Lêgerîn #19 Out Now: The Youth Rise Up!

Dear readers,

"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” This quote from Antonio Gramsci in 1929 could have been written today, as it so accurately describes the situation we are currently facing. Everything points to the fact that the so-called world order, based on international law, is a thing of the past. In March, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged this himself: “Honestly, I don’t even understand how one can today call on anyone to respect the norms and principles of international law. In fact, it no longer exists. And what law has replaced international law? No one can really say at the moment…” A recent speech by Macron on nuclear weapons defines the principle upon which the new world order is being built: “To be free, one must be feared. And to be feared, one must be powerful. ” The existential crisis facing capitalism no longer allows it to hide behind a mask. While the ongoing wars reveal this brutality openly, the Epstein files simultaneously reflect the nature of the patriarchal mindset behind these massacres.

In this darkness, the youth uprisings of recent months are glimmers of hope spreading across every continent. These movements are a call to take back the initiative and to break free from the paralysis into which the system seeks to plunge us. How can we understand these uprisings? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What perspectives exist for achieving lasting change? Through this issue, we aim to offer some possible answers to these questions.

What is clear is that rising up against the system is not enough; we must also detach ourselves from it: materially and mentally. We can no longer accept serving as soldiers, workers or bureaucrats for the states and capitalist forces that are leading humanity to its downfall. We must build our own system in parallel, placing women’s freedom at its centre.

“The practical realisation of theory is communalisation. A free and dignified life can only be achieved by building communes in every sphere of life. The genuine free life of women—and therefore of society—depends on women’s constructive power and the communalisation they lead.”1

We stand alongside the young people returning to their villages in Indonesia, alongside those who are resigning from their schools or workplaces in protest against the war in Europe, we stand with Madagascar’s Gen Z as they defend their hard-won gains, and with the young people setting up their self-defence units in Rojava, we stand with the Zapatista youth who are strengthening their autonomy, and with those preparing to set sail again on the flotillas to Gaza.

Together, let us build the permanent uprising of the youth!

Lêgerîn Editorial

1. Abdullah Öcalan’s message on 8 March https://english.anf-news.com/features/-84264

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