Prima che parli il fucile: Omar Aziz e la Rivoluzione Siriana by Collettivo Idrisi

Review by Matteo Piovacari

The short:

A moving overview on the experiences of government from below occurred in Syria during the early years of the Revolution.  

The long:

Not only the renowned Rojava, but also other realities of participatory democracy and self-governance flourished throughout the Syrian territory at the time of the collapse of the central government in 2012. These latter developed both due to the necessity of keeping municipalities and communities up and running despite the breakdown of the State, as well as to pursue a different model of society, where each and every citizen’s voice counts. This short book seeks to encapsulate these different experiences of self-government and democratic “revolution”, departing from the theories of Omar Aziz, a wealthy man from Damascus who first wrote about the need of a participated movement to reconsider the principles of the Syrian society, and who paid with his life this attempt to envision a different future for Syria. 

The read or not to read:

Definitely to read to learn more about the capacity of Syrian communities to give birth to working models of self-governing societies, even in the direst conditions. This book is in Italian!