Friday, June 20, 2025
1:00 PM – 6:00 PM (CET)

Room 50 "Nicole Loraux"
EHESS - Campus Condorcet
2 Cr des Humanités, 93300 Aubervilliers
Paris

Zoom-Webinar: https://uni-bremen.zoom-x.de/j/69617287109?pwd=K1TXGyceMiz0zeol2JbhUiRr8M0WyY.1

This conference brings together scholars, political organizers, and institutional actors to critically examine the enduring structures of state power, their manifestations in conflict and displacement, and the emergence of alternative political models. With a particular focus on struggles and experiments in the Middle East (especially Syria and Kurdistan) and the Global South, the event aims to forward collective reflection and exchange across contexts.

To make the sessions more accessible and engaging—especially for students attending remotely—we will keep the format conversational. Each session will consist of three presentations (45–60 minutes total), followed by extended discussions (60–75 minutes) that go beyond traditional Q&A. Facilitation will play a central role in maintaining an open and reflective tone.

Conference Schedule

1:00 PM – Opening Remarks
Hamit Bozarslan (EHESS)
Sardar Saadi (University of Rojava – Carleton University)

1:15 PM – 3:15 PM | Panel I: State, War, and Violence

• Gulay Kilicaslan (Carleton University) – Undoing the State: Displacement, Resistance, And the Kurdish Struggle for Life
• Fewza Yusuf (Member of the Coordination Board of the PYD; Member of the DAANES Negotiation Team with the Syrian Interim Government) – Kurds in the New Syria: From War and Violence to Reconstruction
• Leigh-Ann Naidoo (University of Cape Town) –  Title TBC

3:15 PM – 3:45 PM | Break

3:45 PM – 5:45 PM | Panel II: Refiguring Statehood and Alternative Models

• Evin Swed (Co-president of the Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – DAANES) – Building an Alternative Political Model in the Midst of War: The Case of Rojava/Northeast Syria
• Azize Aslan (Puebla University) – The Role of Communal Economy in the Reconstruction of Politics and Social life in Rojava
• Joost Jongerden (Wageningen University) – Decolonizing Rojava: Agriculture, Infrastructure and Population

5:45 PM – Concluding Remarks
Chowra Makaremi (EHESS) and Ulrike Flader (University of Bremen)