Książka jest rezultatem międzynarodowego projektu "Aktywizm i jego moralne i kulturowe podstawy: alternatywne obywatelstwo i rola kobiet w Kurdystanie i diasporze (ALCITfem)" realizowanego w latach 2021-2024 na Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim, Uniwersytecie Oslo (Norwegia), Uniwersytecie Ekonomicznym w Krakowie oraz w Fafo, Instytucie Badań Pracy i Społecznych (Norwegia) w ramach programu Grieg NCN. W związku z wymogami projektu i za zgodą wydawcy Palgrave Macmillan książka ukazuje się jako preprint na licencji CC-BY. The book Enacting Citizenship: Kurdish Women's Resilience, Activism and Creativity is the result of the 3-year research project Activism and Its Moral and Cultural Foundations: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and Diaspora funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014–2021, project registration number: 2019/34/H/HS2/00541/. Bibliogr. przy rozdziałach

Chapter 1. Enacting Citizenship: Kurdish Women’s Resilience, Activism, and Creativity. All authors. This introductory chapter discusses what citizenship means for Kurdish women by reviewing existing literature on citizenship, activism, nationalism, and minoritized groups within the nation-state. It also discusses the methodology, research questions, and central arguments that form the groundwork of this book. In cases where citizenship is not a given, acts of citizenship (Isin 2008) can take different forms that disrupt the status quo of the nation-state, often through everyday practices and performances that have the ability to transform existing structures into a new political reality. For women, who not only operate in a politically restrictive environment but are also limited by a highly patriarchal society, access to public spaces in which citizenship can be produced is often even more challenging. It is therefore that this book uses more recent alternative theories of gendered, affective, and intimate citizenship to shed light on the creative actions with which Kurdish women forge changes in their communities, often in violent contexts and precarious conditions. It also examines indigenous claims of Kurdish people who in recent years have asked attention for neocolonial programs of the states they live in in which these states aim at managing, controlling, and appropriating Kurdistan’s environment, including its natural resources. Keywords: indigeneity and indigenous; patriarchy; public and private; precarity; social movements; women’s liberation

Chapter 2. Water as Life and Freedom – Rights to Water and Alternative Environmental Imaginaries in Kurdish Women’s Activism. Dobrosława Wiktor-Mach. Research on Kurdish societies has often overlooked ecological and climate crises, focusing instead on women's mobilization, political movements, and cultural initiatives. However, growing environmental activism is a crucial aspect of social transformation in the region. This chapter, based on fieldwork, interviews with Kurdish environmental activists, and secondary sources, examines social mobilization in the struggle for water rights, framed as 'acts of citizenship' (Isin, Nielsen 2008). Kurdish women's activism plays a key role, integrating feminist ideas into environmentalism and adding a gender dimension. Their ecological activities, shaped by long-standing discrimination, are part of a broader fight for justice, decision-making participation, and rights. Although ecology is often seen as apolitical, making it an accessible entry point for women activists, it frequently leads to broader citizenship actions. These acts of ecological citizenship encompass resistance to the neoliberal transformation of nature and prefigurative practices. While many initiatives are grassroots and limited in scale, others involve transnational cooperation, demonstrating both short- and long-term perspectives on ecological activism. Keywords: environmentalism; Kurdish women; ecofeminism; grassroots; transnational activism; social movements

Chapter 3. Women, Environmental Activism, and Stateless Citizenship in Post-State North-East Syria. Marcin Skupiński. In the course of the Syrian civil war and the Rojava Revolution, new forms of agency and subjectivity emerged in North-East Syria (NES), in the context of deconstruction of the structures of the authoritarian nation-state in which mainstream notions of citizenship are not easy to apply. The topics of environment and ecology create an interesting nexus in relations between land, identity and agency, involving different ideologies of nature. In NES, ideas of social ecology form a significant part of the ideology developed by Abdullah Öcalan after his imprisonment, and thus, at least on a declarative level, ecology forms one of the backbones of the project of Autonomous Administration of NES. Engagement in ecological activism in NES creates opportunities for both reassuring the allegiance to the ideals of Rojava Revolution and democratic confederalism but also for challenging and criticizing those in power for either their insufficient actions or diminishing independent and private initiative. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with activists in West Kurdistan, the chapter discusses how environmental initiatives create spaces of creativity and resistance, prompting activists to take more responsibility for shaping the future of Syria and the Autonomous Administration and reconfiguring their relations with both the Kurdish Freedom Movement and remnants of the Syrian State. Keywords: ecology; democratic confederalism; activism; Rojava; environmentalism; Kurdish women

