National Events and the Struggle for the Fixing of Meaning: A Comparison of the Symbolic Dimensions of the Funeral Services for Atatürk and ÖZal

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 71-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günter Seufert ◽  
Petra Weyland
Keyword(s):  
Political Elite ◽  
The People ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Funeral Service ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Turkish State ◽  
Watching Tv ◽  
Turkish Society ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Point Of Reference

On April 17, 1993 the Turkish President, Turgut Özal, suddenly died, leaving the Turkish nation in a state of shock and mourning. This situation lasted for almost a week, a time full of nationwide, activities in preparation for the final services which eventually were to culminate in the state funeral. It was only after this that Turkish society returned to normal everyday life, to watch its politicians haggling over Özal's political heritage. As outsiders to Turkish society living in Istanbul at that time we became participant observers of this atmosphere of rising collective solemnity. It was the symbolic dimension of the funeral preparations and the final services which principally aroused our interest, and these are, therefore, the main reason and focus of this article. As festivities always have a reference to the self-understanding of a community or a nation, we analyzed those images and signs which reached us through reading newspapers, watching TV, listening to the radio and the people, and through personal participation in the funeral service in Istanbul. Insofar as we conceptualized Özal's funeral as a collective ceremony that both mirrored and created this society's self representation, our focus gradually broadened. Proceeding on the assumption that the comparison of two similar events at different historical moments of a society will allow us to get an insight into the development of a society’s self understanding over time, we have chosen the funerals services for Mustafa Kemal, the founder of the republic, as just such a point of reference. This will give us an insight into the development of Turkey’s great political tradition, or, more precisely, into the changing construction of national identity on the part of the political elite. In choosing the funeral service of Kemal Atatürk as such a point of comparison we do so first of all because until today Turkish state and society have been deeply characterized by and identified with this leader's legacy, and consequently any change can only be measured by taking Kemalism as a point of reference.

FRAGILE HEGEMONY, FLEXIBLE AUTHORITARIANISM, AND GOVERNING FROM BELOW: POLITICIANS' REPORTS IN EARLY REPUBLICAN TURKEY

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Metinsoy
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Party Government ◽  
The People ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Early Republican ◽  
Turkish State

AbstractThis article scrutinizes election district and inspection district reports written by the deputies of the Turkish single-party government and the role of these reports in state decision making. Underscoring social discontent and the fragile hegemony of the new regime—both of which motivated the republican elite to monitor state and party administrations and public opinion—the article argues that the practice of reporting was neither a project of social engineering nor a practice peculiar to the Turkish state but rather a requirement of a polity concerned with the opinion of its citizens. In the absence of direct political participation of the people in government, the reports mediated between the state and society. Contrary to conventional accounts of the single-party period, the article argues that the republican elite did not govern the country through top-down decrees but instead sought to ascertain public opinion and its own administrative defects so as to consolidate its fragile hegemony. Based on these findings, I propose that we redefine the early republican state as a flexible authoritarian regime that was not detached from the society.

scholarly journals Card Index of Former Latvian SSR KGB Agents: Trauma and the Path to Public Reconciliation

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 155-178
Author(s):  
Uldis Krēsliņš ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Formal Solution ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Card Index ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Historical Truth ◽  
Witch Hunt

In August 1991, the Republic of Latvia took over the documents of the former Latvian SSR KGB, including the card index of KGB agents. At that time, by postponing the card index publication, the political authorities made the issue of former KGB agents a hostage of their political interests. Discussion on the fate of the card index continued in Latvian public sphere over the next 27 years. The stance of the political elite, which found support in some groups of society, was opposed to the publication of the card index, being concerned about a possible witch-hunt and psychological trauma of the people mentioned in the card index as well as their relatives. However, as a result of public pressure, after lengthy indecision, the card index was made public in December 2018. Unfortunately, the publication of the card index has offered only a formal solution to the issue of the former KGB agents, and the expected results have been achieved from the aspect of neither historical truth nor public reconciliation. Only a small number of people mentioned in the card index have admitted the fact of their cooperation and just a few have expressed public regret. In turn, after 27 years of political elite’s hesitancy, most of the KGB persecution victims accepted the publication of the card index in silence. However, it is clear that denial and silence are not the way to public reconciliation and comprehension of trauma. Those few attempts to make one’s experience public show that in today’s situation people can seek reconciliation only with themselves and within themselves.

