Anja Flach, Ercaye Ayboga, Michael Knapp. Kurdistan

For centuries, the Kurds have been an oppressed people, still without a state of their own. But despite all odds, with the weakening of the Syrian and Iraqi governments, an opportunity has emerged to radically change the situation.

Today, the people of Kurdistan are trying to build a system of popular assemblies, achieve social justice and gender equality, and establish accountability and electability for military commanders. This recalls the best efforts of the anarchists during the Spanish Civil War or the cooperatives after the Russian Revolution, when people rebuilt their lives in new ways.

As part of their field research, the authors examined how new ideas and traditions are being synthesized in Kurdistan using specific examples—schools, volunteer battalions, and district councils.

On the one hand, the Kurdish experiment is threatened by terrorists and the Turkish government; on the other, it is criticized for collaborating with the US and Russia against ISIS and for its lack of revolutionary spirit. Can direct democracy survive in such a hostile environment?