The Emergency Committee for Rojava, a New York-based organisation, is touring the West Coast of the United States during May, hosting a series of talks entitled, ‘Report from Rojava: Women’s Revolution, direct democracy, and social ecology in Northeast Syria.’
Debbie Bookchin and Arthur Pye introduce the tour in an interview with Medya News, providing a comprehensive overview of the organisation’s mission. They focus on the Rojava Revolution that emerged in the north of Syria during the Syrian civil war in 2012, and the broader implications of this Kurdish democratic confederalist movement for communities worldwide.
Formed after the invasion of Syria’s Afrin in 2018, the committee is the largest organisation in the US dedicated to Rojava solidarity work, Bookchin said. It has partnered with the Institute for Social Ecology for the tour, along with other sponsors.
The tour aims to reach people who are engaged in local social movements but may not be familiar with the revolution in Syria. University venues are included in the tour to educate students lacking a deeper understanding of the Rojava Revolution.
This broader educational approach aims to spotlight the Kurdish-led fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Syria, and the significant social changes fought for in the region, Pye said. “The revolution faces significant challenges, including ongoing threats from external forces, including Turkey, Turkish-backed proxies and ISIS”, Bookchin pointed out, and international solidarity is a crucial line of defence.
The tour is set to dive into the model of democratic confederalism developing in North and East Syria, characterised by radical grassroots democracy, social ecology and women’s rights, as pioneered by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.
“The Rojava movement did not simply build a revolution out of nothing in one single day as soon as the regime left northern Syria. There were years and years of developing these ideas, developing these practices, doing education in the community, building relationships and a mass movement,” Pye said.
The principles of direct democracy involve local assemblies and communal decision-making, which are integral to the organisation of society in the region. “We have to devolve power and take it away from the state, which means building power at the local level. That’s one of Öcalan’s really important lessons,” Bookchin added.
Social ecology, which emphasises a harmonious relationship between humans and nature, is a foundational principle of the movement. Key achievements of the Rojava Revolution include successful community-driven eco-projects, the speakers said. They highlighted that these can provide practical lessons for activists in the US.
“Many of the people attending our talks are environmental activists in these local communities. We find social ecology to be a really useful bridge for helping people think about the environmental problems they are fighting, such as climate justice, resisting fossil fuel expansion, and polluting projects in their local communities.”
Women’s liberation and leadership is a cornerstone of the Rojava Revolution. Bookchin describes how local organisations such as Kongra Star have played a vital role by going from house to house in northern Syria, using a grassroots participatory approach to educate women and involve them in assemblies.
“The long and deep work that the women’s movement has done is an extraordinary model for any movement anywhere,” Bookchin said.
A remarkable aspect of the Rojava Revolution is its inclusive approach, involving Arabs, Assyrians, Yazidis and other ethnic groups. This non-sectarian and pluralistic approach is crucial for building a broad-based social movement that centres on the voices of marginalised communities.
The US faces significant social alienation, the speakers said, with fragmented communities and isolated households. Learning from Rojava, activists in the US can focus on rebuilding community bonds and empowering local governance.
“As we try to learn from the examples of Rojava and the Kurdish movement, which emphasise that the basic building block of any transformative movement and society itself is the local community, we’re realising, especially through these conversations with local activists, how important it is to rebuild those basic relationships between neighbours,” Bookchin said.
The interview touches on the parallels with other social movements, such as second-wave feminism and the African-American community’s neighbourhood meetings.
“One of the beautiful aspects of the revolution is the conscious effort to centre the voices of people who aren’t necessarily part of the majority populations. The fact that the Rojava revolution is non-sectarian and pluralistic is important,” Bookchin said.
The work of Murray Bookchin, Debbie Bookchin’s father, on social ecology and libertarian municipalism has gained new interest and influence through its application in the Kurdish freedom movement. This international cross-pollination of ideas highlights the global relevance of democratic confederalism and social ecology, said Pye.
“We’re trying to stress the fact that a state with its faceless bureaucracy, whether it’s a capitalist state or a socialist state, will never be truly responsive to people at the local level. We have to devolve power and take it away from the state, which means building power at the local level,” Bookchin concluded.
