Description:
The global crisis of civilization is
nowhere more visible than in the Middle East. Wars, authoritarian regimes,
social fragmentation, and ecological collapse converge into a single,
devastating picture. Abdullah Öcalan argues that the solution to this
crisis must be found in the same place where centralized civilization first
emerged 5,000 years ago.
The fourth volume of Öcalan's
Manifesto of Democratic Civilization traces the
region's deep historical crises while highlighting the many
traditions of resistance--religious, cultural, communal, and
antiauthoritarian--that have survived despite millennia of state
domination. These traditions, he argues, provide the building blocks for a
future beyond capitalist modernity.
Drawing on the theoretical framework laid out in
earlier volumes, Öcalan offers a bold rereading of Middle Eastern
history, revealing how patriarchy, hierarchy, and empire became entrenched, and
how they can be dismantled. He presents democratic confederalism, a moral and
political society, and an ecological, women-centered economic order as the
essential pillars of a new civilizational model.
In this volume, Öcalan emerges not only as
a strategist for resolving the Kurdish question but as a visionary for
democratizing the entire region. He closes with urgent questions that speak
directly to our global moment: How should we live? What must we do? And where
do we begin?
Brief description:
Abdullah Öcalan, the
founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), is credited with
developing the paradigm of Democratic Modernity. Since his abduction in 1999,
he has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali in conditions of extreme
isolation. During his time in prison, he has written over ten books that have
transformed Kurdish politics. Writing extensively about history, philosophy and
politics, he is widely regarded as a key figure in finding a political resolution
to the Kurdish question. His writings have made significant contributions to
discussions on freedom and outline proposals for non-state political systems in
his theories on Democratic Confederalism. His most notable work is the
five-volume "Manifesto for a Democratic Civilisation". His
works have been translated into over twenty languages.
Review Quotes:
"Öcalan, from his cell, reminds
us that freedom is not a point of arrival, but a living process, a weaving that
is remade collectively, an ethical construction that challenges us in every
decision, in every word, in every step. His thought, in dialogue with the
rebellious spirit of the people, becomes a vital tool for thinking about
emancipation beyond classical forms of politics. That is why reading his work
is not only an intellectual act, but a profoundly political act."
Bolivian activist, poet, and educator
"Öcalan's works have
played a key role in inspiring one of the most widespread movements of
real-life revolutionary transformation in recent memory."
--David Graeber, author of Debt and
The Dawn of Everything
"One should conclude that Abdullah
Öcalan is nothing less than a Kurdish Nelson Mandela."
of Hopelessness
"Öcalan's
utopia--as is soon discovered--is extremely concrete; it is
embodied in the struggles and the order of the zones liberated by the Kurdish
communist militias! A real utopia, the one that Öcalan supports, a
precious gem that strongly opposes the rebirth, so common today, of national
fascisms. The utopia of the democratic confederation of peoples embodies a real
process that will win every battle."
--Antonio Negri
"In these times of accelerating climate
change and deepening crises, the product of centuries of imperialism and the
past few decades of hyper neoliberalism and ecological destruction, your
struggle for freedom and peace has become our struggle, and your example a
beacon for untold millions who will yet follow."
--Barry Gills, professor of Global Development Studies at the Faculty
of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki