Gramsci in Taksim A Critical Appraisal of Dualist Approaches to the Occupy Gezi Movement

Transcription

1 Gramsci in Taksim A Critical Appraisal of Dualist Approaches to the Occupy Gezi Movement Gorkem Altinors Ph.D. Candidate University of Nottingham ldxga5@nottingham.ac.uk CSSGJ Seminar Series February 22,

2 Outline Research Project in a Nutshell Centre-Periphery Rela7ons The Integral State The State-Society Rela7ons Urbanisa7on Occupy Gezi Movement The Role of Mainstream Media Conclusion 2

3 Research Project in a Nutshell AKP Justice and Development Party % (363 MPs) % (341 MPs) % (327 MPs) 2015 (1) 40.8% (258 MPs) 2015 (2) 49.50% (317 MPs) Political Islam in Turkey Historical specificity Profound class contradictions Early and comparatively high level of industrialisation Neoliberalism Deregulation, privatisation, deunionisation, and withdrawal of the state (Harvey 2005). Gramscian Historical Materialism (GHM) Passive revolution? Consent vs. Coercion? Hegemony vs. Authoritarianism? The State vs. Civil society? 3

4 The Three Pillars of AKP s Hegemony POLITICAL ISLAM + NEOLIBERALISM = AKP'S HEGEMONY URBANISATION EDUCATION MEDIA Re-commodification of Space with Islamic Characteristic Islamicisation of Basic Education CreaMon of Progovernment Media Providing Incentives for Pro-government Capital Marketisation of Higher Education The disciplining of Mainstream Media 4

5 Centre-Periphery Relations the opposition of center and periphery became the outstanding issue of Ottoman political and economic life (Mardin 1973: 170). the difficulties of democracy in Turkey manifest themselves in two interconnected ways. The state elites are sensitive to the crisis of integration and therefore not sympathetic towards the periphery (Heper 1985: 98). the bureaucracy reacted against incorporation into the capitalist system, and a class struggle ensued between it and the burgeoning bourgeoisie (Keyder 1987: 2). the Turkish secular reforms not only hyphenated state and society but defined the Republican state against traditional society (Yavuz 2003: 7). 5

6 Centre-Periphery Relations Islamic mobilization is the reconstitution of hegemony as a response to organic crises. Hegemony operates by linking society and state as the sphere where society organizes to shape state policies but also to define the nature of the state and political unity without political society, the state is an abstract entity, a body of armed men (and occasionally women) accompanied by some people in robes (judges, professors, bureaucrats) (Tuğal 2009: 24-5). Since the early 1980s, neoliberalism has been accompanied by uncertainty in the power relaqons between forces of capital, ciqzens, and civil military relaqons. As a Qmespecific project for reconsqtuqng the economy, the state, and society, neoliberalism has been subject to conflicqng interpretaqons, tacqcal alliances, and civilian military poliqcal struggles (Atasoy 2009: 77). 6

7 The Integral State We are still on the terrain of the identification of State and government an identification which is precisely a representation of the economiccorporate form, in other words of the confusion between civil society and political society. For it should be remarked that the general notion of State includes elements which need to be referred back to the notion of civil society (in the sense that one might say that State = political society + civil society, in other words hegemony protected by the armour of coercion) (Gramsci 1971: 262-3). 7

8 The Integral State The Integral State = Hegemony protected by the armour of coercion (Buci-Glucksmann 1980: 91) State or Political Society Dictatorship Apparatus of coercion (army, police, administration, courts, bureaucracy, etc.) Government (= state in the strict sense) State as apparatus of power Domination Civil society Hegemony Apparatuses of hegemony (cultural, political, economic) State in the integral sense State as organizer of consent Leadership 8

9 The State-Society Relations Centre-Periphery Rela0ons The separation of state civil society as autonomous entities and assumed antagonism The market-the state, the economic-the political are considered as separate spheres The acceptance of civil society as automatically progressive The disregard of social relations of production The Integral State The symbiotic understanding of state civil society relations and class antagonism The market the state and the economic-the political are conceptualised holistically Civil society is not necessarily progressive Social relations of production at first 9

10 Urbanisation 10

11 Urbanisation Four phases of urban hegemony in Turkey (Cavusoglu and Strutz 2014) : The redistribution of rural land : The redistribution of urban land : The redistribution of construction rights 2000-present: The redistribution of noncommodified land Table of population ratio in rural and urban space (turkstat.gov.tr) 11

12 Urbanisation 12

13 Occupy Gezi 13

14 Why Taksim? 14

15 Why Taksim? 15

16 Why Taksim? The Ataturk Cultural Centre during Occupy Gezi movement in June 2013, Photo: Ali Kazma The Ataturk Cultural Centre on 26 th November 2015, Photo: GA 16

