#jacksonrising

The Rojava Revolution and Democratic Confederalismt

Published on 24 Mar 2018

The Rojava Revolution and Democratic Confederalism:

A Cooperation Jackson dialogue with Ercan Ayboga, Co-Author of "Revolution in Rojava", an activist of the Mesopotamian Ecologist Movement

Come learn about the ideological, political and programmatic similarities between the Jackson-Kush Plan and the radical democratic movement in Jackson, Mississippi and the Charter of the Social Contract, which serves as the Constitution of the Rojava Cantons, guiding the revolutionary transformation of Syrian Kurdistan. Learn more about their experiment with radical democratic confederalism amongst the various peoples and ethnicities of Syria, their work to build an anti-capitalist solidarity economy, to liberate women, and to restore the ecology.

Given the widespread violence and suffering in Syria, it's not unreasonable that outsiders look at the situation as unrelentingly awful. And while the reality of the devastation is undeniable, there is reason for hope in at least one small pocket of the nation: the cantons of Rojava in Syrian Kurdistan, wherein the wake of war people are quietly building one of the most progressive societies in the world today. Revolution in Rojava tells the story of Rojava's groundbreaking experiment in what they call democratic confederalism, a communally organized democracy that is fiercely anti-capitalist and committed to female equality while rejecting reactionary nationalist ideologies. Rooted in the ideas of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, the system is built on effective gender quotas, bottom-up democratic structures, far-sighted ecological policies, and a powerful militancy that has allowed the region to keep ISIS at bay. This first full-length study of democratic developments in Rojava tells an extraordinary and powerfully hopeful story of a little-known battle for true freedom in dark times.

For our Week 8 Study Meeting, Building the New Part II, we broke up into four small groups to discuss the following questions:

As we seek ways to evacuate the extractive economy how do we not further disenfranchise poor and working class communities?

How do we fight for community sovereignty and public sector support? What can be learned from SEWA cooperatives and the Zapatista movement?

How do we build systems of solidarity and mutual support that also contest for political power? What can be learned from how this project is playing out in Jackson MS?

To follow-up on our self-exploration:

Writings and case studies of communities who are building systems of mutual support and reclaiming economic sovereignty.

Solidarity Economics (Ethan Miller)

What's the Role of Race in the New Economy Movement?

  Cooperative Economics and Civil Rights (Jessica Gordon Nembhard)

Jackson-Kush Plan