Session 8: Jin, Jiyan, Azadî  : From Origin to the Future(s) 

Guest Speaker: Sardar Saadi (Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology, Director of Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Rojava)

APRIL 2nd, 2023

Abstract 

What Jîna’s revolution and the slogan of woman, life, and freedom can tell us about the future of Kurdistan and Iran? What are the social and political backgrounds of this slogan, and how they can inform us about the future? In this presentation, I will talk about the sociohistorical origins of Jin, Jiyan, Azadî, how it became the leading slogan of Jîna’s revolution in Kurdistan, and Iran, and the many possible futures of this revolution that are being imagined and planned for. 

Suggested Readings

• A Feminist Revolution is Challenging Iran’s Regime, Kurdish Peace Institute (September 2022) 

• Essential Readings on the Left in Kurdistan, Jadaliyya (July 2021) 

• ژن.ژیان.ئازادی یعنی «وقتش رسیده است», Radio Zamaneh (October 2022)

Speaker’s Biography

Sardar Saadi has a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Toronto. He recently completed his SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship at Wageningen University. He is currently the director of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Rojava. His Ph.D. research examines the urban dynamics of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination in Diyarbakir, Kurdistan. He is the host and producer of a podcast called The Kurdish Edition.