Ercan Ayboga

Omgivet av fiender, inklusive IS och Turkiets krigsmakt, håller folket i Rojavas autonoma region på att bygga upp ett av jordens mest progressiva samhällen. Besökare har häpnat över framgångarna för dess projekt, en gemensamt organiserad demokrati, som betraktar kvinnors jämlikhet som nödvändig, bedriver en radikal ekologisk politik och avvisar all reaktionär nationalistisk ideologi. Denna organisationsform, kallad demokratisk konfederalism, är lidelsefullt antikapitalistisk och kan samtidigt visa upp en självförsvarsförmåga som stridslystet hållit IS stången. Författarna, som alla har förstahandserfarenheter av arbete och kamp i området, ger den första utförliga redogörelsen för ett re­volutionärt experiment och en ny vision av politik och samhälle i Mellanöstern och utanför den – den häpnadsväckande historien om en kamp mot alla odds. Michael Knapp är historiker som forskat i radikal demokrati, medgrundare av kampanjen Tatort Kurdistan och medlem av NavDem Berlin. Anja Flach är etnolog och medlem av kvinnorådet Rojbin i Hamburg. Hon har tillbringat två år i de kurdiska kvinnornas gerillaarmé. Ercan Ayboga är miljö­ingenjör och ekologisk aktivist, bosatt i Nordkurdistan.

A new kind of society is being built in Syria, but it's not one you would expect. Surrounded by deadly bands of ISIS and hostile Turkish forces, the people living in Syria's Rojava cantons are carving out one of the most radically progressive societies on the planet today. Western visitors have been astounded by the success of their project, a communally organised democracy which considers women's equality indispensable and rejects reactionary nationalist ideology whilst being fiercely anti-capitalist. The people of Rojava call their new system democratic confederalism. An implementation of the recent ideology of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, it boasts gender quotas of 40 percent, bottom-up democratic structures, deep-reaching ecological policies and a militancy which is keeping ISIS from the gates. Revolution in Rojava is the first full-length study of this ongoing social and political transformation in Syrian Kurdistan. It is the first authentic insight into the complex dimensions of the revolution. Its authors use their own experiences of working and fighting in the region to construct a picture of hope for Middle-Eastern politics and society, and reveal an extraordinary story of a battle against the odds.

A new kind of society is being built in Syria, but it's not one you would expect. Surrounded by deadly bands of ISIS and hostile Turkish forces, the people living in Syria's Rojava cantons are carving out one of the most radically progressive societies on the planet today. Western visitors have been astounded by the success of their project, a communally organised democracy which considers women's equality indispensable and rejects reactionary nationalist ideology whilst being fiercely anti-capitalist. The people of Rojava call their new system democratic confederalism. An implementation of the recent ideology of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, it boasts gender quotas of 40 percent, bottom-up democratic structures, deep-reaching ecological policies and a militancy which is keeping ISIS from the gates. Revolution in Rojava is the first full-length study of this ongoing social and political transformation in Syrian Kurdistan. It is the first authentic insight into the complex dimensions of the revolution. Its authors use their own experiences of working and fighting in the region to construct a picture of hope for Middle-Eastern politics and society, and reveal an extraordinary story of a battle against the odds.