As part of Medya News’ special week of coverage ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, we are publishing an introductory piece on Jineology, a science centred on women’s knowledge. Proposed by imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan in his 2009 book Sociology of Freedom, Jineology seeks to redefine scientific inquiry through the lens of women’s perspectives and experiences.
This introductory piece, prepared by the Diyarbakır (Amed) Women’s Academy, also incorporates contributions from Nagihan Akarsel, who was killed in an armed attack on 4 October 2022 in front of her home in Sulaymaniyah (Silêmani), Iraqi Kurdistan. Akarsel, a prominent contributor to Jineology, carried out her academic and activist work at institutions such as the Kurdistan Women’s Library.
Jineology
Jineology is an original concept derived from the Kurdish word jin (woman) and the Latin suffix -logy (science). Its literal translation into English is “the science of women”. It was first introduced by Abdullah Öcalan in his 2009 book Sociology of Freedom.
The term jineology is etymologically rooted in jin (woman) and jiyan (life), suggesting a layered relationship between women, life, and science. This connection reflects the concept’s aim to restructure and redefine science by focusing on the interrelations of women, society, life, and nature, challenging the positivist framework of traditional sciences. While jineology translates directly as “the science of women”, it has also been expansively defined as “the science of life”, “the science of society”, “the science of co-existence”, and “the science that reveals the knowledge structures underpinning democratic modernity”.
Jineology seeks to analyse and critique systems of exploitation built on male-dominated power dynamics and authority-driven perspectives on life. It moves beyond a purely biological definition of women, with its sociological, historical and dialectical existence, and treats it as “the essence of sociology”, “the sum of subject-object”, “the first and last colony”. Pointing to the crisis caused by the scientific paradigm, especially in the social sciences, which is detached from women and life, Öcalan states that “the science that is developed around coexistence, especially around women, will be the first step towards a correct sociology” (Öcalan, 2015). Because women’s identity extends far beyond mere biology, encompassing intricate economic, social, and political dimensions. Thus, understanding women’s nature also illuminates the nature of society itself (Editorya, 2016). In this regard, jineology is as much a social science as it is a science of women. By questioning the rigid boundaries drawn between natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, jineology insists on the social dimension of all scientific endeavours. Since sociality historically and contemporarily revolves most prominently around women, jineology contends that only a science centred on women can transcend the male-dominated power structures and promote genuine socialisation.
Jineology posits that for women to realise their full potential, scientific, philosophical, artistic, activist, and organisational structures must be established. It views scientific inquiry as an integral component of the women’s freedom struggle. Central to its methodology is the examination and resolution of deeply rooted societal and identity-related issues, particularly those involving women’s roles and the relationships between women and men, humans and nature. Jineology reminds the social sciences of their responsibility to address social problems holistically, without fragmenting the historical and societal essence of women or objectifying them, and instead to consider their interconnectedness with life and nature (Akarsel, 2016).
While radical critiques of prevailing systems have often prioritised fragmented approaches, jineology criticises these for failing to address women’s existence as a unified whole. Although certain scientific disciplines have developed research and theories about women, these efforts have often led to the domestication of women’s studies or their confinement to specific academic departments (Mohanty, 2010). This fragmentation highlights the contemporary necessity of jineology, which emerged as a critique of the failure of social sciences to develop a cohesive discipline of women’s studies (Öcalan, 2009).
A foundational principle of jineology is to view women not merely as “victims” but as the foundational subjects of sociality, possessing affirmative, creative potential and an intrinsic reality that make them both the subject and the object of scientific study. The methodological and interpretative framework set forth in Sociology of Freedom (Öcalan, 2009) serves as a cornerstone of jineology’s epistemological structure. This approach emphasises expanding and enhancing awareness of life and the possibilities of freedom. It aims to transcend dualities based on subject-object separations and proposes an integrated perspective that balances emotional and analytical intelligence while exceeding absolute universalism. This methodological stance, shaped by critiques of feminist epistemology, draws on insights from feminist thought (Athenas, 2016; Barın, 2016). In developing its methodologies, jineology draws not only on feminist literature but also on the accumulated experiences of anti-systemic movements, including class struggles, national liberation movements, and ecological struggles.
