Democratic confederalism, also known as Kurdish communalism, Öcalanism, or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features of a confederation based on the principles of autonomy, direct democracy, political ecology, feminism ("Jineology"), multiculturalism, self-defense, self-governance, and elements of a cooperative economy. Influenced by social ecology, libertarian municipalism, Middle Eastern history, and general state theory, Öcalan presents the concept as a political solution to Kurdish national aspirations and other fundamental problems in countries in the region deeply rooted in class society, and as a route to freedom and democratization for people around the world.