La nazione democratica

International Initiative brochures #4

by Abdullah Öcalan

Bu broşür bölgede ve Kürdistan’da yaşanan gelişmeler göz önüne alındığında büyük bir önem arz etmektedir. Mezhep ve milliyetçilik çatışmalarının dünyanın birçok yerinde canlandırılmasının ve saldırgan kapitalizmin yaptıklarının sonuçlarıyla karşı karşıya kalan dünyamızda Öcalan’ın önerileri ve onların Rojava ve Bakur’daki belirgin uygulama çabaları savaştan muzdarip olan bölgenin tam da ihtiyaç duyduğu bir şey olabilir. “Demokratik Ulus” bu alternatif projenin adıdır. O, herkesi bu çerçevede özgür yaşamı ve insanlığı inşa etmeye ve savunmaya çağırıyor.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Abdullah Öcalan is the founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). From 1984, under his leadership, the PKK fought for Kurdish liberation. Since his kidnapping and arrest in 1999, he has been in solitary confinement in Imrali Island Prison.

Since his imprisonment, Ocalan has written extensively on Middle Eastern and Kurdish history. With his books he has significantly influenced the course of Kurdish politics in the last two decades.

He argues for the concepts of Democratic Autonomy and Democratic Confederalism that are considered an alternative to a Kurdish nation-state.

From 2009-2015, the Turkish state held negotiations with him about a solution of the Kurdish Question. Since the collapse of the talks in 2015, Öcalan has been under total isolation.

Reviews

[Aled · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diciamo che valutare con delle stelline un manifesto politico non è esattamente un toccasana alla complessità del pensiero che quest'opera richiederebbe.

Questo scritto si inserisce in una serie di 4 (Liberare la vita, Guerra e Pace in Kurdistan e Confederalismo Democratico gli altri) che serve, per quanto ho capito, ad illustrare il cambiamento di paradigma che il PKK (partito dei lavoratori del Kurdistan) ha effettuato a seguito delle elaborazioni politiche del suo leader, l'autore di questo libretto.


Caro Lorenzo, che ora leggi la mia recensione con un certo grado di trepìdio, ne parleremo meglio assieme, lascio agli altri Goodreaders il piacere di questa lettura.

[Pacific Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent companion to Democratic Confederalism, but as a theoretical text can leave much to be desired

[El Présidente · Rating 2 out of 5]

Critique intéressante de l'état nation
C'est également assez intéressant qu'il nous parle d'un contexte particulier, le Kurdistan, et qu'il connaisse le sujet
Mais beaucoup de ses takes semblent sortir de nul part, telles que l'idée que le capitalisme ne peut exister sans société non-capitaliste, il voit les femmes de manière incroyablement essentialiste, et pense que l'on s'associe aux femmes pour raisons biologiques. L'analyse féministe en générale est éclatée au sol, on navigue entre l'ultra basique et l'essentialisme.
L'analyse écologiste est également (trop) basique, à ce niveau la il aurait aussi pu moins en parler.
L'analyse économique manque de détail, il semble d'un côté critiquer sévèrement un libéralisme total, mais je n'ai pas vu de critique, ou même du concept d'un contrôle ouvrier des moyens de production ? C'est quand même assez important.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much disappointed by this series of pamphlets. I often felt like I was reading the abstract to a larger essay and that I would be able to see how shallow the arguments and political - historical theory actually was. Unfortunately, because it is in such short form, this was not possible.

I will not completely discount Öcalan after reading these. However, I will not be rushing to read any more of his writings.

[Dj Deutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the conclusions and the analysis but, as a theoretical text, it leaves a lot to be desired. It is somewhere between diagnosis, path forward, and end goal, but not entirely complete on any of them.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Capitalism itself is the most crisis-ridden stage of civilisation. The nation-state, as the tool deployed in this crisis-ridden stage, is the most developed organisation of violence in social history."

Öcalan makes a brilliant trace of the nation-state and how it is the antithesis of freedom. The democratic nation is seem as the opposite of the nation-state, the stronger one is the weaker the other one. That is why a nation-state cannot be replaced, but rather it can be dismantled and rendered powerless by the continuous process of democratic nation building. Additionally in this essay he makes a rebuttal of almost every aspect of modernity, and rightly so. More so, a complete repudiation of all nation-state building attempts of USSR style parties emergence from this narrative. The reader can also expect a clever linking of politics with freedom, put in opposition to law. All points well worth it.

The faux individualism and freedom of capitalist nation-states is so easily dismantled it was to be expected:
"The individual-citizen of a democratic nation has to be communal as well as free. The allegedly free individual of capitalist individualism, who has been provoked into being at odds with society, essentially lives a life of abject slavery. However, liberal ideology creates an image where the individual apparently possesses limitless freedom. In reality the individual, enslaved by waged labour, represents the most developed form of slavery. This type of individual is produced through the relentless education of, and life in, nation-statism."