Abdullah Öcalan (1948-) co-founded the militant Kurdish movement PKK in 1978. Öcalan was abducted in 1999 and is still imprisoned on the island of Imrali. While in prison, Öcalan has initiated a bold peace process with Turkey, and explored alternatives to a Kurdish nation-state. Öcalan "is still regarded as the undisputed leader by a majority of the Kurdish people."

Editorial Note by International Initiative

Preface by David Graeber

Introduction

1. On Method and the Regime of Truth

2. The Main Sources of Civilization

- The Contribution of the Taurus-Zagros Arc to Humanity

- Problems Associated with the Expansion of Aryan Culture and Language

- Interpreting the Evolution of Social Structures in the Fertile Crescent

- At the Skirts of the Mountains

3. Urban Civilized Society

- An Analysis of Sumerian Society

- An Analysis of Civilized Society

- Problems Associated with the Expansion of Civilized Society

- Stages of Civilized Society and Problems Associated with Resistance

- Final Remarks

Notes

Index

This manifesto is the definitive work of Abdullah Öcalan, crucial for understanding the Kurdish revolution. Here Öcalan outlines a democratic alternative for the Middle East.

A criticism that limits itself to capitalism is too superficial, Öcalan argues, and turns his eyes to the underlying structures of civilization. Rethinking the methods of understanding culture, politics, and society, he provides the tools for what he calls a sociology of freedom.

Civilization: The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings is the first book in a new five-volume work called Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization.

In this work, Abdullah Öcalan distills 35 years of revolutionary theory and praxis and 10 years of solitary confinement in Turkish prisons. These reflections represent the essence of his ideas on society, knowledge, and power.