Proposals of turkeys kurdish movement published on 29 jun 2019 by brill nijhoff. Feb 20, 2018 confederalism, democratic confederalism and rojava by zaher baher feb 2018 many religions and ideologies from left to the right have tried to tackle class issues and other societal problems, but none of them has been able to resolve these problems, rather most of them have made the situation even worse. The philosophy of democratic confederalism may well offer insights into the solution of many of the problems currently dogging western democracies and indeed, into the pressing problem of political governance of the globalised economy. Overcoming the nationstate is seen as a longterm goal. Apr 25, 2016 democratic confederalism in practice in bakur. Democratic confederalism and a democratic political system in contrast to a centralist and bureaucratic understanding of administration and exercise of power confederalism poses a type of political selfadministration where all groups of the society and all cultural identities can express themselves in local meetings, general conventions and councils. But organizations that are part of or close to the kck, and intellectuals and small groups, promote democratic confederalism as well as the democratic autonomy project of the dtk. Democratic confederalism is the contrasting paradigm of the oppressed people. Including his pamphlets which are available in pdf format, can be found here. Democratic confederalism, also known as democratic federalism or apoism, is a libertarian socialist political system developed by abdullah ocalan based on the ideas of murray bookchin. The theory of democratic confederalism follows also the line to occupy existing crucial definitions like nation or modernity and to give them also a positive content in a certain framework. Democratic confederalism is a system based on a network of small, local communes and assemblies in which people come together to selforga. Kurdistan, womens revolution and democratic confederalism.
It allowed for local organization without necessarily challenging the states structure. Democratic confederalism arose after the failure of sovietstyle socialism and national liberation movements in attempting to create a liberatory society. Unpacking the democratic confederalism and democratic autonomy. A fundamental criticism of the nation state is followed by a description of its possible alternative, a transnational grassroots democracy. The new concept concentrated on defending and strengthening local societies. As such democratic confederalism is the political cell of democratic modernity or democratic civilization, which, according to ocalan, is the new postcapitalist. Democratic confederalism stands as a highly salient emancipatory alternative to authoritarian theocracy, statist nationalism, and neoliberal capitalism. It asks us to take seriously though our practice the conclusion reached by timothy morton in his book ecology without nature.
Kurdistan and wherever kurds are living, democratic confederalism is to. What is the difference between democratic confederalism and. He said that democratic confederalism is an alternative to this and that it should inspire resistance in the capitalist core as well as the middle east, where it provides a roadmap for peace and a genuine selfdetermination that extends beyond the traditional nation state. Democratic confederalism the kurdish movement in turkey supervisor ch.
In the middle east, democracy cannot be imposed by the capitalist system and its imperial powers. The democratic society congress dtk, set up in in 2007, acts as an umbrella organisation, and aims to establish democratic confederalism in bakur. The political thought of abdullah ocalan kurdistan, womens revolution and democratic confederalism april 15 saw the launch of abdullah ocalans new book. The kurdistan workers party pkk operates under the names of the democratic union party and the peoples protection units in syria. In this film, i wanted to describe briefly the idea of the democratic confederalism. I wanted to show that it works in rojava northern syria and that iranian kurds desire democratic.
Democratic confederalism and the palestinian experience. Confederalism, democratic confederalism and rojava by zaher baher feb 2018 many religions and ideologies from left to the right have tried to tackle class issues and other societal problems, but none of them has been able to resolve these problems, rather most of them have made the situation even worse. Democratic confederalism dabdullah ocalan, 2011 edition international initiative par resistance 71 en mars 2016. The system of the united nations that is based on nationstates has re mained inefficient. However, the foundation of a state does not increase the freedom of a people. At the turn of the century, as the lifelong us radical murray bookchin gave up on trying to revitalize the contemporary anarchist movement under his philosophy of social ecology, pkk founder and leader abdullah ocalan was arrested in kenya by turkish authorities and sentenced to death for treason. An implementation of the recent ideology of the imprisoned kurdish leader abdullah ocalan, it boasts gender quotas of 40 percent, bottomup democratic structures, deepreaching ecological policies and a militancy which is keeping isis from the gates.
The political thought of abdullah ocalan kurdistan, womens revolution and democratic confederalism published by the britishbased progressive publisher, pluto press. Unpacking the democratic confederalism and democratic. Democratic confederalism is the basic political format of democratic modernity, represents a vital role in reconstruction work and is the most appropriate tool for. The regions became autonomous in 2012, gradually other areas were liberated by the ypgled forces and have subsequently become part of the federal system. In abdullah ocalans political thought democratic confederalism is the organizationaladministrative blueprint of democratic nation, which is the antithesis of the nation state. With his 2005 declaration of democratic confederalism in kurdistan, ocalan advocated for a kurdish implementation of bookchins the ecology of freedom via municipal assemblies as a democratic confederation of kurdish communities beyond the state borders of syria, iran, iraq, and turkey. He wrote democratic confederalism is the contrasting paradigm of the oppressed people.
Democratic confederalism is based on grassroots participation. In bakur, the region of kurdistan within turkeys borders, people have been trying to put these ideas into practice for over a decade. Toggle navigation international initiative edition. Then you have the tevdem the democratic society movement, driven bottom up.
Democratic confederalism to them means democratic, ecological, genderliberated society or democracy without the state. Democratic confederalism the pkk and its paradigm shift democratic confederalism council democracy democratic concepts the liberation organizing begins the arab spring in syria illegal councils the hewler agreement the revolution begins in kobani the liberation of derik and afrin after the liberation a womens revolution rojava women. Democratic confederalism is a form of selfmanagement and thus stands in contrast to the model of the state. What is that famous democratic confederalism which made rojava possible. This study focuses on democratic confederalism as a political concept and explores the extent of its in implementation in rojava or what is now known as the federal system of northern syria. The political thought of abdullah ocalan kurdistan, womens. Only in the regions close to the borders, which are under the control of the pkk guerrillas. Democratic confederalism is ocalans political programsystem that was largely inspired by bookchin. Confederalism, democratic confederalism and rojava. He describes it as open towards other political groups and factions and as flexible, multicultural, antimonopolistic, and consensusoriented. What is the difference between democratic confederalism. It sets the project of democratic confederalism on a path that rejects the notion that nature and human society are separate and opposing spheres.
