The battle for the mountain of the Kurds : self -determination and ethnic cleansing in the Afrin Region of Rojava

In early 2018, Turkey invaded the autonomous Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria and is currently threatening to ethnically cleanse the region. Between 2012–2018, the “Mountain of the Kurds” (Kurd Dagh) had been one of the quietest regions in a country otherwise torn by civil war. After the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Syrian army withdrew from the region, enabling the Party of Democratic Union (PYD), the Syrian sister party of Abdullah Öcalan’s outlawed Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to introduce a Kurdish self-administration and then, in 2014 to establish the Canton Afrin as one of the three parts of the heavily Kurdish Democratic Federation of North-Syria, or Rojava. This self-administration, which had seen multi-party elections in 2017, included autonomy for a number of ethnic and religious groups, and provided a safe haven for up to 300,000 Syrian refugees, is now at risk of being annihilated. In this volume, Schmidinger provides a comprehensive history of the region and gives inhabitants of a variety of ethnicities, religions, political orientations, and walks of life the opportunity to speak for themselves. As things stand now, the book might seem to be in danger of becoming an epitaph for the “Mountain of the Kurds,” but as the author writes, “the battle for the Mountain of the Kurds is far from over yet.” Don't Mourn, Balkanize! is the first book written from the radical left perspective on the topic of Yugoslav space after the dismantling of the country. In this collection of essays, commentaries, and interviews, written between 2002 and 2010, Andrej Grubačić speaks about the politics of balkanization—about the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, neoliberal structural adjustment, humanitarian intervention, supervised independence of Kosovo, occupation of Bosnia, and other episodes of Power which he situates in the long historical context of colonialism, conquest, and intervention. But he also tells the story of the balkanization of politics, of the Balkans seen from below. A space of bogumils—those medieval heretics who fought against Crusades and churches—and a place of anti-Ottoman resistance; a home to hajduks and klefti, pirates and rebels; a refuge of feminists and socialists, of antifascists and partisans; of new social movements of occupied and recovered factories; a place of dreamers of all sorts struggling both against provincial “peninsularity” as well as against occupations, foreign interventions and that process which is now, in a strange inversion of history, often described by that fashionable term, “balkanization.” For Grubačić, political activist and radical sociologist, Yugoslavia was never just a country—it was an idea. Like the Balkans itself, it was a project of inter-ethnic co-existence, a trans-ethnic and pluricultural space of many diverse worlds. Political ideas of inter-ethnic cooperation and mutual aid as we had known them in Yugoslavia were destroyed by the beginning of the 1990s—disappeared in the combined madness of ethno-nationalist hysteria and humanitarian imperialism. This remarkable collection chronicles political experiences of the author who is himself a Yugoslav, a man without a country; but also, as an anarchist, a man without a state. This book is an important reading for those on the Left who are struggling to understand the intertwined legacy of inter-ethnic conflict and inter-ethnic solidarity in contemporary, post-Yugoslav history.

In early 2018, Turkey invaded the autonomous Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria and is currently threatening to ethnically cleanse the region. Between 2012 and 2018, the “Mountain of the Kurds” (Kurd Dagh) as the area has been called for centuries, had been one of the quietest regions in a country otherwise torn by civil war.

After the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Syrian army withdrew from the region in 2012, enabling the Party of Democratic Union (PYD), the Syrian sister party of Abdullah Öcalan’s outlawed Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to first introduce a Kurdish self-administration and then, in 2014, to establish the Canton Afrin as one of the three parts of the heavily Kurdish Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, which is better known under the name Rojava.

This self-administration—which had seen multiparty municipal and regionwide elections in the summer and autumn of 2017, which included a far-reaching autonomy for a number of ethnic and religious groups, and which had provided a safe haven for up to 300, 000 refugees from other parts of Syria—is now at risk of being annihilated by the Turkish invasion and occupation.

Thomas Schmidinger is one of the very few Europeans to have visited the Canton of Afrin. In this book, he gives an account of the history and the present situation of the region. In a number of interviews, he also gives inhabitants of the region from a variety of ethnicities, religions, political orientations, and walks of life the opportunity to speak for themselves. As things stand now, the book might seem to be in danger of becoming an epitaph for the “Mountain of the Kurds, ” but as the author writes, “the battle for the Mountain of the Kurds is far from over yet.”

