Editing Murray Bookchin (section)

== Legacy and influence ==
Though Bookchin, by his own recognition, failed to win over a substantial body of supporters during his own lifetime, his ideas have nonetheless influenced movements and thinkers across the globe.

Among these are the Kurdish [[People's Protection Units]] (YPG) and closely aligned [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK) in Turkey, which have [[Kurdish–Turkish conflict|fought the Turkish state]] since the 1980s to try to secure greater political and cultural rights for the country's [[Kurdish people|Kurds]]. The PKK is designated as a [[terrorist organization]] by the Turkish and United States governments, while the YPG has been considered an ally of the US against [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bookchin |first1=Debbie |title=How My Father's Ideas Helped the Kurds Create a New Democracy |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/06/15/how-my-fathers-ideas-helped-the-kurds-create-a-new-democracy/ |access-date=October 23, 2019 |work=The [[New York Review of Books]] |date=June 15, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901113249/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/06/15/how-my-fathers-ideas-helped-the-kurds-create-a-new-democracy/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Barnard |first1=Anne |last2=Hubbard |first2=Ben |title=Allies or Terrorists: Who Are the Kurdish Fighters in Syria? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/middleeast/turkey-kurds-syria.html |access-date=October 23, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 25, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901113232/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/world/middleeast/turkey-kurds-syria.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Though founded on a rigid [[Marxist–Leninist]] ideology, the PKK has seen a shift in its thought and aims since the capture and [[Imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan|imprisonment]] of its leader, [[Abdullah Öcalan]], in 1999. Öcalan began reading a variety of [[post-Marxist]] political theory while in prison, and found particular interest in Bookchin's works.<ref name="biehl dialectics">{{cite web |url=http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy |title=Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy |last=Biehl |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Biehl |date=February 16, 2012 |publisher=New Compass |access-date=January 27, 2014 |archive-date=April 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401092904/http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Jong |first1=Alex |title=The New–Old PKK |journal=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |date=March 2016 |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/pkk-ocalan-kurdistan-isis-murray-bookchin/ |access-date=March 29, 2016 |archive-date=April 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428070151/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/03/pkk-ocalan-kurdistan-isis-murray-bookchin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Öcalan attempted in early 2004 to arrange a meeting with Bookchin through his lawyers, describing himself as Bookchin's "student" eager to adapt his thought to Middle Eastern society. Bookchin was too ill to accept the request. In May 2004 Bookchin conveyed this message "My hope is that the Kurdish people will one day be able to establish a free, rational society that will allow their brilliance once again to flourish. They are fortunate indeed to have a leader of Mr. Öcalan's talents to guide them". When Bookchin died in 2006, the PKK hailed the American thinker as "one of the greatest social scientists of the 20th century", and vowed to put his theory into practice.<ref name="biehl dialectics"/>

"[[Democratic confederalism]]", the variation on communalism developed by Öcalan in his writings and adopted by the PKK, does not outwardly seek Kurdish rights within the context of the formation of an independent state separate from Turkey. The PKK claims that this project is not envisioned as being only for Kurds, but rather for all peoples of the region, regardless of their ethnic, national, or religious background. Rather, it promulgates the formation of assemblies and organizations beginning at the grassroots level to enact its ideals in a non-state framework beginning at the local level. It also places a particular emphasis on securing and promoting [[women's rights]].<ref name="biehl dialectics"/> The PKK has had some success in implementing its programme, through organizations such as the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), which coordinates political and social activities within Turkey, and the [[Koma Civakên Kurdistan]] (KCK), which does so across all countries where Kurds live.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://new-compass.net/article/kurdish-communalism |title=Kurdish Communalism |last=Biehl |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Biehl |date=October 9, 2011 |publisher=New Compass |access-date=January 27, 2014 |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901120108/http://new-compass.net/article/kurdish-communalism |url-status=live }}</ref>