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.

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.

Considering the circumstances under which the book was written, I’d say the achievement here is quite impressive. Abdullah Öcalan seems to have done a better job writing with the extremely limited resources allowed him by his jailers than authors like Francis Fukuyama or Jared Diamond did with access to the world’s finest research libraries."

—David Graeber

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.

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.

Translated by Havin Guneser
Preface by David Graeber