New World Academy #5: Stateless Democracy: The Revolution in Rojava Kurdistan
Stateless Democracy: The Revolution in Rojava Kurdistan is the inaugural conference of the fifth edition of New World Academy (NWA).
This conference discusses the current Kurdish resistance in Kobanê, Rojava against ISIS. With help of representatives from the Kurdish movement as well as specialists in the field, it explores the politics and culture of Rojava and the reasons behind the formation and growth of the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The question as to what and how the international community and civil society can help is also addressed—not only to stop ISIS, but more crucially, to support a movement from within the region that is offering a new democratic horizon from which the world can learn.
Keynote speakers include: Dilşah Osman (co-president of the Kurdish Democratic Society Congress in Europe, KCD-E), Dilar Dirik (PhD researcher and activist of the Kurdish Women’s Movement, Cambridge), and Joost Jongerden (researcher and specialist of the Kurdish Movement, Wageningen University), with further contributions by Jolle Demmers (co-founder of the Centre for Conflict Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht), Dilan Yezilgoz-Zegerius (former Amnesty International specialist on Turkey and council member of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, ** ** VVD), Jasper Blom (scientific bureau of the Green Party, GroenLinks), Golrokh Nafisi (artist), and Jonas Staal (artist and founder of the New World Summit, Rotterdam).
The inaugural conference of [NWA #5] is organized by a collaborative alliance between BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht; Centre for Conflict Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht; and De Balie, Amsterdam.