As noted by Akarsel (2020), “The Middle East was not only the birthplace of goddess cultures but also the first region where these cultures were destroyed through the denial, murder, and alienation of women. This destruction gave rise to the first social problem: the women’s question.” In response to this observation, jineology adopts the principle of “seeking what was lost in the place it was lost” as an ethical and political stance. It establishes connections with feminist movements, women resisting within national liberation struggles, female guerrillas, and women’s organisations in opposition movements. However, any discussion of jineology’s uniqueness remains incomplete without considering the intellectual and structural legacy of the Kurdish freedom movement and the Rojava women’s revolution (Mirkan, 2016).
While recognising feminist movements as the vanguard of systemic critique, jineology identifies the challenges feminism faces in overcoming positivism and capitalist modernity. It takes on the responsibility of addressing these limitations by integrating fragmented feminist practices and thought into a coherent framework. Jineology advocates breaking away from state-centric and power-based knowledge systems and establishing knowledge structures centred on women. It argues that the construction of democratic, ecological, and women-liberationist perspectives must arise from grassroots movements, rejecting approaches that resemble hierarchical power structures. In doing so, jineology critiques certain feminist perspectives that reduce all identities to constructed superstructures.
Since its initial discussions in 2011, jineology has made significant organisational strides. The establishment of the Jineology Academy was formalised during its first conference in 2015. Efforts to reconnect women with knowledge have included seminars, conferences, camps, and workshops worldwide. In Kurdistan, particularly in Rojava, jineology has conducted sociological analyses and oral culture studies and established research centres focusing on the truth of women. The Academy promotes alternative policies through studies on women’s existence, nature, politics, ethics, aesthetics, economy, and literature.
In 2016, the Jineology Journal began publication. Since then, Jineology Research Centres and a Jineology Faculty were established in Rojava in 2017, followed by the creation of a Jineology Centre in Belgium in 2018. These initiatives, alongside networks of committees and workshops, have extended jineology’s reach. Additionally, the Jineology Journal contributed to the creation of Jinwar, a women’s village in Rojava, from its conceptual phase onward. The Andrea Wollf Institute, founded in Rojava in 2019, has further strengthened the connections between jineology and women worldwide, particularly in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
References:
Öcalan A. (2015). Kürt Sorunu ve Demokratik Ulus Çözümü. İstanbul: Amara Yayınları.
Öcalan A. (2009). Özgürlük Sosyolojisi. İstanbul: Aram Yayınları
Rajkumar D., Arık H., Aslan Ö. ve Vaiya S. (2010). Akademi Ve Feminizm Üzerine Chandra Talpade Mohanty İle Söyleşi. Kültür ve Siyasette Feminist Yaklaşımlar, 12, 140-146.
Editörya (2016). Başlarken. Jineolojî Dergisi, 1, 5-7.
Athenas M. G. (2016). Sömürgeleştirilmiş Düşünce Biçimleri: Feminist Epistemoloji İçin Öneriler. Jineolojî Dergisi, 1, 21-27.
Akarsel N. (2020). Jineolojîye Dair. Jineolojî. https://jineoloji.org/tr/jineolojiye-dair/
Akarsel N (2016). Kadın Amacında Güneş Kadar Netse Yöntemini Bulur. Jineolojî Dergisi, 2, 141-153.
Barın Ö. (2016). Bilim, Politik Eylem ve Özgürlük Arasındaki İlişki Üzerine Feminist Düşünceler. Jineolojî Dergisi, 3, 141-156.
Mirkan Ş. (2016). Jineolojî Merceğinden Özgürlük Deneyimimize Bakmak. Jineolojî Dergisi, 2, 40-52.
Jineolojî Akademisi (2015). Jineolojîye Giriş. İstanbul: Aram Yayınları
