Dr. Muzaffer Kaya
Authoritarianism and Struggle for Democracy: Contemporary Politics in Turkey
In this seminar we will read and discuss the recent socio-political developments in Turkey, which is in turbulent times. In the first years of AKP government, Turkey was presented as a "model" for all the Muslim world by Western powers. Especially during the Arab Spring the "Turkish model" was very popular in Western public opinion. However after the Gezi Park protests in 2013, the moderate reformist image of the AKP government has been questioned seriously. Later, the Turkish government's collaborations with jihadist groups in Syria’s civil war and the restarting of war against the Kurdish movement has caused the collapse of the "Turkish model" in the eyes of the Western world.
In this course, we will analyze the rapid changes that happened in recent years in Turkey, by taking into consideration the historical background and the global context. The course consists of two parts. The first part includes a brief history of authoritarianism and democracy in Turkey and a detailed analysis of the current political situation. The socio-economic transformations are also covered in that section. The second part covers the social and political movements in Turkey, such as the workers' movement, radical left movements, the Kurdish movement, the Alevi movement, political Islam, extreme right organizations, feminist and LGBTIQ movements, environmental movements and Gezi Park protests.
The course will mainly be in English, but depending on students' requests it may contain some course material in Turkish.
Time:
Four hours // every two weeks
Friday morning 10:00 – 14:00
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