Abstract
Examining Turkey’s Gezi Park protests of 2013 as a representative case of the globally surging protest movements since 2011, this study claims that the basic aim of the protests is to contest the foundational rationality of the modern state, which, I argue, is based on a patriarchal social contract that empowers the state with the authority to represent the interests and speak on behalf of citizens using a logic of protection, and to construct, enforce, and monitor a regime of citizenship where citizens can only function as emasculated subjects who are dependent on the protection of the state. Based on an analysis of the use of gender metaphors and familial tropes by the AKP government, and the subversive use of humor and irony by the protestors, this article demonstrates that the protests target the patriarchal premises of modern statehood, both in its democratic (fraternal patriarchy) and authoritarian (paternalistic patriarchy) forms, and the state’s disciplinary, regulatory, and remedial interventions toward the interpellation of the citizen as an infantile or feminine subject who is not capable of meeting their needs and interests on their own, and whose life, therefore, needs to be continually monitored, controlled, and regulated by the state. Drawing on criticism brought to the contractual foundations of the modern state by feminist political theorists, this study makes use of the notion of modern patriarchy as a story told by social contract theories, which generates a power relationship between the state and the citizen based on the projection of threat where the state assumes the role of the protector. I conclude that objecting to these modern forms of subjugation, the Gezi Park protests call for a post-patriarchal state where it no longer resorts to a patriarchal protectionist logic that is justified through the claim that it represents the interests of its citizens. By envisioning such a post-patriarchal state, I interpret the protests as a call for the renegotiation of the foundational premises of modern statehood such that the state-citizenship relationship is radically reformulated to enable a more empowered and autonomous citizen.
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Notes
The AKP (Justice and Development Party) was founded under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2001 after its predecessor was closed by the Constitutional Court for activities against the “Laicism” clause of the Turkish Constitution. The AKP came to power in 2002 and has won every election after that often receiving close to 50%% of the vote. In 2014 Erdoğan became the President after Turkey’s first Presidential election.
The AKP Executive Board met on 9 June 2013 to discuss the Gezi Park incident and later made a statement to the media that the protests were part of an internationally supported civilian coup attempt (Şahan 2013).
“Gezi Solidarity Videos.” Everywhere Taksim. http://everywheretaksim.net/tag/gezi-solidarity-videos-2/ . 21 July 2013; “Kırmızılı Kadın Brezilya’da!” Radikal, http://www.radikal.com.tr/dunya/kirmizili_kadin_brezilyada-1141510/. Retrieved 13 May 2017. See different country cases covered at http://www.globaluprisings.org/Retrieved 13 May 2017; see also, (Ezbawy 2012; Mercea and Bastos 2016).
For more on women’s controlled inclusion in the public sphere as a means of generating political power, see (Çınar 2008).
On the “honor of the state,” see, Parla 2001.
“Dindar Bir Gençlik Yetiştirmek Istiyoruz [We Want to Raise a Pious Youth.]” Hürriyet. 1 February 2012. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/19819295.asp. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“Üniversitede Alkol Yasağı.” [Alcohol Ban in Universities]. Hürriyet. 8 September 2012. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/universitede-alkol-yasagi-21411434. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“Evlerde Kızlı Erkekli Kalmaya Izin Yok.” [Girls and Boys not Permitted to Live Together] Milliyet Haber, 5 November 2013. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/erdogan-dan-tartisilan-aciklamaya/siyaset/detay/1787437/default.htm. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
Cengiz, Orhan Kemal. “Erdogan’s ‘Morality Police’ Assume Duty.” Al Monitor. 6 November 2013. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/turkey-morality-police-erdogan.html#. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı: Devlet Övünç Madalyası Tevcih Töreni’nde Yaptıkları Konuşma.” Official Site of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, 16 March 2015. http://www.tccb.gov.tr/konusmalar/353/29802/devlet-ovunc-madalyasi-tevcih-toreninde-yaptiklari-konusma.html. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“Mahalle Baskısı Yapmak Lazım.” [Social pressure is needed] NTV, 5 March 2015. http://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-mahalle-baskisi-yapmak-lazim,fNzX10wBcEOny1vy2kjP6w. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“Erdoğan: Kürtaj Bir Cinayettir.” [Erdoğan: Abortion is Murder] Milliye Habert, 26 May 2012. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/erdogan-kurtaj-bir-cinayettir/siyaset/siyasetdetay/26.05.2012/1545254/default.htm. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
R.T. Erdoğan, “Biz Ferhat’ız siz Şirinsiniz” [We are Ferhat, You are Şirin] Akasyam Haber, 30 September 2013, http://www.akasyam.com/biz-ferhatiz-siz-sirinsiniz-9810/. Retrieved 01 Aug 2016.