In early 2018, Turkey invaded the autonomous Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria and is currently threatening to ethnically cleanse the region. Between 2012 and 2018, the Mountain of the Kurds (Kurd Dagh) as the area has been called for centuries, had been one of the quietest regions in a country otherwise torn by civil war. After the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Syrian army withdrew from the region in 2012, enabling the Party of Democratic Union (PYD), the Syrian sister party of Abdullah calans outlawed Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to first introduce a Kurdish self-administration and then, in 2014, to establish the Canton Afrin as one of the three parts of the heavily Kurdish Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, which is better known under the name Rojava. This self-administrationwhich had seen multiparty municipal and regionwide elections in the summer and autumn of 2017, which included a far-reaching autonomy for a number of ethnic and religious groups, and which had provided a safe haven for up to 300,000 refugees from other parts of Syriais now at risk of being annihilated by the Turkish invasion and occupation. Thomas Schmidinger is one of the very few Europeans to have visited the Canton of Afrin. In this book, he gives an account of the history and the present situation of the region. In a number of interviews, he also gives inhabitants of the region from a variety of ethnicities, religions, political orientations, and walks of life the opportunity to speak for themselves. As things stand now, the book might seem to be in danger of becoming an epitaph for the Mountain of the Kurds, but as the author writes, the battle for the Mountain of the Kurds is far from over yet. We are the Crisis of Capital collects articles and excerpts written by radical academic, theorist, and activist John Holloway over a period of forty years. Different times, different places, and the same anguish persist throughout our societies. This collection asks, "Is there a way out?" How do we break capital, a form of social organisation that dehumanises us and threatens to annihilate us completely? How do we create a world based on the mutual recognition of human dignity? Holloway's work answers loudly, "By screaming NO!" By thinking from out own anger and creativity. By trying to recover the "we" buried under the categories of capitalist thought. By opening those categories and discovering the antagonism they conceal and by discovering that behind the concepts of money, state, capital, crisis, and so on, there moves our resistance and rebellion. An approach sometimes referred to as Open Marxism, it is an attempt to rethink Marxism as daily struggle. The articles move forward, influenced by the German state derivation debates of the 1970s, by the CSE debates in Britain, and the group around the Edingurgh journal Common Sense, and then moving on to Mexico and the wonderful stimulus of the Zapatista uprising, and now the continuing whirl of discussion with colleagues and students in the Posgrado de Sociología of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla--back cover In Early 2018, Turkey Invaded The Autonomous Kurdish Region Of Afrin In Syria And Is Currently Threatening To Ethnically Cleanse The Region. Between 2012 And 2018, The “mountain Of The Kurds” (kurd Dagh) Had Been One Of The Quietest Regions In A Country Otherwise Torn By Civil War. After The Outbreak Of The Syrian Civil War In 2011, The Syrian Army Withdrew From The Region, Enabling The Party Of Democratic Union (pyd) To Introduce A Kurdish Self-administration And Later To Establish The Canton Afrin As One Of The Three Parts Of The Heavily Kurdish Democratic Federation Of North-syria, Or Rojava. This Self-administration, Which Had Seen Multi-party Elections In 2017, Included Autonomy For A Number Of Ethnic And Religious Groups, And Provided A Safe Haven For Up To 300,000 Syrian Refugees, Is Now At Risk Of Being Annihilated. In This Volume, Schmidinger Provides A Comprehensive History Of The Region And Gives Inhabitants Of A Variety Of Ethnicities, Religions, Political Orientations, And Walks Of Life The Opportunity To Speak For Themselves. As Things Stand Now, The Book Might Seem To Be In Danger Of Becoming An Epitaph For The “mountain Of The Kurds,” But As The Author Writes, “the Battle For The Mountain Of The Kurds Is Far From Over Yet.” -- Amazon.com. Thomas Schmidinger ; Translated By Michael Schiffman. We Are the Crisis of Capital collects articles and excerpts written by radical academic, theorist, and activist John Holloway over a period of forty years. This collection asks, “Is there a way out?” How do we break capital, a form of social organisation that dehumanises us and threatens to annihilate us completely? How do we create a world based on the mutual recognition of human dignity? Holloway's work answers loudly, “By screaming NO!” By thinking from our own anger and creativity. By trying to recover the “we” buried under the categories of capitalist thought. By opening those categories and discovering the antagonism they conceal and by discovering that behind the concepts of money, state, capital, crisis, and so on, there moves our resistance-and-rebellion. An approach sometimes referred to as Open Marxism, it is an attempt to rethink Marxism as daily struggle. The articles move forward, influenced by the German state derivation debates of the 1970s, by the CSE debates in Britain, and the group around the Edinburgh journal Common Sense, and then moving on to Mexico and the wonderful stimulus of the Zapatista uprising, and now the continuing whirl of