Social and Leadership Processes Within the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement

• In Event: 2247 - Armed Conflict, Displacement, and Peacemaking

Abstract

The Kurds have endured a long struggle to secure a destiny of freedom. Kurdish women are now rising up to achieve their own freedom after decades of war, genocide, and statelessness. This study began in Kurdistan, Iraq with an intimate look at the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement, a feminist movement that is shifting its society away from social normative powers that have been dominant for generations. This exploratory case study was based upon academic reports, observations, and interviews with Kurdish female leaders. The case was used to create a critical understanding of feminist leadership from an age-old culture. Using Social Role Theory, this study investigated the experiences of Kurdish women moving into new leadership roles and shifting norms that allow such leadership to emerge. Transcripts from interviews with 20 Kurdish women from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and the US and investigative field observations of Kurdish women’s leadership stories were used to highlight a remarkable case of leadership. It contributes to a body of leadership knowledge that supports positive freedom of women globally. The overarching questions posed in this study are:(1) How is feminist leadership being expressed/developed in Kurdistan? (2)How is feminist leadership in Kurdistan changing the positions of women in society?
Primary themes that emerged from the data address impact of history, processes that legitimize women, prominent leadership roles that contribute to legitimacy of feminist leadership, and themes that describe the social impact of feminist leadership in Kurdistan.

Authors

• Christopher Patrick Kelley, United States Air Force Academy

• Amanda Metcalfe, University of Colorado Colorado Springs