Narrative Traditions in International Politics: Representing Turkey (The Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication)

This book introduces the concept of narrative tradition to study representation in international politics. Focusing specifically on the case of Turkey, the book shows how narrative traditions are constructed, maintained, and passed on by a loose epistemic community that involves practitioners and experts including scholars, journalists, diplomats, and political representatives. Employing an interpretative approach, the book distinguishes between four narrative traditions in the study of Turkey: Turkey as a state that is (1) getting lost, (2) standing at a decisive crossroad, (3) led by strongmen, and (4) struggling with a creeping Islamisation. These narrative traditions carry enduring beliefs that not only describe, moralise, judge, and stigmatise Turkey, but also contribute to the idea of the West. The book focuses on knowledge that is produced from a Western perspective, showing that Turkey provides a channel through which the Western self can be debated, challenged, celebrated, and judged. Johanna Vuorelma is a researcher at the Centre for European Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland. She holds a PhD from the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK. Her current research project (2021-2024), funded by the Kone Foundation, examines irony in international politics Contents Chapter 1: Representing the International From Observation to Representation Narrative Traditions and Knowledge Production Imagining Turkey in International Politics From Crossroads to Strongmen References Chapter 2: From Beliefs to Traditions The Socratic Problem in International Politics Second-order Representations in International Politics Social Heritage and Loose Epistemic Communities Narrative Traditions Carry Beliefs A Narrative Approach in International Politics Autobiographical, Strategic, and Ontological Narratives The Limits of Identity-based Models Conclusion: Learning to See the International References Chapter 3: Turkey Getting Lost Losing a State in International Politics Constructing a ‘Losing’ Tradition The Strategic Stability of the Cold War The Post-Cold War Years of Disorientation The Formative Years of the AKP-led Government The Authoritarian Turn in the 2010s Conclusion: Moralising the International References Chapter 4: Turkey at a Perpetual Crossroads Metaphorical Thought in International Politics The Early Crossroads in the 1900s Representing a Disoriented Turkey After the Cold War The Enduring Crossroads in the 2000s Conclusion: On the Road Again References Chapter 5: Strongmen Embodying Turkey The Classical Tropes and the ‘Strongmen’ Narrative Tradition The Early 1900s Strongman The Return of the Strongman The Universal Strongmen and the Enduring Hunger for Power Conclusion: Fictitious Personalities of International Politics References Chapter 6: Continuously Creeping Islamisation Creeping on the Backstage The Post-Cold War Representation of Political Islam The AKP Era and the Question of Sincerity Towards Another Decade of AKP Rule Conclusion: Representing an Old, Creeping Force References Chapter 7: Conclusion: A Long Conversation about Turkey and the West The Enduring West Reflections on the International References Index "This book introduces the concept of narrative tradition to study representation in international politics. Focusing specifically on the case of Turkey, the book shows how narrative traditions are constructed, maintained, and passed on by a loose epistemic community that involves practitioners and experts including scholars, journalists, diplomats, and political representatives. Employing an interpretative approach, the book distinguishes between four narrative traditions in the study of Turkey: Turkey as a state that is (1) getting lost, (2) standing at a decisive crossroad, (3) led by strongmen, and (4) struggling with a creeping Islamisation.These narrative traditions carry enduring beliefs that not only describe, moralise, judge, and stigmatise Turkey, but also contribute to the idea of the West. The book focuses on knowledge that is produced from a Western perspective, showing that Turkey provides a channel through which the Western self can be debated, challenged, celebrated, and judged."-- Provided by publisher