DAY 2

9:00-9:15 Announcements

9:15-11:30 Session III: Becoming: The life we dream of will come not through miracles but through revolution

The struggle being waged against the colonization of women is key to determining the character of our age. This perspective is ideologically central to our struggle. The practical results show that only with a strong ideological and intellectual struggle can we stop the multi-faceted and diverse slaughter of women by the patriarchal system.

1. Overcoming the fragmentation created by patriarchal mentality: class, nationalism, fundamentalism

What does it mean to create intellectual power independent of the male-dominated system’s thought structures, to defeat the system in the mental realm? Have the intellectual and theoretical criticisms and rejections developed by women against the patriarchal system managed to not reproduce the system? Why is it important to develop an alternative paradigm? What role does ideology play in women’s struggles? An opposition devoid of any ideological basis risks draining women’s struggles of their essence and assimilating them into the system. Is it possible for women to create an inclusive and holistic ideological outlook, in opposition to the intertwined policies and ideological assaults of male domination?

2.Feminism—the rebellion of the oldest colony and what lies beyond it

What is the place and contribution of feminism to the women’s struggle, past and present? What are the causes of the obstacles experienced by feminism? How can feminism take an anti-systemic stance?

3. Sociology of Freedom and Jineolojî

Building a strong bond between revolutionary organizing and the social sciences is a key aspect of women’s struggle against distortion, manipulation and ideological attacks. An intellectual quest based on an alternative paradigm can turn the values accumulated by the women’s resistance front into the basis of revolution. What role will Jineolojî play in transforming the values, experiences and knowledge that spread from women to society? What are the results of philosophical explorations that will bring about free life and a free identity in women’s existential struggle? How does the philosophy of Hevjiyana Azad (free life together), contribute to the formation of these identities?

11:45-13:45 Session IV: Our Vision: Liberating life

1. How to live, what to do and where to start

What are our answers to these questions: How should we live? What should we do? Where should we start? Killing the dominant man and building a free life together: what do we mean by freeing men from the grip of patriarchy? What do we mean by liberating power-based relations on the basis of gender, and defi ning women and men by transcending gender? What are the building blocks of a philosophy of life that will change and transform social relations?

2. Organize!

Autonomous organization is the most important tool to defend women’s energy, struggle and resistance against patriarchy. How can a women’s organizational style be developed that will encompass all social sectors and distinctions, including ethnic, cultural, religious and class contradictions?

3. Defend life: No to war, Yes to self defence

In national and class liberation struggles, in the resistance against fascism and racism, in the daily lives of women, self-defence is one of the main tools in the overthrow of the male-dominated system. What makes self-defence diff erent from militarism? What is the social expression of self defence developed through women’s ethics and aesthetics? How should we go about realizing a self-defence model that is intellectually and practically holistic?

14:15-15:30 Lunch Break

15:30-18:30 Session V: Finding our way

Jin, Jiyan, Azadi: Why a supranational women’s organization? What is the proposal for Women’s World Democratic Confederalism?

What needs to be done to raise women’s awareness about the ideological attacks of the system? Is the level of debate about ideologies that divide women and hinder their visibility an obstacle to our practical progress? How can a unity of principles be formulated that will encourage all kinds of women’s struggles to prioritize focusing on the main goal: namely, the destruction of the multi-faceted, masked and intertwined policies, practices and attacks of patriarchy? To what extent do diff erences in ideological perspectives aff ect women’s alliances? What will be our main starting point in determining common principles? What path should be followed to build structures that are not hierarchical, statist or centralized and to create sustainable partnerships?

In this section, we will pose the questions: How can all struggles for women’s liberation unite around basic goals? How should they be constructed? How can they develop in a way that will establish a women’s confederalism that is not based on the hegemony or dominance of one group? Here, we want to concretize how we collectively imagine women’s world democratic confederalism. This session will be for all participants at the conference to share their thoughts and perspectives on this topic.

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