The Academy of Democratic Modernity (ADM) is organising a conference in Basel to discuss the paths out and perspectives on solutions in the face of the growing crisis of capitalist modernity and its multiple manifestations.
The Academy of Democratic Modernity (ADM) is organising a conference in Basel on 17-19 November under the title “The Art of Freedom - Strategies for organising & collective resistance”.
The conference will discuss paths out and perspectives on solutions in the face of the growing crisis of capitalist modernity and its multiple manifestations. The conference aims to generate a collective space to identify common challenges, to try and create answers, for questions to blossom and for intellectual exchange on the practice and concepts between various movements.
What are the fundamental aspects of the urgent and radical intellectual, moral and political renewal of opposition to the system? Starting from this question, the organisers want to collectively discuss different aspects of resistance against the system at this conference. Besides the necessary theoretical debate, different movements will share their experiences and strategies to think together about strengthening their practice and common struggle.
The conference at the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre in Basel is attended by a number of organizations from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
The opening speech of the conference, which began with a minute of silence for those who fell in the revolutionary struggle, was made by Berivan Yiğit of the Academy of Democratic Modernity.
Yiğit spoke about the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, whose paradigm, she said, brought organizations from all around the world together, and was embraced by all peoples worldwide.
“Various circles from all four corners of the world have gathered here today to discuss the building of a new world and the importance of common struggle based on their own local experiences. Without a doubt, the paradigm of Leader Öcalan will be at the center of these discussions,” she said.
Ali Çiçek from the Academy of Democratic Modernity pointed out that one of the main objectives of the conference is to enhance the internationalist struggle. “Organizations from various centres of the world will talk about their experiences here and enlarge the network of joint struggle in the face of the problems created by capitalist modernity,” he said.
The conference continues with the panel titled “Perspectives of (national) self-determination and autonomy in the 21st century”. The conference will continue in the afternoon with a panel titled “Between people’s power and liberal democracy - Traps and necessities in the struggle for liberation.”
The program for the second and third days of the conference is as follows:
18 November 2023 - Saturday
09:30 - 13:00
Workshops for deepening different aspects towards a theoretical and practical renewal of system opposition
Summary and conclusions from workshop discussions
Building democratic autonomy in North Kurdistan - Experience and reflections
Bedia Özgökçe, co-mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality Fırat Anlı, former co-mayor of Amed Metropolitan Municipality, Tuncay Ok, Kurdish activist
Dinner and cultural event
13:00 - 14:30 14:30 - 16:00 16:15 - 18:30
19:00 - 21:30
19 November 2023 - Sunday
09:30 - 11:00
11:30 - 15:30
The idea of socialism: Towards a renewal
The question of bottom-up organization and internationalism
(National Democratic Front of the Philippines)
Discussions
About the Academy of Democratic Modernity
The Academy of Democratic Modernity strives to spread the ideas and rich experience of the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and its paradigm of Democratic Modernity. Its publication activities are intended to start discussions with activists, academics and various anti-system groups and social movements in order to move forward in our search for a radical alternative to capitalist modernity and to realise a free life. Through its educational work, the academy wants to create a new understanding of democratic politics, social enlightenment and a new political-moral consciousness. Some dimensions of social issues it addresses are the sociology of freedom, weaving together lines of resistance, democratic autonomy, women's liberation, youth autonomy, social ecology, communal economy and art & culture. Through the development of platforms and networks, the academy wants to contribute to the strengthening of the international exchange of experiences and interweave existing struggles, in line with the proposal of World Democratic Confederalism. To overcome capitalist modernity, concrete local and global institutional alternatives are needed. “If we succeed in expanding democratic politics in everyday life - through alliances, councils, communes, cooperatives, academies - the huge political potential of society will unfold and be used to solve social problems. In this sense, we see our activities as a contribution to the unfolding of Democratic Modernity and Democratic Socialism,” the Academy states.