Chapter 4. Public Activism, Gender Roles, and Family Life among Transnational and Trans-local Kurds. Karol Kaczorowski. The chapter focuses on negotiations that Kurds in European Diaspora and in Turkey undertake to balance between acts of citizenship (including public activism) and everyday life with their close ones. On one hand they often feel the vocation to work for recognition of Kurds as a distinct ethnic group and are anticipated by their social groups to do so, but on the other hand they have to balance between activism and maintaining relations within family. The need for such negotiation and time management falls especially on women - traditionally perceived as cores of family life. While contributing to Kurdish struggle for recognition, Kurdish women activists are also often leading efforts spreading awareness about gender equality and have to cope with maintaining relationships and care-giving for family members. Situation of transnational Kurdish families is depicted in the chapter through the lens of participants' perception of: their families and gender roles, public activism and negotiations between various types of vocation. Narrations of participants point to generational change in terms of gender equality becoming a widespread topic. Application of acts of citizenship theory shows how both everyday negotiations of equality and public activism influence each other and combined contribute to gradual social change. Keywords: citizenship; everyday life; care; division of labor; Kurdish diaspora; Kurdish women

Chapter 5. Dersimi Women, Family, and Activism: Navigating and Negotiating Alternative Spaces. Hayal Hanoğlu. The chapter explores the gender negotiations of Dersimi women in social and political life to shed light on the complex interplay of family, gender, and activism in both local and transnational spaces. Taking multiple factors into consideration, including religion, ethnicity and history, it aims to understand how women navigate and negotiate their gender roles in family and community spaces; how these practices are transmitted and reproduced; and how gender norms are formed in contested regions where constant state violence shapes the cultural and political spheres, including alternative spaces of rights, claims, and performances of citizenship. Drawing on interviews with Dersimi women in Dersim, Istanbul and London, the chapter deals with the diverse dynamics that shape the construction and transmission of gender perceptions and practices among Alevi Kurds. The narratives of women consistently reveal an ongoing struggle against patriarchal norms and gender inequalities within familial, social, and political spheres. Their involvement in various forms of activism, which creates a new social context for women, catalyses transformative change, forcing more equitable and inclusive relationships both inside and outside the family. Keywords: Gender equality; women empowerment; Alevi Kurds; Dersim; state violence; performing citizenship

Chapter 6. Reading Kurdish Heritage Anew: Women’s Representation, Intimate Citizenship, and Moral Empowerment. Joanna Bocheńska. The chapter offers a new interpretation of Kurdish folk and classical literary heroines and suggests that they are not only symbols of patriarchal relations but important agents acting out values shared in the past by Kurdish society. The chapter departs from investigating the heroic heritage expressed through the range of folk narratives and proverbs such as Şêr şêr e, çi jin e çi mêr e (Lion is a lion whether it is female or male) which recently became associated with women guerillas. A new reading of Mem û Zîn (1695) by Ehmedê Xanî proposes to see Zîn, as the powerful personage acting upon God’s love and mercy, contrary to the men’s world dominated by sword. Finally, the chapter discusses modern uses of Mestûre Ardalan’s heritage (1805-1847), a Kurdish poet and chronicler, whose representation obtains new meaning among Kurdish women. The study combines textual analysis, semi-structured interviews and autobiographical research. It proposes to reconcile the different understandings of cultural heritage which is perceived as an empowering tool to negotiate new ways of being in the world. It becomes an intimate act of communication and meaning-making closely linked to Engin Isin’s acts of citizenship.
Keywords: representations of women; Kurdish literature; heritageization; imagination; Türkiye; Iran

Chapter 7. Language and Resistance: The Struggle of KirdZaza Women to Preserve Zazakî in the Kirdane and Kirmancîye regions of Türkiye. Hüseyin Rodi Keskin. This chapter examines the motivations and actions of Zaza women activists in revitalizing the endangered Zazakî language and preserving their cultural heritage in Türkiye. Drawing on interviews conducted with women involved in language revitalization efforts, the study explores how they navigate historical assimilation policies and contemporary challenges to reclaim their linguistic and cultural identity. The efforts of these women to keep the Zazakî language and culture alive contribute significantly to the continuity of their language and culture and to the transfer of their ''collective stories and histories'' to future generations, despite the state's oppressive policies. What drives the activists are personal experiences of shame and disconnection from their language; a desire to transmit cultural heritage; and the UNESCO classification of Zazakî as endangered. Their actions encompass a range of initiatives, from participating in Zazakî language courses and theater performances to collecting folklore and producing Zazakî content for television and the Internet. Through these endeavors, Zaza women challenge state-imposed linguistic norms, assert their linguistic human rights, and advocate for both language preservation and women’s rights. Their activism are understood as acts of citizenship (Isin, 2008), reclaiming agency, and resisting assimilationist policies while nurturing a sense of belonging and pride in their linguistic and cultural heritage. Keywords: indigenous; women activism; language revitalization; motivation; cultural heritage; mother tongue

