We are living in a time of threat but also in a time of hope. The general crisis of capitalist modernity threatens more inequality and suffering, at best, and a Third World War, at worst. The dominant powers in the modern world-system try to overcome the crises however they can, but always by maintaining a system of exploitation and domination based on patriarchy, racism, class, and the state. Despite these grim things, this same historical moment presents all of us, as individuals and communities that stand beyond capitalism and the state, a real opportunity to build an alternative: a genuinely democratic modernity that provides a free life for everyone, everywhere.
Which possibility will be realized? If we as individuals and communities act as if no alternative is possible, then the dominant forces will succeed. Society cannot exist without a political and moral fabric, and domination in turn cannot exist without a society to dominate. Unfortunately, the state and the dominant social forces follow the principles of capitalist modernity by promoting individualism, consumerism, and inequality. This presents a real risk of total societal disintegration, societycide: the total dissolution of real social relations that make up the texture of a good life. In its attempts to control nature, the violent social engineering of capitalist modernity is also an assault on our environment. Societycide is also ecocide.
We aim to enrich and reweave the moral and political fabric of society, so that we might imagine and help create the political, moral, cultural, and economic structures of a free life for all. To do this, serious intellectual, political and moral work is required. We need a new social science that is squarely focused on our collective freedom. Notice that we refer to a single social science, while the mainstream refers to social sciences. As David Graeber said, anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists have developed the annoying habit of writing only for each other. Most don’t even write anything that would be meaningful for scholars in other disciplines, let alone for anyone outside the academy. We strive to produce knowledge that speaks to each other, whatever branch of mainstream social sciences, humanities, or arts we have been trained in, or none at all.
This Academy proposes a response to the current crisis of capitalism by taking up what Abdullah Öcalan calls a sociology of freedom. By researching not only the past and present of state-centered civilization, but especially the histories of stateless communities, we can also explore past, present and possible futures of alternative democratic systems such as democratic confederalism that are beyond the current structures of exploitation and domination that govern state-centered capitalism. By proposing and studying a single comprehensive social science, we combat the fragmentation of society, which is both reflected in and reinforced by the fragmented state of the current social sciences. By centering our attention on the fundamental role in the current system of domination – e.g., of women by men and of the young by the old – and by basing our approach on the freedom of all genders, the creativity of youth, and the interconnectedness of all humans and living things, we aim to contribute to the realization of democratic modernity.
How the idea was born
Since 2005 these principles and aims have guided the work of a wide range of intellectuals, movements and activists. The work of International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan-Peace in Kurdistan” was pivotal since it focused on translating and discussing Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigm for collective freedom, as well as putting this into dialogue with others who come from different traditions. In 2012, this resulted in the Network for an Alternative Quest, which in four conferences between 2012 and 2023 brought together a wide range of movements, intellectuals, and activists to discuss the crisis of capitalist modernity and how we might chart a way out of it together.
The Academy will now continue this approach, working with the ideas that Öcalan has so brilliantly developed from within the unimaginable environment of an isolated prison cell, in discussion with other approaches that explore how we can overcome the current social catastrophe and build an alternative world of democratic modernity.
Independence
To maintain our principles and achieve our aims the Academy must remain free from the influence of any institutions that might compromise our independence and autonomy. To this end, we rely on the practical support of democratic, progressive and revolutionary individuals and organizations. This also ensures that our work remains rooted in the same democratic principles that form the potential of a democratic modernity. Read on to find out about our aims, methods, activities, and how you can provide this support.
