![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
This study, first, explores the connections between neoliberal governmentality and neo-conservative nationalism, which breeds a global tendency of autocratization, from a Foucauldian perspective. Neoliberal rationality and strategy of governing is increasingly being encapsulated by the social and political hegemony which is under construction by contemporary forms of neo-conservative nationalism. We argue that both neoliberal governmentality and neo-conservative nationalism, as distinct but connected governmental rationalities, operate by way of minoritization. This power mechanism is questioned and opposed by the minoritized in their struggles for their dignity and autonomy. We define these struggles as contemporary forms of counter-conduct and bring cases from contemporary Turkey. Counter-memory practices, counter-archiving, artistic creativity, solidarity networks and collectives outside of market competition are significant here. The minoritized groups of people strive for self-definition, self-invention and self-determination beyond the imposed categorizations and limitations dictated by market competition and neo-conservative nationalism through these practices.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Cooper’s “radicalized” Marxian interpretation can be invoked here in terms of taking “neoliberalism and the new social conservatism as the contemporary expressions of capital’s double movement” (Cooper Citation2017, 18). Capital both destabilizes given social and cultural conditions and also incorporates them. As she argues, “if the history of modern capital appears on the one hand to regularly undermine and challenge existing orders of gender and sexuality, it also entails the periodic reinvention of the family as an instrument for distributing wealth and income” (Cooper Citation2017, 17).
2 We derive this sense of autonomy by thinking through both the ontology of doing developed by Holloway (Citation2010) and Foucault’s understanding in terms of “crossing over the structure” (Foucault Citation1997a) and “surpassing oneself” (Foucault Citation1997b).
3 For the ruling AKP’s version of neo-conservatism see (Ertuğrul Citation2012).
4 Deleuze’s readings of Bergson (Citation1988) and Nietzsche (Citation1983) inform this perspective. Deleuze (Citation1988, 94–97) thinks that Bergson’s concept “élan vital” expresses “the movement of life”; duration becomes life by way of actualization of virtuality in divergent lines through and in “positive acts”. Similarly, Deleuze (Citation1983, 9) stresses that Nietzsche’s concept “practical affirmation” rather than dialectical negation would enable us understand the “constitution of existence”. Hence, Deleuze and Guattari (Citation1987, 12–18) in their “post-romantic turning point” in “A Thousand Plateaus” argue that affirmation of difference in divergent lines by creating lines of flight is constitutive of existence beyond the limits of the “deep structures” or “genetic axis.”
5 Do-it-yourself (DIY) media activism in the Gezi insurgency and post-Gezi period which Özdüzen (Citation2022) explores could also be considered in this context. It is significant that the activists aimed to transform İstanbul into a “creative rebel city”.
6 There are some virtual reality documentaries on Istanbul pogrom: Deniz Mortem, “September 1955”, Virtual Reality Documentary, 2016.
7 The founding chair of AK, Osman Kavala, has been imprisoned in 2017 with the charge of financing and provoking the Gezi insurgency to overthrow the government. The Court of Cassation approved the life-imprisonment penalty in September 2023.
8 Metropolitan center of the Southeastern Turkey where predominantly Kurdish people live.
9 It has been founded in 2002 as a center of AK in Diyarbakır together with DEPO in İstanbul: https://diyarbakirsanat.org/
10 A platform which serves as a space for political and social projects, exhibitions and workshops. It is one of the centers of AK together with DSM; https://www.depoistanbul.net/about/
11 The city in the Eastern border of Turkey with Armenia.
12 This association is a member of the Tandem Project of AK, which aims to establish partnership between different cultural organisations; https://www.anadolukultur.org/EN/34-our-works/72-tandem-turkey/.
13 It means “man” in Zaza, a Kurdish dialect.
14 Vaha is a programme of AK that functions as oases for dialogue in Turkey and beyond. It is an international network. For hubs in Diyarbakır; https://vahahubs.org/hubs/diyarbakir-hub-i, https://vahahubs.org/hubs/diyarbakir-hub-ii.
19 These cases are referred to as murder of the labourers in Turkey; https://iscinayetleriniunutma.org/.
22 For instance, in post-Tahrir Egypt there is a similar (we are going to refer to BAKMA digital Project in Turkey below) digital archive project; https://858.ma/grid/title. Tahrir insurgency can be considered as a counter-conduct of minoritized (by neoliberalism and authoritarianism) social actors against authoritarian rule in Egypt which had entrenched neoliberal rationality. It gave rise to “new subjectivities and insurgent endeavours” among the youth, middle class and urban and rural poor who “emerged from their neighborhoods, factories, and farms to challenge their bosses, managers and patrons in pursuit of enhanced life chances and dignified lives”. (Bayat Citation2017, 187–188)
23 In Turkish it has a double meaning; act of looking and an injunction for not to look; https://bak.ma/
24 The references here almost cover most of the social, cultural and political activism dynamics in contemporary Turkey.
25 There is also a similar digital platform that documents and archives creative expressions, stories, poems, documentaries, photographs, artistic expressions about dignity of Syrian people; https://beta.creativememory.org/
26 A city and region in Eastern Turkey where predominantly Kurdish-Alevi people live.
27 A ruined medieval Armenian city within the provincial boundaries of Kars in Turkey.
28 Another example is Koli Art Space in Yel değirmeni; https://linktr.ee/koliartspace, https://www.instagram.com/koliartspace/.
29 Kankaproductions, for instance, produce creative documentaries on the memory and history of the movement. Another production company is Label productions.
30 Such as the platform of Arganotlar Sanat and Velvele.net
31 Ülker Street was the ghetto of trans women in Taksim, İstanbul. They were expelled from the street they used to live and work at as a part of the gentrification process.
32 Koli has a double meaning in the way it is used here. It is included in Lubunca, a language which is created by transgender sex workers incorporating words from the languages of the non-Muslim minorities. In Turkish, it is also used to refer to a box like structure which is open to experimentation as a result of being easily broken down and reassembled. https://www.instagram.com/koliartspace/
34 We conducted an interview with the representative of SAHA on 27 September 2023. She explained that SAHA is a non-profit organization primarily supporting the art production of Turkish artists abroad. However, they also supported institutions concerned with art production in Turkey by SAHA Sustainability Fund. They supported KOLİ Art Space and sub.squ through this fund.
36 Çanakkale (known for Dardanelles) is a city in the northwest Turkey between Marmara and the Aegean Sea.
37 Butterflies are used as a symbol for gender reassignment. A month after the monument was placed, the inscription “To the 99 Golden Girls Who Saw the Golden Age of Ülker Street” was covered by the people of the neighbourhood, but butterflies were left behind. Darıcıoğlu states that this is a proof of the invisibility of trans people. (Darıcıoğlu Citation2014)