Chapter 8. The lion who did not want to be a hero. On the simple act of ‘living a life.’ Nerina Weiss. This chapter deals with two overarching questions: Firstly, can the simple act of living a life be an act of citizenship? And secondly, how may we understand the transforming power of that act of living? In order to answer these, I tell of women, whose lives constitute ‘momentous acts’ or ‘creative breaks’ (Isin, 2008) with the status quo and thus challenge various power regimes. Their lives provide alternative ways of living and in so provide spaces of imaginary, in which alternative ways of living become possible. One of these women is Cihan, a middle-aged Kurd from Bakur. Cihan’s story so beautifully exemplifies the complexities of a life, whose trajectory did not always follow expected gender scripts, and at times runs counter to normative gender roles, be it within the Kurdish nationalist movement or outside. Keywords: Spaces of imaginary; imagination; possibility of change; power regimes; female PKK guerrilla fighter

Chapter 9. The Hierarchical Re-formation of Kurdish Women’s Citizenship: Encounters in a Neighborhood in Istanbul. Besime Şen. This chapter investigates the encounters between Kurdish women from Rojava (Syria) and Kurdish women from Türkiye in a poor and politicized neighborhood in Istanbul. Both groups have settled in the neighborhood after forced migration, the first during the Syrian war, and the latter during the destruction of villages in Kurdish regions in Türkiye in the 1990s. Within this process of Kurdish women establishing their lives after forced migration, socio-spatial factors such as home, neighborhood and city turned out to play an important role. The women met individually and supported each other, predominantly in the home. Their precarious positions made security a central issue during settlement, and at the same time created hierarchies in which Türkiye’s Kurdish women, who had established a more secure position, disengaged themselves from Rojava Kurdish women in public space. The Rojava Kurdish women also found support through the Kitchen Project, an NGO project in the neighborhood, which entailed other hierarchies between NGO workers and refugees. The findings of this research show that multiple hierarchical positions, including class, gender, ethnicity and religious identities, are formed at the scale of the neighborhood. Conditions of war and displacement are current and historical factors that shape the citizenship practices of Kurdish women. Keywords: home; NGO; empowerment; forced migration; socio-spatial factors; security

Chapter 10. Kurdish Women’s Activism in Iranian Kurdistan: Between Abeyance and Mobilization. Azad Rahim Hajiagha The authoritarian and non-democratic regimes prevalent in the Middle East engender highly inhospitable environments for women's activism, subject to fluctuations contingent upon the degree of political openness. Women’s activism, whether manifested through social movements or elitist circles, undergoes oscillations between periods of heightened activity and phases of abeyance owing to the unfavorable political climate. A comprehensive examination of women’s activism in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) spanning from the mid-1940s to 2022, underpinned by document analysis and 24 in-depth interviews with Kurdish women activists, indicates a profound influence emanating from Iran's centralized, non-democratic, and hybrid state structure (1925-2020). Through scrutinizing the dynamics of Kurdish women activists and accentuating narratives of abeyance, survival, and resilience, the chapter posits that during pivotal socio-political junctures—such as the establishment of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad (1945), the Iranian revolution (1979), and the reform period (1997-2005)—activists aligned themselves with Kurdish political parties or established NGOs to articulate their demands. Confronted with severe socio-political oppression during the periods of 1980–1997 and 2005–2020, activists resorted to cultural, literary, and artistic expressions as conduits of free space for survival, thereby ensuring continuity and laying the groundwork for sustained activism in subsequent periods. Keywords: Kurdish Women Activism, citizenship, abeyance, Free spaces, Identity, Intersectionality

Chapter 11. Citizenship from Below: The Impact of Kurdish Women’s Small-scale Activism. Wendelmoet Hamelink. This chapter explores how small-scale women’s projects create alternative spaces for exercising and performing citizenship. The many women who are involved in such projects give reason to believe that they are an effective strategy to change women’s positions within Kurdish society. Based on interviews with women from all over Kurdistan and the diaspora, the chapter connects women’s activities from different regions. Although the projects are organized in and focused on a small local area, the connections between women involved in them also forge a more transnational Kurdish space in which women can be seen as forerunners to change women’s lives and their positions within society. By juxtaposing Kurdish social movement activism with the small-scale projects this chapter writes about, it becomes clear how women’s activism can take various forms under authoritarian regimes. The chapter also uses theories about affective citizenship to better understand how women mobilize positive emotional connections, as well as moral outrage about oppression, to build a strong community of solidarity. And finally, it understands the women’s projects as activist placemaking, a term taken from queer theory. Women’s experiences with living on the margins have made them creative in using marginal spaces to their own advantage, building citizenship from below. Keywords: authoritarianism; affect; queer theory; social movements; activist placemaking; feminism