Kemalism, named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, upholds secularism, modernization, and Westernization, and has been the basis of all three constitutions of the Turkish Republic.
“Erdoğan: Ne olur bana bunu demeyin.” [Erdoğan: Please don’t call me that]. Yeni Şafak. 12 March 2014. http://www.yenisafak.com/video-galeri/politika/erdogan-ne-olur-bana-bunu-demeyin-14403. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
See, for example, “Başbakan: Bu Tayyip Erdoğan değişmez [Erdoğan: This Tayyip Erdoğan Will not Change].” Hürriyet. 12 June 2013. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/23479966.asp. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
“Erdoğan: ‘Türkiye’nin yüzde 50’sini zor tutuyoruz’ [We can hardly hold back 50% of Turkey]” Milliyet Haber. 3 June 2013. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/basbakan-4-gun-yok/siyaset/detay/1717873/default.htm. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
“Interest lobby” is a term used by the AKP circles to refer to the international banking and financial sector, which operates based on the anti-Islamic principle of financial interest. Erdoğan frequently uses the term to refer to an alleged conspiracy of foreign and domestic economic actors who want to destabilize Turkey for economic gains. “Erdoğan: Gezi gençleri faiz lobisinin neferi oldu [The Gezi Youth have become soldiers for the Interest Lobby.]” NTV. 22 June 2013. http://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/erdogan-faiz-lobisinin-neferi-oldular,hRBnD9YIYkehfPQCWqTF4g. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
“Başbakan Erdoğan: ‘Avrupa Parlamentosu’nun Kararını Tanımıyorum.’ [Prime Minister Erdoğan: I do not Recognize the Decision of the European Parliament.]” Bianet. 13 June 2013. http://www.bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/147529-avrupa-parlamentosu-nun-kararini-tanimiyorum. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
“Gezi Parkı’na Kadın Zinciri.” [Chain of Women at Gezi Park]. Bianet. 13 June 2013. http://bianet.org/bianet/toplum/147555-gezi-parki-na-kadin-zinciri, Retrieved 15 May 2017.
Ibid.
Erdem Çolak draws attention to the widespread use of Second New verses by the Gezi protestors and points out that this movement later organized under names such as the “Second New” or #siirsokakta (poems in street) in the social media (2014, p. 472).
See, for example, “Erdoğan: Herkes uzaya gitmekle meşgulken Gezi Parkı’nda oynadılar [They have played at the Gezi Park while everyone was busy doing space travel].” BirGün. 24 March 2017. http://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/erdogan-herkes-uzaya-gitmekle-mesgulken-gezi-parki-nda-oynadilar-152460.html. Retrieved 15 May 2017; “Erdoğan: Gezi olaylarındaki gibi, gençlerimize bedava alkol dağıtmaktan geri durmuyorlar! [Just like in the case of Gezi events, they are giving away free alcohol to our youth!]” T24. 3 March 2017. http://t24.com.tr/haber/erdogan-gezi-olaylarindaki-gibi-genclerimize-bedava-alkol-dagitmaktan-geri-durmuyorlar,391914. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
On the details of the Internal Security Package, see Kadri Gürsel, “Turkey’s perilous security package.” Al Monitor. 20 February 2015. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/turkey-security-package-threatens-security.html, Retrieved 15 May 2017. After the declaration of State of Emergency following the 2016 July coup attempt, measures against all forms of protest have been suppressed by increasingly aggressive means.
İstanbul BIA News Desk. 20 February 2019. “Osman Kavala, 15 Rights Defenders Facing Life Sentence Over Gezi Park Protests.” Bianet - English. https://www.bianet.org/english/law/205683-osman-kavala-15-rights-defenders-facing-life-sentence-over-gezi-park-protests. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
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Acknowledgements
I am indebted to my dear friend and colleague Meral Uğur Çınar who has been part of this study since its conception. This article would not have been possible without her insightful observations, creative input, and invaluable contributions made at every step of the research and preparation of the manuscript. Translations of the source titles are by Meral Uğur Çınar; all other translations are by the author.
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Çınar, A. Negotiating the foundations of the modern state: the emasculated citizen and the call for a post-patriarchal state at Gezi protests. Theor Soc 48, 453–482 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-019-09350-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-019-09350-8