17 Why Taksim? 17

18 Occupy Gezi 18

19 Property Belongs to Allah Capital Be Gone! 19

20 Occupy Gezi 20

21 Media 21

22 Media (NTV - Doğuş Holding) 22

23 Media (Doğan Holding) 23

24 Media (Partisan Media) 7 th June

25 Media (Turkuvaz Media) Invasion! 1 st Anniversary of Gezi The Englishman (David Harvey) made a call for chaos! The English press; BBC, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Financial Times are waiting for the chaos! 25

26 Media and Urban Regeneration Tenders (Construction) from state institutions to Kalyon Holding (MÜSİAD) and Çalık Holding (TÜSİAD); Turkuvaz Media (ATV, Sabah and Takvim), total: 14,510 Million source: networks of dispossession Tenders (Construction) from state institutions to Sembol Holding (TUSKON) (Star and 24TV), and Albayrak Holding; YENİ ŞAFAK (MÜSİAD ad TUSKON) total: 1,335 Million source: networks of dispossession 2012 Taksim Pedestrianisation Project 13 Million 2013 Mecidiyeköy Mahmutbey Metro 200 Million -- Vatan Caddesi Gelirler İdaresi Hizmet Binası 15 Million Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality TOKI 2013 Şile Ağva Motorway Third Airport Million 2007 Tarlabaşı Urban Regeneration Project 95 Million 2011 Şehrizar Housing Project 235 Million 3 Ministries Beyoğlu Municipality And 2 Ministries TOKI Harbiye Conference Centre - 55 Million Haliç Marina Million Taksim 4.Levent Metro Million Mavişehir Housing Project 3rd Stage Million 2009 Fener-Balat Urban Regeneration Project 95 Million Fatih Municipality 26

27 Media and Urban Regeneration Tenders (Construction and Energy) from state institutions to Doğuş Group (TÜSİAD) (NTV and STAR TV), total: 1,967 Million source: networks of dispossession Media Ownership and non-media urbanisationrelated investments in Turkey (as of 2015) 2003 Turgutreis Marina 15 Million 2006 Otogar BaşakşehirMetro (M3) 675 Million 2007 Artvin and Aslancik Hydroelectricity plants 350 Million 2012 Üsküdar - Altunizade - Ümraniye - Dudullu Metro (M5) 515 Million 2013 Salı Pazarı Port (The Galataport Project) Privatisation 330 Million 2013 Konya - Mavi Tünel Water Purification Project 12 Million 2014 Ankara - Sivas High Speed Train Project Between Kayaş and Kırıkkale 70 Million Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality From Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Ministry of Forest and Water Management Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication and Prime Ministry, Privatisation Administration Ministry of Forest and Water Management Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication Doğan Group Hurriyet, Posta, Kanal D, CNN Turk Energy, Real Estate Dogus Group NTV, STAR TV Construction, Marina, Real Estate, Energy Zirve Sabah, ATV, Takvim Construction, Energy Ciner Haberturk Energy, Mining, Construction Sancak Star, Aksam, DIGITURK, 24 Energy Feza and Samanyolu Zaman and STV The Gulen movement Albayrak Yeni Safak, TVNET Construction, Energy Koza Ipek Bugun, Kanalturk Mining, Construction Ihlas Turkiye, TGRT, IHA Construction Demiroren Milliyet, Vatan Energy, Construction Akbay Sozcu Construction Ozbolat Yurt Construction Saran UEFA and FIFA broadcasting rights Energy 27

28 Conclusion Rather than an exclusively secular and middle class activism, the Gezi movement should be understood as a counter-hegemonic uprising based on different class fractions and ideological groups against the AKP s authoritarian neoliberal hegemony which, in the words of Antonio Gramsci, is fast losing the unstable equilibrium between coercion and consent. 28

29 Bibliography Photo credits: Nar Photos Cap6ons: Google Maps, h;p://bianet.org/ Atasoy, Yıldız (2009), Islam's Marriage with Neo-liberalism : state transforma7on in Turkey. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Buci-Glucksmann, Chris6ne (1980), Gramsci and the State. London: Lawrence and Wishart. Çavusoglu, Erbatur., & Strutz, Julia (2014) `We`ll Come and Demolish Your House.` The Role Of Spa6al (Re- )Produc6on In The Neoliberal Hegemonic Poli6cs Of Turkey in Bekmen, A., Akca, I., & Özden, B. A.. Turkey reframed: cons7tu7ng neoliberal hegemony. Pluto Press: London Gramsci, Antonio (1971), Selec7ons from the Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence and Wishart. Harvey, David. (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heper, Me6n (1985), The State Tradi7on in Turkey. Beverley: Humani6es Press. Keyder, Çağlar (1987), State and Class in Turkey : A study in capitalist development. London: Verso. Mardin, Serif (1973), 'Center-Periphery Rela6ons: A key to Turkish poli6cs?', Daedalus, 102 (1), Tuğal, Cihan (2009), Passive Revolu7on : Absorbing the Islamic challenge to capitalism. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Yavuz, Hakan (2003), Islamic Poli7cal Iden7ty in Turkey. Oxford: Oxford University Press. h;p:// h;p://mulksuzles6rme.org/ 29