Redefining the Political. Youth Experiences of Collective Action in Turkey (Kulturelle Figurationen: Artefakte, Praktiken, Fiktionen)

This book offers an analysis of the complex and shifting conditions of being young as well as the new ways in which young people engage in politics in Turkey. It is based on a closer examination of young people’s participation in the Gezi protests in 2013. From the perspective of cultural sociology, this work presents a nuanced discussion of the roots and dynamics of young people’s unexpected engagement and spectacular appearance at the protests, with a theoretical focus on the concepts of youth and the political, by exploring questions such as: How did young people experience the protests? How did they reflect on being young? How did they define the political? Grounded in ethnographic field research conducted via in-depth interviews, this book demonstrates that what happened in the Gezi protests was not a sudden and miraculous transformation of apolitical youth into political subjects on the streets, as has often been argued in public discourse. Rather, the protests brought intoview the changes which had already been taking place in young people’s lives in Turkey as a result of the effects of both local and global processes, i.e. the influence of authoritarian politics and social change characterized by religion in everyday life, as well as the implications of neoliberal policies in the restructuring of urban spaces. Acknowledgements Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Research Questions, Approach, Aims 1.2 The Structure of the Book References 2 Methodology 2.1 Qualitative Methodology 2.1.1 Ethnographic Approach 2.2 Fieldwork 2.2.1 Preliminary Field Research 2.2.2 In-Depth Ethnographic Interviews 2.3 Data Analysis 2.3.1 Main Themes: Protest, Youth and the Political 2.4 Reflexive Notes on the Research Process 2.5 Limitations of the Fieldwork References Part I Youth in Collective Action 3 Studying Youth and Social Movements 3.1 Social Movements 3.1.1 Cultural Approach: Thoughts, Emotions, Morals, and the Performative Perspective 3.1.2 Individuals and Collective Identity 3.2 Youth and Social Movements 3.2.1 Youth Collective Action in Turkey: From the 1960s to the Post-1980 Period 3.2.2 Youth in the Global Wave of Protests in 2011–2014 3.2.3 Youth in the Gezi Protests 3.3 Conclusion References 4 Youth in the Gezi Protests: Background, the Gezi Spirit, and Aftermath 4.1 Refreshing the Memory: Before the Gezi Protests 4.1.1 Feeling Unhappy and Oppressed: The Socio-Political Context, Earlier Movements 4.1.2 Neoliberal Rule, Urban Regeneration, and Authoritarian Interventions in Everyday Life 4.2 Reasons for and Modes of Participation 4.2.1 Violent Treatment of the Protesters as “Moral Shock” 4.2.2 Spontenaous Participation 4.3 Camping Out at the Park: Rituals of Solidarity, Emotions, and the Gezi Spirit 4.3.1 Solidarity as the Ground for Collective Identity 4.3.2 Practicing Utopias 4.3.3 The Gezi Spirit 4.4 After Gezi: Transformation, Political Consciousness, and Disappointment 4.4.1 Transformation in Relations and a Developing Sense of Community 4.4.2 Increasing Political Interest and Consciousness 4.4.3 The Individual Level: Networking, Making Decisions, Taking Action 4.4.4 Critical Views, Disappointment, and Traumatic Experience 4.5 Conclusion References Part II Youth as Experience 5 Studying Youth in Social Context 5.1 Conceptualizing Youth 5.1.1 Youth as a Social Relationship 5.1.2 Studying Young People—The Concept of Generation 5.1.3 Being Young in Late Modernity: Some Reflections 5.2 Being Young in Turkey in the 2000s: Socio-Economic Circumstances and Political Atmosphere 5.2.1 Generational Characteristics of the Gezi Protests 5.3 Conclusion References 6 The Meanings of Being Young: Potential, Limitations, Mission, and Action 6.1 Being Young: Positive Potential and Capabilities 6.2 Being Young: Hierarchies, Limitations, and Obstacles 6.2.1 Generational Conflicts, Social Pressure, and Gender 6.2.2 From Education to (Un)employment: Anxiety about the Future 6.2.3 Being Young in Turkey vs. Being Young in Europe 6.3 Being Young and Being Political: Mission, and Power 6.3.1 Potential for Transformation and Political Action 6.3.2 Being Young in Social Movements/Political Organizations 6.4 Exceptional Modes of Being Young in the Gezi Protests 6.4.1 Generational Consciousness and Recognition 6.4.2 Transformation of the Perception and Experience of Youth 6.5 Conclusion References Part III Politics of Youth 7 Studying Youth and Politics 7.1 Youth Political Participation: Beyond Binary Oppositions 7.1.1 Youth Political Participation in Turkey 7.2 Defining the Political 7.2.1 The Politics of the Gezi Protests 7.3 Conclusion References 8 What is the Political? The Components of the New Post-Gezi Politics 8.1 Criticizing, Redefining, and Contextualizing the Apolitical Youth Discourse 8.1.1 What Does it Mean to be Apolitical? 8.1.2 Apolitical Youth in Their Socio-Political Context 8.1.3 Apolitical as a Concept Created by Adults 8.1.4 Apolitical Youth in the Gezi Protests 8.2 Politics as a Distant Realm: Too Far from Reality 8.2.1 Politicians: Lack of Trust 8.2.2 Political Organizations and Ideologies: No Room for Freedom and Critical Thought 8.2.3 Politics: No Hope for Change 8.3 Ways of Describing the Political: Everyday Life, Cultural Practices and Values 8.3.1 Awareness and Social Sensitivity: What is Happening to Whom in Society? 8.3.2 Everyday Life and the Individual: Relations, Consumption, and the Local 8.3.3 Values: Trust, Ethics, and Conscience 8.3.4 “Politics on Earth”: Freedom of Expression and Humor 8.3.5 Doing Politics: The Political as Practice 8.4 An Ongoing Process of Discovery: Practicing Politics on the Local Level 8.5 Conclusion References 9 Conclusion 9.1 Summary of the Research Findings and Concluding Discussion 9.2 Limitations of the Study and Notes for Future Research References