Living Utopia?

A critical reassessment of the aspirations and reality of Rojava’s “revolutionary society”.

For social movements around the world, Rojava embodies the real possibility of a better society: the revolution began there in 2012. In the Kurdish-dominated regions, an autonomous self-administration has been established based on the values of grassroots democracy, gender equality and ecology. The “Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria” now controls about a third of Syria’s territory. It unites different ethnicities, religions and languages under its umbrella. Based on numerous interviews with people from all sectors of society – administration, education, military, medicine, etc. – in a mixture of reportage and analysis, Christopher Wimmer creates a polyphonic picture of the everyday life, hopes, and problems of the people on the ground.

Publication date: November 27, 2026

Contents
Preface to the English Edition
Acknowledgments: Spas, Shukran und Taudi
List of Figures

1 Between New Beginnings and Threats
Why an Entire Society Comes Together in a Soccer Stadium

2 The Story Begins
Why Kurdish Activists are Suddenly Challenging the State
 1 Colonial Intrigues and the ‘Kurdish Question’
 2 The Kurdish Speechlessness in Syria
 3 A New Party Enters the Syrian Stage
 4 The Party Renews Itself

3 The “Myth of Revolution”
How the Inhabitants of a City Begin to Write History
 1 The Spring of 2011
 2 An Unresolved Question
 3 A New Type of Party?
 4 Revolution by Assad’s Grace?

4 The Reappropriation of Politics
How to Build a State Without Building a State
 1 The Heart of the Self-administration
 2 Difficulties on the Ground
 3 From the Communal Administrations to the Cantons
 4 The Autonomous Self-administration and an Anti-state Constitution
 5 An Independent Corrective Body?
 6 Jin, Jian, Azadi
 7 Complexities and Contradictions

5 Basic Supply and Shortages
What a Communal Economy Could Mean
 1 North and East Syria as Supplier
 2 Prevented Famines and Empty Houses
 3 Communal or Centrally Controlled?
 4 The Dominance of Oil
 5 Claim and Reality of Cooperatives
 6 The Crux of Property
 7 Consequences of War and Poverty

6 The “Democratic Nation”
Why an Arab Sheikh is Campaigning for Women’s Rights
 1 Praying and Fighting Under the Cross
 2 Skepticism and Commitment: Manbij and Its Muslim Minorities
 3 The New, Old Majority: the Arabs

7 Lack of Medication and Recognition
How an Anesthesiologist is Trying to Renew the Local Healthcare System
 1 Reconstruction in Destroyed Structures
 2 Diverse Challenges
 3 An Important Workbench in Qamishli
 4 Lack of Framework, Lack of Recognition

8 The Society as Judge
Why Neighbors Understand More About Justice than Courts
 1 The Establishment of a Civil Justice System
 2 There is No Justice Without Women
 3 Same Same but Different: the Court System
 4 Prisons and Criminal Prosecution
 5 A Success Story?

9 A New Generation
What Education Can Mean – and Where North and East Syria Itself Can Still Learn
 1 Lack of Books, Compulsory Education and Co-determination
 2 Education for All?
 3 More Than Just Training
 4 The Female Counter-University
 5 Stamped Paper

10 A Traumatized Society
How War Defines an Entire Generation
 1 The Long Road from Kobani to Baghuz
 2 Ticking Time Bombs
 3 A Contradictory Opponent
 4 David against Goliath
 5 Observations in Real Time
 6 Outer and Inner Misery

11 Lenin and Samuel Beckett in Rojava
 What I Had to Promise a Souvenir Dealer
References
Index