2026/05/19 by Mustafa Kemal Topal · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Gender, Security, and Conflict #Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies #Turkey's Politics and Society
paper · doi:10.1080/09612025.2026.2676154
openalex publication_date 2026/05/19 · openalex created_date 2026/05/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
This article explores how the Kurdish women’s movement Kongra Star in North and East Syria mobilises women and implements liberation ideals during the transition from war to peace. Using the concept of ‘discursive opportunity structures’, this paper examines how Kongra Star frames gender liberation through ideological and cultural discourses that transcend ethnic and political divisions. Building on William A. Gamson & David S. Meyer’s argument that movements succeed by shaping discursive contexts as well as political opportunities, the study investigates how Kongra Star challenges dominant norms and promotes alternative visions of society. The article draws on ethnographic fieldwork, including over fifty semi-structured interviews and participant observation in Northern Syria in 2022. This empirical material reveals how discursive strategies are enacted in organisational practices, recruitment, and activism. By focusing on women’s own narratives, the study contributes to understanding the role of discourse in fostering structural change and gendered emancipation in post-conflict settings.