This conversation will shift your understanding of power, and of possibility.

In this session Rahila Gupta will examine how male dominance persists across radically different societies from theocracies to democracies, dictatorships to socialist states. Her co-authored book Planet Patriarchy asks what makes patriarchy so resilient, and where feminism is not just surviving but genuinely thriving.

In conversation with Ashwini Jaisim, content strategist and editor, the session centres on a revelation: a little-known women's revolution in Rojava, Northeast Syria. Here, women are building a bottom-up democracy rooted in multi-ethnic inclusivity and ecological sustainability. It's a radical reimagining of power that challenges everything we think we know about governance and gender.

Concluding with an audience Q&A, this session invites you to rethink power, resilience, and the possibilities of feminist futures, one where gender equality isn't an afterthought but the foundation.

In this episode of BIC Talks, Rahila Gupta is in conversation with Ashwini Jaisim. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Dec 2025.

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