Beyond State, Power, and Violence

After the dissolution of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) in 2002, international discussions ran high, and fear and uncertainty about the future of the Kurdish freedom movement threatened to unravel the gains of decades of organising and armed struggle. From his prison cell, Abdullah Ocalan intervened by penning his most influential work to date: Beyond State, Power, and Violence. With a stunning vision of a freedom movement centred on women's liberation, democracy, and ecology, Ocalan helped reinvigorate the Kurdish freedom movement by providing a revolutionary path forward with what is undoubtedly the furthest-reaching definition of democracy the world has ever seen. Here, for the first time, is the highly anticipated English translation of this monumental work. In the vast scope of the book, Ocalan examines the emergence of hierarchies and eventually classis in human societies and sketches his alternative, the democratic-ecological society. This vision, with a theoretical foundation of a nonviolent means of taking power, has ushered in a new era for the Kurdish freedom movement while also offering a fresh and indispensible perspective on the global debate about a new socialism.