Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women's Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan - Softcover

Michael Knapp; Ercan Ayboga; Anja Flach

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745336590 ISBN 13: 9780745336596

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2016

Synopsis

A new kind of society is being built in Syria, but it’s not one you would expect. Surrounded by deadly bands of ISIS and hostile Turkish forces, the people living in Syria’s Rojava cantons are carving out one of the most radically progressive societies on the planet today. Western visitors have been astounded by the success of their project, a communally organised democracy which considers women’s equality indispensable and rejects reactionary nationalist ideology whilst being fiercely anti-capitalist. The people of Rojava call their new system democratic confederalism. An implementation of the recent ideology of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, it boasts gender quotas of 40 percent, bottom-up democratic structures, deep-reaching ecological policies and a militancy which is keeping ISIS from the gates. Revolution in Rojava is the first full-length study of this ongoing social and political transformation in Syrian Kurdistan. It is the first authentic insight into the complex dimensions of the revolution. Its authors use their own experiences of working and fighting in the region to construct a picture of hope for Middle-Eastern politics and society, and reveal an extraordinary story of a battle against the odds.

About this title

Review:

Written by long-time activists of the Kurdish freedom movement, this book is the first authentic insight into the complex dimensions of Rojava s radical revolution. From autonomous women's communes to ecological cooperatives to multiethnic peoples self-defense, the authors let us enter a world of freedom cries - a deeply human grassroots revolution with the potential to change the course of Middle Eastern civilization. Recommended for all believers in humanity. --Dilar Dirik, author and activist of the Kurdish Women's Movement

The Kurdish revolution of Democratic Autonomy is of enormous importance for the future of the world. It points a possible way forward out of the tragedy of the Middle East, and more than that: a possible way forward out of the catastrophe that is capitalism. This book is of great help... A careful and detailed account that is filled with personal narrative, it is both easily accessible and very informative. --John Holloway, Professor of Sociology, Autonomous University of Puebla, author of Crack Capitalism (Pluto, 2010)

About the Author:

Michael Knapp is a historian of radical democracy, Cofounder of the Campaign Tatort Kurdistan and member of NavDem Berlin. His research focuses on the Kurdish issue and the construction of alternatives to capitalist modernity. His research has taken him to the Middle East, where he has studied the Kurdish Liberation Struggle and the PKK.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0745336590
• ISBN 13: 9780745336596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320