The Academy of Social Science opened in Eindhoven. The academy was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by numerous academics, writers, artists, politicians, and activists from Europe and the Americas. It was established to globally engage with and share the ideological paradigm of Abdullah Öcalan (often referred to as “Leader Apo”).
The academy’s primary goal is to offer an intellectual foundation for social freedom movements and to institutionalize frameworks such as democratic confederalism and the sociology of freedom, some of the concepts shaped by Öcalan.
Professor Andrej Grubacic, one of the founders of the Academy, emphasized the importance of treating social science as a unified whole and said: “This academy aims to inspire grassroots social movements. If not the first, it will certainly be different.”
Academy instructor Kathy Wallerstein highlighted the importance of reviving social sciences through alternative structures, while Professor Targol Mesbah from San Francisco University noted that Öcalan’s writings provide new hope and a paradigm amid the current global crises.
In a written statement read during the opening, Ögmundur Jónasson, former Minister of Justice and Interior of Iceland, stressed that individuals’ search for alternatives plays a decisive role in driving change.
Havin Güneşer, another co-founder of the Academy, said that it was built not only on the legacy of the Kurdish Freedom Movement but also on the accumulated experiences of freedom struggles worldwide.
Artist and writer Sonny Saul described his participation as being driven by the intellectual impact of Öcalan’s ideas, saying: “It is a great honor for me to be part of this gathering.”
The academy seeks to become a global intellectual platform with contributions from participants across various disciplines and aims to develop alternative solutions to the current systemic crises.
Source: ANF News