But it is necessary to put an end to such nonsense and explain the real background to the pkks ideological shift. The people of rojava call their new system democratic confederalism. About the work and ideas of kongreya star, the womens. Check that the correct path to the file is specified. The meaning of confederalism the anarchist library. The right of selfdetermination of the peo ples includes the. The thirtyfive hundred activists arrested since 2009 have all been members of the kck which is an illegal organization. Kurdish led democratic confederalists have established themselves as a major civil and military force in the region. So democratic confederalism is discussed very only in a very limited way by intellectuals, the media, or the population and is not yet a big subject. Democratic confederalism is a system of popularly elected administrative councils, allowing local communities to exercise autonomous control over their assets, while linking to other communities via a. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. At this point, it needs to be stated that within the concept of democratic confederalism one field in bakur society is organized by the democratic society congress dtkkcd into 14 fields also branch or sector, like women, justice, health, education, diplomacy, beliefs, ecology, municipalities, youth, selfdefence is usually promoted.
His model of democratic governance, called democratic confederalism, rejects the topdown politics of the nationstate. Ne w c omp ass pres s democratic autonomy in north kurdistan the council movement, gender liberation, and ecologyin practice a reconnaissance into southeastern turkey. Pdf the transformation of the kurdish freedom movement towards democratic confederalism has promised a new horizon for emancipatory. Then you have the tevdem the democratic society movement, driven bottom up directly democratic institutions. Democratic autonomy and womens liberation in syrian kurdistan michael knapp, anja flach. Theres the democratic selfadministration, which has all the form and trappings of a state parliament, ministries, and so on but it was created to be carefully separated from the means of coercive power. The political thought of abdullah ocalan kurdistan, women. Abdullah ocalan, democratic confederalism and the politics of. What sort of compomises does democratic confederalism have in mind.
It is an attempt at permanent social revolution, as is reflected in every facet of the social structure. At the same time, democratic confederalism is the cultural organizational blueprint of a democratic nation. In abdullah ocalans political thought democratic confederalism is the organizational administrative blueprint of democratic nation, which is the antithesis of the nation state. The constitution has gained much international attention and is most noted for its explicit affirmation of minority rights and gender equality and a form of direct democracy known as democratic confederalism. The pkk is registered as a terrorist group by most western. Democratic confederalism is a nonstate social paradigm. In its concluding section, the pamphlet makes clear that democratic confederalism is not at war with any nationstate dc p. From an ecological perspective within democratic confederalism the terms ecological industry and communal life is of higher relevance. In the years that followed, the elderly anarchist gained. Sharzad mojab graduand andrea novellis matriculation number 855516 academic year 2015 2016.
Rearrange individual pages or entire files in the desired order. Jun 10, 2017 in this film, i wanted to describe briefly the idea of the democratic confederalism. How cascadia can be free june 22, 2015 september 9, 2015 communalism for cascadia especially as a small child, i marveled at the beauty of the west coast. The secular foreign fighters of the west in syria request pdf. Democratic confederalism the pkk and its paradigm shift democratic confederalism council democracy. Democratic confederalism versus strive for hegemony 30. Wheres the revolution in democratic confederalisms ecology. Democratic confederalism democratic nation war and peace. When ocalan first proposed the concept of democratic confederalism it was in the context of strong nationstates. Given its role in shaping the current sociopolitical conjunction in syria and its implications for the future of the wider middle east, ocalans thought calls for sustained, serious, and. The main difference shes noted is that the emphasis that libertarian municipalism places on minimizing. The right of selfdetermination of the people in cludes.
Confederalism, democratic confederalism and rojava infoshop. The right of selfdetermination of the peo ples includes. Democratic confederalism stateless democracy explained. Democratic confederalism isbn 9783942961189 pdf epub. The similarities between the system of democratic confederalism that is being developed in western kurdistan and the autonomy being constructed in chiapas go far beyond the few points i have stressed in this article. Pkk, democratic confederalism, and nonsense juraj katalenac.
Roar magazine is an independent journal of the radical imagination providing grassroots perspectives from the frontlines of. Thus, when abdullah ocalan came up with the ideology of democratic confederalism, the kurdish community followed. Nov 23, 2017 democratic confederalism is the contrasting paradigm of the oppressed people. Democratic confederalism freedom for abdullah ocalan. Apr 28, 2009 confederalism, in fact, does not mark a closure of social history as the end of history ideologists of recent years would have us believe about liberal capitalism but rather the point of departure for a new ecosocial history marked by a participatory evolution within society and between society and the natural world. The name rojavanorthern syria democratic federal system was chosen from among three proposed names critics are everywhere, friends few. Kongreya star communes and assemblies since the revolution, people in rojava are building up a system of democratic confederalism in the three cantons, afrin, kobane and cizire. Confederalism, democratic confederalism and rojava libcom. How did ocalan, however, after all these years, come up with this ideology one may wonder, and how does this democratic confederalism apply to the kurdish question. Instead, it proposes selfgoverning, smallscale democratic communities that would operate within the boundaries of existing states. Democratic confederalism democratic nation war and. Kurdistan democratic confederalists anarchy in action. Confederalism or democratic confederalism is one of them. Jun 29, 2019 unpacking the democratic confederalism and democratic autonomy.
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