Abdullah Öcalan

To understand how capitalism has come to engulf our world, we must understand how it developed out of classical civilization. Its historical roots lie in the emergence of hierarchies, power, monopolies, and the nation-state, argues Abdullah calan. Capitalism: The Age of Unmasked Gods and Naked Kings is the second book in a new five-volume work called Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization. Together, they present the synthesis of calan's political thinking. This volume completes his journey through the history of civilizations, preparing the ground for the upcoming volume on The Sociology of Freedom.

This manifesto is the definitive work of Abdullah Ocalan, crucial for understanding the Kurdish revolution. Here Ocalan outlines a democratic alternative for the Middle East. A criticism that limits itself to capitalism is too superficial, Ocalan argues, and turns his eyes to the underlying structures of civilization. Rethinking the methods of understanding culture, politics, and society, he provides the tools for what he calls a sociology of freedom. Civilization: The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings is the first book in a new five-volume work called Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization. In this work, Abdullah Ocalan distills 35 years of revolutionary theory and praxis and 10 years of solitary confinement in Turkish prisons. These reflections represent the essence of his ideas on society, knowledge, and power.

In his second book, Abdullah Ocalan applies the political and historical philosophy that was developed in the first volume of his Prison Writings to the Kurdish question. The book addresses the concrete political issues at the centre of the Kurdish question. Ocalan calls for a 'Renaissance of the Middle East' where the integration of democratic Western values and universal human rights with the deeply rooted cultural values of the Middle Eastern societies, especially the Kurdish, will form a new synthesis of civilisations. Abdullah Ocalan was the leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). He was eventually kidnapped while in Kenya in 1999, and has been in prison in Turkey ever since. Ocalan was the most wanted man in Turkey for almost two decades until his kidnapping. From 1984, under his leadership, the PKK fought for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast of Turkey. In a sustained popular uprising, tens of thousands of PKK guerrillas took on the second largest army in NATO. The book begins with Preliminary Notes by Cemil Bayik, military commander of the PKK.

In his second book, Abdullah Ocalan applies the political and historical philosophy that was developed in the first volume of his Prison Writings to the Kurdish question. The book addresses the concrete political issues at the centre of the Kurdish question. Ocalan calls for a 'Renaissance of the Middle East' where the integration of democratic Western values and universal human rights with the deeply rooted cultural values of the Middle Eastern societies, especially the Kurdish, will form a new synthesis of civilisations. Abdullah Ocalan was the leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). He was eventually kidnapped while in Kenya in 1999, and has been in prison in Turkey ever since. Ocalan was the most wanted man in Turkey for almost two decades until his kidnapping. From 1984, under his leadership, the PKK fought for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast of Turkey. In a sustained popular uprising, tens of thousands of PKK guerrillas took on the second largest army in NATO. The book begins with Preliminary Notes by Cemil Bayik, military commander of the PKK.