Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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What does the fall of Assad mean for Rojava and its women’s revolution?
The Kurdish women’s organisation Kongra Star argues that the system established in north-east Syria’s autonomous administration is a significant step forward for women’s rights and politics in the region and must be defended
A joint declaration on March 8
[Kongra Star]
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
IN 2011, the winds of the Arab Spring blew into Syria and protests against the regime of the Ba’ath Party led by Bashar al-Assad gave rise to a civil war that continues to this day under the influence of a wide variety of political forces.
In north-east Syria, also known as “Rojava” (the Kurdish name for Western Kurdistan), the Syrian state largely withdrew after the people’s uprising in 2012. The majority Kurdish population in the region took the initiative and began to establish self-administration based on communes and councils and empowerment of women.
From the beginning of the revolution, women organised themselves independently, set up their communes and councils, participated in all political decisions and implemented a co-chair-system and gender quotas in all institutions, as well as women’s and family laws. A women’s revolution began in Rojava.
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