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Rojava in Focus: Critical Dialogues
The theory, practice, and challenges of the feminist, anticapitalist Rojava revolution.
This collection examines Murray Bookchin’s conception of social ecology and how, since 2011, it has been interpreted and put into practice by the revolutionary feminist movement in Rojava, under the theoretical influence of political prisoner and founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Öcalan. Cihad Hammy and Thomas Miley provide an overview of social ecology as a framework for building an ecological, nonhierarchical society through the construction of alternative, direct-democratic institutions capable of transcending the capitalist nation-state. The editors analyze the institutional architecture of popular assemblies central to this democratic revolution, emphasizing their potential to contest capitalist social-property relations and the hierarchies intrinsic to the nation-state, while acknowledging the resilience of the existing State system. The book follows the experience of the revolutionary forces in control of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES), highlighting the AANES’s achievements as well as the significant obstacles it has encountered.
Essays by activists associated with the Kurdish Freedom Movement and sympathetic critics expand our understanding of the vast changes taking place in the region, challenges ahead, connections to other movements around the globe, and point to where the movement may head next. Contributors include Anna Rebrii and Berivan Omar, Kamal Chomani, Matt Broomfield, Azize Aslan, Debbie Bookchin, and Sixtine van Outryve d’Ydewalle, among others.
This collection examines Murray Bookchin’s conception of social ecology and how, since 2011, it has been interpreted and put into practice by the revolutionary feminist movement in Rojava, under the theoretical influence of political prisoner and founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, Abdullah Öcalan. Cihad Hammy and Thomas Miley provide an overview of social ecology as a framework for building an ecological, nonhierarchical society through the construction of alternative, direct-democratic institutions capable of transcending the capitalist nation-state. The editors analyze the institutional architecture of popular assemblies central to this democratic revolution, emphasizing their potential to contest capitalist social-property relations and the hierarchies intrinsic to the nation-state, while acknowledging the resilience of the existing State system. The book follows the experience of the revolutionary forces in control of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES), highlighting the AANES’s achievements as well as the significant obstacles it has encountered.
Essays by activists associated with the Kurdish Freedom Movement and sympathetic critics expand our understanding of the vast changes taking place in the region, challenges ahead, connections to other movements around the globe, and point to where the movement may head next. Contributors include Anna Rebrii and Berivan Omar, Kamal Chomani, Matt Broomfield, Azize Aslan, Debbie Bookchin, and Sixtine van Outryve d’Ydewalle, among others.
- GenresPolitics
264 pages, Paperback
Published February 18, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2025
This book is a tough read in some ways.
First off, it is filled with acronyms and a plethora of actors, who sometimes give way to others, and it is confusing to figure out who is who. Mind you, a lot of that is because I was pretty ignorant about the regional history and the key players- someone less ignorant than myself might have no trouble at all.
The book is doing something that is very unfamiliar to us in the western world, and that also makes it mildly confounding. The book is attempting to create a critical dialogue around the revolutionary trajectory in Rojava, with the intent to find and explore areas where the revolutionary ideology has and has not come to fruition as taught, where it has been helpful and where it has been a let down, and finally to evaluate honestly the actions and developments by the people on the ground in the revolutionary setting. We here in the west are obsessed with finding our way to awesome. That first of all makes it very difficult to have conversations around what has and hasn’t worked. We’re always eager to prove that everything worked well and we become touchy when discussing the tings that hqve not worked. It doesn’t mean we are never able to do it, but it’s definitely not something we’re easy with.
Secondly, Focus seems to have the sole intent of understanding, and I find we are often in a blame mode. So the intent of the book is its own language and took me several reminders to myself as I was reading- this is not an attack on any person or group, it’s an honest evaluation.
All that being said, not surprisingly the revolution has had some major departures from the vision of the masters- Ocalan and Bookchin. Conditions have not evolved perfectly. In many ways the Democratic confederalism that was taught has failed. But in many other ways there has been growth in ways and areas that perhaps even Ocalan and Bookchin could not have anticipated.
Focus is not an exhortation to hope. It’s neither a road map for revolution or toppling capitalism. I’d think of it more of a study of what humans can do in society, alongside the many and various ways they fail each other and themselves.
First off, it is filled with acronyms and a plethora of actors, who sometimes give way to others, and it is confusing to figure out who is who. Mind you, a lot of that is because I was pretty ignorant about the regional history and the key players- someone less ignorant than myself might have no trouble at all.
The book is doing something that is very unfamiliar to us in the western world, and that also makes it mildly confounding. The book is attempting to create a critical dialogue around the revolutionary trajectory in Rojava, with the intent to find and explore areas where the revolutionary ideology has and has not come to fruition as taught, where it has been helpful and where it has been a let down, and finally to evaluate honestly the actions and developments by the people on the ground in the revolutionary setting. We here in the west are obsessed with finding our way to awesome. That first of all makes it very difficult to have conversations around what has and hasn’t worked. We’re always eager to prove that everything worked well and we become touchy when discussing the tings that hqve not worked. It doesn’t mean we are never able to do it, but it’s definitely not something we’re easy with.
Secondly, Focus seems to have the sole intent of understanding, and I find we are often in a blame mode. So the intent of the book is its own language and took me several reminders to myself as I was reading- this is not an attack on any person or group, it’s an honest evaluation.
All that being said, not surprisingly the revolution has had some major departures from the vision of the masters- Ocalan and Bookchin. Conditions have not evolved perfectly. In many ways the Democratic confederalism that was taught has failed. But in many other ways there has been growth in ways and areas that perhaps even Ocalan and Bookchin could not have anticipated.
Focus is not an exhortation to hope. It’s neither a road map for revolution or toppling capitalism. I’d think of it more of a study of what humans can do in society, alongside the many and various ways they fail each other and themselves.
March 19, 2026
When you read this book, it definitely helps to know Murray Bookchin's writings. In chapter 8, Debbie Bookchin explains M. Bookchin's philosophy and gives a sober criticism of what's happening in Rojava. Chapter 2 is a succinct review of the Syrian revolution and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) role in it--these were my favorite chapters. Overall, the book is an honest evaluation of what's happening in Syria/Rojava. Update: Because of foreign interference, including the attacks on Iran, things are not going well in Rojava. Sadly.
To quote from p. 84, here is a frightening harbinger of where the USA could be heading:
"In 2011, the Syrian Revolution took a dramatic turn as the peaceful civilian movement gave way to emerging militarism. The original calls for peace, freedom and dignity were drowned out by the sound of weapons, plunging Syria into a spiral of violence."
To quote from p. 84, here is a frightening harbinger of where the USA could be heading:
"In 2011, the Syrian Revolution took a dramatic turn as the peaceful civilian movement gave way to emerging militarism. The original calls for peace, freedom and dignity were drowned out by the sound of weapons, plunging Syria into a spiral of violence."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews