Challenging the Reproduction of Hierarchy: A Social Ecological Approach to Democratic Confederalism

This research examines the Kurdish movement’s conceptualisation of, and struggle against, hierarchy in the Kurdish context. It traces how macro, meso, and micro hierarchies have shaped Kurdish political organisation over time. While literature has largely focused on macro and meso hierarchies, it has tended to overlook the significance of micro hierarchy, particularly its role in personal relationships. This study addresses this gap by expanding the focus of struggle beyond macro and meso hierarchies to include micro hierarchies, involving interpersonal relations. Through a reinterpretation of Bookchin’s understanding of hierarchy, extended by colonial and feminist perspectives, the thesis contributes to debates on non-hierarchical organising within radical political theory. Using video analysis, interviews, and primary sources, this analysis investigates how the Kurdish movement has practised its vision and resistance of non-hierarchy over time. It explores the strategies developed to challenge macro, meso, and micro hierarchies, and considers how coloniality and geopolitics have shaped the movement’s evolving concept of liberation. The findings suggest that while resistance to the state, capitalism, and formal institutions remains vital, it is insufficient in the absence of sustained reflection, critique, and transformation—practices that are fundamental to confronting micro-hierarchies. Central to this transformative process is jineolojî—the science of women and life—which is posited as a direct challenge to Western, positivist, and patriarchal epistemologies. Through jineolojî, Kurdish actors critique dominant epistemologies and propose feminist alternatives for understanding society and politics. By focusing on self-reflection and critique, the research demonstrates how internal transformation supports broader political aims. This is particularly evident in the practice of tekmîl—a structured process of critique and self-critique—which addresses internalised power dynamics and micro-level domination. In resisting not only institutional oppression but also embedded psychological dimension of hierarchies, the movement affirms the necessity of non-hierarchical practices that begin within the self and extend outward. The thesis concludes that dismantling macro and meso hierarchies alone is insufficient. Without addressing micro hierarchy, transformative political life remains limited. These internal forms of domination, while often ignored in organisational theory, are central to the Kurdish movement’s vision, despite existing contradictions within its practice, which are understood as part of the revolutionary process.