Decolonisation agriculture: challenging colonisation through the reconstruction of agriculture in Western Kurdistan (Rojava)

This article examines the colonial homogenising policies of the Syrian Ba’ath regime and the subsequent decolonisation processes that led to the emergence of Rojava as a pluriverse. In 1963, the Ba’ath regime implemented nation-state colonialism in the predominantly Kurdish region, using agricultural modernisation as a tool for its colonisation efforts. This modernisation bolstered the central state, perpetuated the underdevelopment of the region as a periphery, and asserted control through the settlement and distribution of land to Arab families loyal to the regime. Following the regime’s collapse in Rojava in 2012, the communities that comprise the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) dismantled the colonial agricultural system. They developed a decentralised governance and agrarian development approach, referred to here as the decolonisation of agriculture. Based on interviews and fieldwork in the region, this article explores the interplay between agricultural development and colonial politics, as well as the critical role of agriculture in the broader struggle for decolonisation. We conclude that in the anti-colonial struggle, people and the rhizomatic governance structures they develop challenge colonial submission to the central state, exploring life beyond the nation-state, which is crucial for a decolonial shift.