From the Gezi Park Protests to the Akbelen Forest: Care in the Context of Democracy and Political Dissent

ABSTRACT

In this essay, a brief history of environmental protests in Turkey will be followed by a discussion connected to two central frameworks: the logic of extractivism and care. Specifically, we argue that analysis of events such as the recent protests in the Akbelen Forest, just as the Gezi Park protests over a decade ago, need to account for the fact that a great deal of environmentalism and environmental activism is linked to broader social and political critique, particularly in countries such as Turkey with what is described as a “neo-authoritarian” or “new authoritarian” administration. We argue that these events and the ways in which they have materialized point to the need to pay further attention to intersections such as narrated space and spaces of narrativity, in this particular case, vis-à-vis care, democracy and political dissent.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental advocacy
• extractivism
• care
• democracy
• media
• activism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://themedialine.org/by-region/protesters-vow-to-continue-fight-to-stop-mine-expansion-in-turkish-forest/