"Victoria" Anarchist Reading Circle
Reading for Revolution
After discussing Öcalan’s text on “Democratic Confederalism,” the group decided to continue studying his work. We chose to read “Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution.” The text is available as a .pdf from this link: http://www.freeocalan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/liberating-Lifefinal.pdf
As always, we meet at 7pm at Camas Books on 2620 Quadra st on unceded Lekwungen territory.
Our next reading circle is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26th from 6:45 – 9pm; discussion starts at 7pm. As always, we meet on unceded Lekwungen territory at Camas Books and Infoshop (2620 Quadra Street).
In preparation for our discussion, we are reading two chapters from Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan. The text was written by Michael Knapp, Anja Flach, and Ercan Ayboĝa. It provides an excellent foregrounding on the history of the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), and the theoretical turn towards anarchism by one of the Party’s co-founders, Abdullah Öcalan. We will also learn about the authoritarianism and geopolitical machinations of the colluding nation-States with interests in the region known as Rojava, located in Northern Syria. Any participants with knowledge of current affairs about Rojava are welcomed to share updates and any other pertinent information.
Note: This topic was originally scheduled to take place on February 12th, but had to be postponed due to inclement weather.
In Spring 2011, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) of Northern Syria (Rojava) established a People’s Council of West Kurdistan around the concept of “democratic confederalism” wherein diverse peoples and political actors united under an autonomous anti-state structure of self-governance. Three regional “Cantons” formed a federated structure encompassing most of northern Syria. Rojava’s revolution was defended by two militias — the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The emergence of a secular, feminist, anti-authoritarian system of self-governance in the midst of Syria’s civil war was an extraordinary event and military victories against the Islamic State (notably the heroic rescue of minority Yezidi peoples besieged by Islamic State forces in the Sinjar Mountains) brought the Rojava revolution to world attention.
Join Professor Ozlem Goner to learn about the roots of the Rojava revolution, its ecological, feminist, and anarchic democratic vision, as well as current threats to Rojava poised by Turkish armed forces in alliance with Russia.
Two events are planned:
Monday, January 13th, 7:00pm, Room 129 MacPherson Library, University of Victoria (unceded WSÁNEC & Lekwungen (Songhees & Esquimalt) Territories).
Tuesday, January 14th, 7:00pm at Camas Books & Infoshop (unceded Lekwungen Territory)
Ozlem Goner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York. Goner has written on a range of issues, including memory and historicity; political economy and the environment; and outsider identities. In 2017 her book, Turkish National Identity and its Outsiders: Memories of State Violence in Dersim, was published by Routledge. She is a steering committee member of the US-based Emergency Committee for Rojava.
Donations In support of Rojava are welcome!