discussion with colleagues and students in the Posgrado de Sociología of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. "Silvia Federici is one of the most important contemporary theorists of capitalism and feminist movements. In this collection of her work spanning over twenty years, she provides a detailed history and critique of the politics of the commons from a feminist perspective. In her clear and combative voice, Federici provides readers with an analysis of some of the key issues and debates in contemporary thinking on this subject. Drawing on rich historical research, she maps the connections between the previous forms of enclosure that occurred with the birth of capitalism and the destruction of the commons and the “new enclosures” at the heart of the present phase of global capitalist accumulation. Considering the commons from a feminist perspective, this collection centers on women and reproductive work as crucial to both our economic survival and the construction of a world free from the hierarchies and divisions capital has planted in the body of the world proletariat. Federici is clear that the commons should not be understood as happy islands in a sea of exploitative relations but rather autonomous spaces from which to challenge the existing capitalist organization of life and labor."--Page 4 de la couverture "Silvia Federici is one of the most important contemporary theorists of capitalism and feminist movements. In this collection of her work spanning over twenty years, she provides a detailed history and critique of the politics of the commons from a feminist perspective. In her clear and combative voice, Federici provides readers with an analysis of some of the key issues and debates in contemporary thinking on this subject. Drawing on rich historical research, she maps the connections between the previous forms of enclosure that occurred with the birth of capitalism and the destruction of the commons and the "new enclosures" at the heart of the present phase of global capitalist accumulation. Considering the commons from a feminist perspective, this collection centers on women and reproductive work as crucial to both our economic survival and the construction of a world free from the hierarchies and divisions capital has planted in the body of the world proletariat. Federici is clear that the commons should not be understood as happy islands in a sea of exploitative relations but rather autonomous spaces from which to challenge the existing capitalist organization of life and labor"--Publisher's description "Silvia Federici is one of the most important contemporary theorists of capitalism and feminist movements. In this collection of her work spanning over twenty years, she provides a detailed history and critique of the politics of the commons from a feminist perspective. In her clear and combative voice, Federici provides readers with an analysis of some of the key issues and debates in contemporary thinking on this subject. Drawing on rich historical research, she maps the connections between the previous forms of enclosure that occurred with the birth of capitalism and the destruction of the commons and the "new enclosures" at the heart of the present phase of global capitalist accumulation. Considering the commons from a feminist perspective, this collection centers on women and reproductive work as crucial to both our economic survival and the construction of a world free from the hierarchies and divisions capital has planted in the body of the world proletariat. Federici is clear that the commons should not be understood as happy islands in a sea of exploitative relations but rather autonomous spaces from which to challenge the existing capitalist organization of life and labor"-- Provided by publisher We Are the Crisis of Capital collects articles and excerpts written by radical academic, theorist, and activist John Holloway over a period of forty years. Different times, different places, and the same anguish persists throughout our societies. The articles move forward, influenced by the German state derivation debates of the seventies, by the CSE debates in Britain, and the group around the Edinburgh journal Common Sense , and then moving on to Mexico and the wonderful stimulus of the Zapatista uprising, and now the continuing whirl of discussion with colleagues and students in the Posgrado de Sociologa of the Benemrita Universidad Autnoma de Puebla. Annotation Grubacic's Remarkable Collection Of Essays, Commentaries And Interviews, Written Between 2002 And 2010, Chronicles The Political Experiences Of The Author Himself, Who Is Both A Man Without A Country (as A Yugoslav) And A Man Without A State (as An Anarchist). In Particular, He Focuses On The Ironies And Implications Of The Now Fashionable Term 'balkanisation' - The Fragmentation, Division And Foreign Intervention With Which Politicians In The Balkans Have Struggled For Centuries And For Which The Region Has Now, Ironically, Become Famous. By Andrej Grubačić ; Foreword By Roxanne Dunbar-ortiz. Presenting a radical leftist perspective on the recent history of the Balkan region, this collection of essays, commentaries, and interviews argues that the dismantling of Yugoslavia is just another milestone in the long history of colonialism, conquest, and interventionism. Written between 2002 and 2010, this volume addresses significant happenings such as the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the assassination of Prime Minister Djindjic, the supervised "independence" of Kosovo, and the occupation of Bosnia. In addition to this contemporary look, this exploration reveals the politically.