The Communes of Rojava Six Years On: Towards Many Democracies of Neighbors

Six years after making “The Communes of Rojava” (2018), and in the face of some of the most dire attacks yet faced by the pluralist, women-led, radically democratic project in North and East Syria, I am releasing this “sequel.” Though deeply inspired by the Rojava Revolution, this video is not about Syria directly. It is about America. For the last six years, I have been trying my best to build practical examples of grassroots, neighbor-powered democracy, inspired by Rojava, on blocks and in apartment buildings in various states in the US. Here I share the lessons I’ve learned, models that have inspired me, and point to some very practical steps to organize a small-sized, face-to-face forum of neighbors on your block to discuss, dream, decide, and act together, ie. neighborocracy, or grassroots governance from below. This video covers topics like neighboring, sociocracy, neighborocracy, Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), and Abdullah Ocalan’s theories of democratic nation, democratic modernity, democratic autonomy, and democratic confederalism.

Watch it here.