Stateless Democracy

JS: In every revolution, however tragic, there seems
to be the necessity for the creation of a situation in
which there is collectively nothing left to lose: a total
break with the structure that is oppressing you.
DD: What is unique about the Rojava Revolution is that it
already had a solid ideological base. It was built on the
ideas of democratic confederalism, of self-sustainability,
self-governance, autonomy, true independence: not
through the state, but in the sense of living without approval.
This is in fact the legacy of the Kurdish movement
philosophically affiliated with the PKK. It is something
that the actors of this revolution will tell you themselves,
but it is hard to accept for those who appropriate Rojava’s
resistance against ISIS for their own ends. Before Rojava,
there were the autonomous councils created by the
PKK in Turkey, for example, for which many people were
imprisoned. The people of Rojava were not scared, because
they knew the costs of their revolution, the costs of
establishing something in spite of the oppressive dominant
system and its attacks. That is why the resistance
in Kobanê was so difficult for many people to grasp. That
people would continue to resist right down to the last
bullet, all for a different life — this philosophy and collective
mobilization cannot be treated in isolation from the
military victories against ISIS.
JS: How is democratic confederalism practiced in
Rojava today?
DD: The Rojava administration is founded on The Social
Contract, also referred to as the Charter. It was collectively
written by all peoples inhabiting the region: Kurds,
Arabs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Arameans, Turkmen, Armenians,
and Chechens. It contains the pillars of the model
of democratic confederalism, a secular model of politics
that guarantees gender equality, upholds the principles
of social communalist, collectivist practice, meaning that
centralized powers are reduced to a minimum, and that
local communities, the grassroots components, uphold
maximum political agency. The three cantons of Rojava
— Afrîn, Cizîre, and Kobanê — are affiliated, but they
organize their affairs autonomously. One of the principles
is that each region will understand its realities best.
Kobanê, for example, is mostly inhabited by Kurds, while
Cizîre has a very multiethnic population.
Each canton has 22 ministries; each ministry has one
minister and two deputies. If the minister is Kurdish, then
the two deputy chairs must be filled by one Arab and one
Assyrian — and at least one of them has to be a woman.
Each canton is chaired by one woman and one man.
Parallel to the cantons is a social movement called TEV-
DEM, the Movement for a Democratic Society. Their task
is to link the administration and the people, to guarantee
that the grassroots assume a leading role in all matters.
In spite of the canton administrations, which were regarded
as necessary measures to address several geopolitical
threats during this transitional moment, Rojava
is essentially run by councils — neighborhood councils,
village councils, and city councils — where people make
decisions together and form committees to implement
these decisions. It is important to know that the administrative
body of Rojava is not separate from civil society:
that is what the Rojava revolution tries to do, to reshape
governance into a collective issue.
The women’s movement is also autonomously organized
in the form of the coordinating body Yekîtiya Star, of
which the YPJ is a part. Yekîtiya Star decides on women’s
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