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@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
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# Definition of Democratic Civilization
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-From "The Sociology of Freedom" by Abdullah Ocalan.
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+From 'The Sociology of Freedom: Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization, Volume 3' by Abdullah Ocalan.
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+
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+Annotations are our own. The text is otherwise unchanged.
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+
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+## What is the subject of moral and political society?
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The school of social science that postulates the examination of the
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existence and development of social nature on the basis of moral and
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@@ -27,6 +31,8 @@ exist as colonies of other powers, particularly capital and state monopolies,
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and as sources of raw materials. In those cases, however, we are
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talking about the legacy of a society that has ceased to be.
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+## Individualism is a state of war
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+
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There is nothing gained by labeling moral and political society—the
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natural state of society—as slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, or socialist.
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Using such labels to describe society masks reality and reduces society to
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@@ -46,6 +52,8 @@ prepares society, which is weakened by being deprived of its morals and
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politics, for all kinds of attacks by individualism. Liberalism is the
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ideology and practice that is most anti-society.
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+## The rise of scientific positivism
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+
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In Western sociology (there is still no science called Eastern sociology)
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concepts such as society and civilization system are quite problematic.
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We should not forget that the need for sociology stemmed from the
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@@ -71,6 +79,8 @@ projects. There was no project or plan that could not be achieved by
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the nation-state if it so desired, as long as it embraced the “scientific
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positivism” and was accepted by the nation-state!
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+## Capitalism as an iron cage
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+
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British social scientists (political economists) added economic solutions
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to French sociology, while German ideologists contributed philosophically.
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Adam Smith and Hegel in particular made major contributions.
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@@ -110,6 +120,8 @@ developments was the collapse of the hegemony of Eurocentric thought.
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The downside, however, was the drawbacks of a highly fragmented social
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sciences.
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+## The problems of Eurocentric sociology
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+
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Let’s summarize the criticism of Eurocentric sociology:
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1. Positivism, which criticized and denounced both religion and
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@@ -156,9 +168,13 @@ these and many other criticisms. Obviously, I am not talking about
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a new divine creation, but I do believe that the greatest feature of
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the human mind is the power to search for and build truth.
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+## A new social science
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+
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In light of these criticisms, I offer the following suggestions in
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relation to the social science system that I want to define:
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+### A more humane social nature
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+
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1. I would not present social nature as a rigid universalist truth
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with mythological, religious, metaphysical, and scientific (positivist)
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patterns. Understanding it to be the most flexible form of
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@@ -188,6 +204,8 @@ they conceal and fragment its meaning. This, in turn, provides a
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base for faulty theoretical and practical approaches and actions
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related to society.
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+### Protecting the social fabric
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+
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3. Statements about renewing and re-creating society are part of
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operations meant to constitute new capital and power monopolies
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in terms of their ideological content. The history of civilization,
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@@ -223,6 +241,8 @@ sciences based on a non-destructive dialectic methodology that
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harmonizes analytical and emotional intelligence and overcomes
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the strict subject-object mold should be developed.
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+## The framework of moral and political society
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+
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The paradigmatic and empirical framework of moral and political
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society, the main unit of the democratic civilization system, can be
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presented through such hypotheses. Let me present its main aspects:
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@@ -319,6 +339,8 @@ individual or force has the authority to decide on behalf of moral
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and political society, and social engineering has no place in these
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societies.
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+## Liberating democratic civilization from the State
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+
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When viewed in the light of the various broad definitions I have presented,
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it is obvious that the democratic civilization system—essentially
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the moral and political totality of social nature—has always existed and
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@@ -326,7 +348,7 @@ sustained itself as the flip side of the official history of civilization. Despi
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all the oppression and exploitation at the hands of the official world-system,
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the other face of society could not be destroyed. In fact, it is
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impossible to destroy it. Just as capitalism cannot sustain itself without
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-noncapitalist society, civilization—the official world system—also cannot sustain
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+noncapitalist society, civilization— the official world system— also cannot sustain
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itself without the democratic civilization system. More concretely the
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civilization with monopolies cannot sustain itself without the existence
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of a civilization without monopolies. The opposite is not true. Democratic
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rachel-rose