Historicizing the Present and Problematizing the Future of the Kurdish Problem: A Critique of the TOBB Report on the Eastern Question

1996 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ümit Cizre Sakallıoğlu
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Simple Expression ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Future ◽  
Eastern Question ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Turkish State ◽  
And Control

The role of conflict has been integral to the state and nation formation in Turkey since the inception of the Republic in 1923. Faced with the twin tasks of democratic legitimacy and maintaining control, or security and civil-centered politics, the state has historically opted for authority and control. Ironically enough, while Republican politics has emphasized unity and uniformity to limit diversity and conflict caused by class, ethnicity and Islam, the result has been the opposite. So much so that the present conflict between the state and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which has cost nearly fourteen thousand lives since 1984, has reached an abysmal point: “in the end Turkey's victory may be a Pyrrhic one. If the conflict continues without exploration of other avenues, it will most likely jeopardize Turkey's relations with Europe and the United States” (Brown 1995, p. 128). Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that Kurdish nationalism is not just a simple expression of discontent and opposition but also a challenge to the very premises on which the Turkish nation-state has been built. In that sense, the resolution of the Kurdish “problem” is of concern not only to the Kurdish population of the Republic, but involves the future shape and substance of the Turkish state and society in their entirety as well.

scholarly journals PENYULUHAN NILAI-NILAI PANCASILA KEPADA ORGANISASI SISWA INTRA SEKOLAH (OSIS) SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEJURUAN (SMK) NEGERI 39 JAKARTA

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Lusy Liany ◽  
Ely Alawiyah Jufri ◽  
Mohammad Kharis Umardani
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
National Education ◽  
The People ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Media Hegemony ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Changing Times ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Abstrak: Pancasila bagi masyarakat Indonesia bukanlah suatu hal yang baru dan asing. Pancasila terdiri dari lima sila yang tertuang dalam Pembukaan UUD 1945 Alinea ke-IV dan diperuntukkan sebagai dasar negara Republik Indonesia. Di Indonesia, pelaksanaan  pendidikan nasional diatur dalam UU No. 20 Tahun 2003 Tentang Pendidikan Nasional. Pasal 2 UU No. 20 Tahun 2003  menyebutkan bahwa: “Pendidikan nasional berdasarkan Pancasila dan Undang-Undang Dasar Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1945. Pada saat ini Pancasila seiring dengan perkembangan dan perubahan zaman yang begitu pesat dan kompleks yakni di era globalisasi ini,moralsiswa-siswi Indonesia mulai dipertanyakan. Di tengah hegemoni media, revolusi iptek tidak hanya mampu menghadirkan sejumlah kemudahan dan kenyamanan hidup bagi manusia modern, melainkan juga mengundang serentetan permasalahan dan kekhawatiran terhadap kepribadian bagi seluruh bangsa Indonesia khususnya dalam hal ini para siswa-siswa. Untuk itulah, pemberian materi tentang nilai-nilai Pancasila kepada siswa-siswi mutlak diperlukan supaya para siswa-siswa agar dapat memahami nilai-nilai yang terdapat didalam Pancasila itu sendiri sehingga dapat menerapkannya dalam kehidupan berbangsa,bernegara dan bermasyarakat.Abstrak: Pancasila for the Indonesian people is not something new and unfamiliar. Pancasila consists of five precepts contained in the 1945 opening paragraph of all IV and designated as the foundation of the Republic of Indonesia. In Indonesia, the implementation of national education stipulated in Law No. 20 Year 2003 on National Education. Article 2 of Law No. 20 of 2003 states that: "The national education based on Pancasila and the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Year 1945. At this time Pancasila along with the development and the changing times is so rapid and complex that in this era of globalization, moralsiswa-Indonesian student was questioned. In the center of media hegemony, a revolution in science and technology is not only able to present a number of conveniences and comforts of life for modern humans, but also invited a spate of issues and concerns about the personality of the people of Indonesia, especially in this case the students. For this reason, the provision of material about the values of Pancasila to students is absolutely necessary in order for the students to understand the values contained in Pancasila itself so that it can apply in the life of the nation, the state and society.

scholarly journals Административно-территориальные преобразования и переименование населенных пунктов в Калмыкии в 1990–1991 гг.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-413
Author(s):  
Evgeniy A. Gunaev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Data ◽  
Economic Reforms ◽  
Soviet Society ◽  
Population Geography ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Its Regions ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Territorial Structure ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Insight Into

Introduction. The period of perestroika was a time of active reform in all spheres of the Soviet state and society, which was reflected in changes in administrative and territorial structures throughout the country and its regions. Goals. The paper examines Kalmykia and provides an insight into administrative-territorial transformations across the republic in 1990–1991 that resulted from political democratization in the USSR and RSFSR, rehabilitation of repressed peoples, and economic reforms of perestroika. This process is studied from two perspectives: transformation of urban-type working settlements into rural ones, and renaming of localities to restore historical names. Materials and Methods. The work analyzes official (published and unpublished archival) documents of regional and federal authorities dealing with administrative and territorial reorganization, statistical data, scientific works of domestic researchers discussing Russia’s population geography and toponymy of Kalmykia. Results. The article considers the administrative and territorial structure of Kalmykia in the early 1990s focusing on changes in statuses of ‘working’ settlements, and reasons underlying their transformation back to ‘rural’ ones. The paper draws examples of respective processes in Kalmykia during 1990-1991. Conclusions. Since the early 1990s, Kalmykia — like the rest of Russia — initiated administrative ruralization, which manifested itself in transformation of urban-type settlements to rural ones due to socioeconomic reasons. Another trend of administrative -territorial changes was the active restoration of historical names explained by the de-ideologization of Soviet society and ethnocultural factors.

scholarly journals The Kurds in the Turkish–Armenian Reconciliation Process: Double-Bind or Double-Blind?

