Industrial development, relations of production and self-management in Rojava

Submitted by loveletters on June 20, 2016

This follow up question based on information supplied in the thread on population in Rojava

(http://libcom.org/forums/middle-east/population-numbers-rojava-03062016)

Right now in Efrîn there are 50 soap factories, 20 olive oil factores, 250 olive processing plants, 70 factories making construction material, 400 textile workshops, 8 shoe factories, 5 factories producing nylon, 15 factories processing marble. 2 mills and 2 hotels have been built. We are the first and only place producing soap in Syria... Before the revolution there were no other work outside of a couple craft jobs. Now in Efrîn there is no unemployment with a population of over 1 million. Everyone who wants can have a job…

-- Efrîn Economy Minister: Rojava Challenging Norms Of Class, Gender And Power, December 22, 2014

From the statement 'Before the revolution there were no other work outside of a couple craft jobs', are we to infer that all the industrial plant referred to in that quote was built from scratch by the communes?

And if so, is there any information about how the process of industrial development commenced -- how did the decisions of what to build, where and how get made and executed?

And if so, why does the PYD insist that investments of international capital are necessary? They seem to be doing pretty impressively already.

Who works in these industries, how do they live, how are they trained, how are they managed, what are their working and living conditions?

What do these workers think about the revolution? How active a part do they play in the management of their work and the world outside their work, and at what level?

What do they think of their representatives? What would they say and do if, for example, the PYD decided to attempt a 'temporary' backtrack of its libertarian ideology and declare one-party rule as an 'emergency measure' for the sake of war time efficiency, or some such thing?

What do they think about the alliances with imperialist powers made by their representatives, and the proposed alliances with world capital during the period of reconstruction? If the abolition of work and money has been sidelined by their representatives, are they even aware of it as an alternative aspiration?

Is there nobody from among the all the scores of internationalists now in Rojava investigating and writing about these questions? All first-hand discussion I've seen thus far reproduces the same vague general outline, with one or two journalistic anecdotes thrown in for 'local colour'. I would think that, given the constant comparisons with Spain, at least one or two volunteers would by now have attempted to begin the sort of rigorous research conducted by Gaston Leval et al on the experiments at collectivisation and reconstruction during the revolution.