwhile, the Rojava militias include not
only the YPG (People's Defence Units) but
also the YPJ (Women's Defence Units). The
Kurdish movement's embrace offeminism
has effectively doubled their pool of
potential recruits, just as their philosophy of
championing minority rights has facilitated
the creation ofSyriac militias, Yazidi
militias, and the ethnically mixed Arab-
Kurdish Syrian Defence Forces.
Thus the battles between the two, first at
Kobanê and then the push south toward the
Islamic State's de facto capital in Raqqa,
represent more than a battle between rival
factions, but a genuine struggle of
ideologies for dominance in Syria. It was
not so long ago that radical ideologies were
considered to be something ofa throwback
in the post-Soviet world. But, pushed to the
world's margins, in the mountains, the
deserts and the slums, radical movements
with diverse ideologies are challenging a
visibly collapsing global system. In Syria a
radical feminist direct democracy is
confronting a radical Islamic theocracy.
Neither movement originated in Syria, but
both have made it their battleground. Both
movements aim not just to control Syria,
but to change the world.
The YPJ at
International
Women's Day in
March 2016. Photo
by Jo Magpie.