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 807-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bilgin Ayata
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Armenian Genocide ◽  
Double Bind ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Turkish State ◽  
Turkish Society ◽  
Reconciliation Process

A century after the Armenian Genocide and its ongoing denial by the Turkish state, there has emerged a notable and unprecedented interest in the Armenian past and present both in civil society discourse and scholarship in Turkey, accompanied by various reconciliation iniatives at the state and society levels. Observers have suggested that this increased engagement with Turkey's suppressed past is an outcome of its EU candidacy, the democratization reforms of the early 2000s, and the shockwave among liberal segments of Turkish society caused by the 2007 assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. I argue that this shortsighted analysis, which completely ignores the Kurdish movement's transformative challenge to Turkish denialism since the 1980s, echoes the key fallacy of present discussions of Turkey's engagement with its past: compartmentalization and disjunction of interlinked state crimes.

The Power of the People

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Metinsoy
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The People ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Social ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Modern Turkey ◽  
Urban People

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of the Republic in 1923 under the rule of Atatürk and his Republican People's Party, Turkey embarked on extensive social, economic, cultural and administrative modernization programs which would lay the foundations for modern day Turkey. The Power of the People shows that the ordinary people shaped the social and political change of Turkey as much as Atatürk's strong spurt of modernization. Adopting a broader conception of politics, focusing on daily interactions between the state and society and using untapped archival sources, Murat Metinsoy reveals how rural and urban people coped with the state policies, local oppression, exploitation, and adverse conditions wrought by the Great Depression through diverse everyday survival and resistance strategies. Showing how the people's daily practices and beliefs survived and outweighed the modernizing elite's projects, this book gives new insights into the social and historical origins of Turkey's backslide to conservative and Islamist politics, demonstrating that the making of modern Turkey was an outcome of intersection between the modernization and the people's responses to it.

RECONSIDERING STATE, PARTY, AND SOCIETY IN EARLY REPUBLICAN TURKEY: POLITICS OF PETITIONING

2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 457a-457a
Author(s):  
Yiğit Akın
Keyword(s):  
Political Elite ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The People ◽  
Early Republican ◽  
Modes Of Interaction ◽  
Discursive Field ◽  
Language Content ◽  
Insight Into

This article examines the language, content, role, and historical significance of petitions written by ordinary people to the secretary-general of the Republican People's Party in the 1920s and 1930s. Given the highly authoritarian circumstances in which other forms of expressing popular opinion were suppressed, petition writing was one of the few modes of interaction between the bureaucratic/political elites and the people. Although petitioning was an effective mechanism for the Kemalist elite to gain insight into attitudes toward the new regime, people who lacked control over bureaucratic malfeasance and injustice used petitions to involve the political elite in their everyday concerns in order to have their demands fulfilled and justice restored. Through various strategies, petitioners mediated and/or transformed the regime's nationalist and populist discourse to further their own interests. In this sense, the founding principles and the master narrative of the regime turned into a discursive field in which the meanings of “state,” “nation,” and “citizen” were being constantly redefined and contested. Petitions prove that in early republican Turkey there was a much more complicated, multilayered, multifaceted relationship between the people and state and party authorities than has previously been assumed.

Constitutional Incorporation of the (Collective) Freedom to Govern Mineral Wealth: Comparing the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zambia

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Alexandra Carleton
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Mineral Wealth ◽  
The People ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Republic

Constitutionalism may be gaining ascendancy in many countries in Africa. Yet thorough investigation of the extent to which current constitutions accord to the people their internationally recognised right to governance of their mineral wealth under Article 1(2) of the ICCPR has been lacking. Understanding the existing framework of rights which may support claims to land and natural resources is important. Constitutions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zambia demonstrate the reality of multiple, overlapping land interests and the limitations upon a people's claim to freely govern their mineral wealth.

Electronic Communication in the Paradigm of Interaction of State and Society

2020 ◽  
pp. 11-17
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Communication ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Communication Law ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Legal Communication ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

In recent decades, the phenomenon of mass electronic communication has been studied by various sciences. The right also turned out to be included in a similar discourse. Communication in the digital environment is the reason for the interaction of previously distant segments of society. In modern law, the concept of electronic communication remains in a certain sense debatable, it is often identified with legal communication. At the same time, electronic communication has an additional «dimension». The globalization of the information space encourages legal scholars to study electronic communication as the action and interaction of various actors, based on Internet technologies using web services, portals, blogs, websites, social networks. There is a need for re- levant legal regulation of the informational interaction between the authorities and society in the Republic of Belarus, in connection with which a new «field» is opening up for activities in various areas of law. The meaning of electronic communication is constantly expanding and, depending on the specialization, even varies. For an adequate understanding of electronic communication, law must take into account the tools of other humanities. In contact with the digital environment, legal science is called upon to reformat research tasks to explain the new empirical and theoretical experience associated with the transformation of the paradigm of interaction between the state and society in the network structures. The author comprehends these issues in relation to the conditions of development of e-government in the Republic of Belarus and the need for more active involvement of the public in the government.

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