The reading circle of the initiative "Democratic Confederalism Cologne", founded in February, invites people to participate in their weekly online event to read and discuss "Sociology of Freedom", the third volume of Abdullah Öcalan's "Manifesto of Democratic Civilization". At the same time, the initiative announces that the time has changed.

In recent months, the first three sections - "Some Methodological Problems", "The Question of Freedom" and "The Power of Social Reason" - have been discussed. The initiative shares, "In an attempt to gain a greater understanding of Abdullah Öcalan's holistic, deep thinking, the reading circle has made some progress. Öcalan's critiques of liberal and Eurocentric systems of knowledge, his reflections on freedom, the relationship between the individual and the collective, and the central thesis that, starting from natural society, social and resistant 'democratic civilization' has always existed in parallel with the 'centralist civilization' of domination and exploitation, could never be completely annihilated by it, and thus the solution to the current problems caused by patriarchy, the nation-state and capitalism lie in social force - all these thoughts have great relevance for the current struggles.

Our concern is not only to discuss the content, but also to emphasize the importance of Abdullah Öcalan as a political philosopher, mastermind and revolutionary and to stand up for his liberation from the solitary confinement that has lasted for more than 20 years. The time has come - freedom for Abdullah Öcalan!"

Currently, the reading circle is dedicated to the fourth part of the book, which deals with the emergence of the social question. The reading circle is composed of people with academic and non-academic backgrounds far beyond the Cologne area and is open to anyone interested. Prior knowledge is not a prerequisite for participation in the reading circle. Due to the diverse composition, there is room for both questions of understanding and deeper discussions of content.

Meeting place is Wednesdays, starting April 21 from 20 to 22 o'clock. Interested parties can dial into the room of the "Initiative Demokratischer Konföderalismus Köln" with the following link: https://meet.systemli.org/IDK_Lesekreis.

If you have any questions, the reading group is available by email at: [email protected].

The reading can be ordered at a fair price from the Unrast publishing house.