Syrian Kurdistan–The formation of an economic alternative: Private property in the service of all
The revolution in Rojava (West Kurdistan/ North Syria), which started in Kobanî (Ain al-Arab) and spread like wildfire through Afrîn, Dêrik (Al-Malikiya), Qamişlo (Al-Qamishli), Amûdê and Serê Kaniyê (Ras al-Ayn) – the regions lying on the Turkish-Syrian border – has launched an alternative development in all aspects of society.
Inspired by the model of democratic confederalism and democratic autonomy, democratic assemblies, women’s council and other democratic organisations have been established. Every ethnic and religious group must be represented in these councils, and the leadership of each evenly divided between the sexes. This is not a project striving towards a nation state, but for democratic autonomy in the region and a democratic Syria.
Building a grassroots, democratic society
The grassroots model of democratic confederalism stands in the tradition of Murray Bookchin’s communist anarchism, developed by Abdullah Ocalan, the current leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) into a practically oriented system with women’s liberation as its central paradigm. Kurdistan’s multicultural structure is seen as a particularly important basis for the creation of a participatory economy in the form of community cooperatives in agriculture, water supply and the energy sector.
“Democratic confederalism often meets with opposition from other groups and factions. It is flexible, multicultural, against monopolies and oriented towards consensus. Ecology and feminism are its central pillars. This kind of self-government requires an alternative economic system, one in which the resources of the community are improved rather than exploited, and which meets the manifold needs of society.”[1]
http://ekurd.net/syrian-kurdistan-the-formation-of-an-economic-alternative-private-property-in-the-service-of-all-2015-02-07
