Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler

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Alevis, the state and the Sivas incident :|problems of democratization
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Önen, Levent.; Arat, Yeşim,
The Sivas Incident is one of the most tragic and controversial events of the Republican history. It is a multidimensional event involving many critical issues that pertain to democratization of Turkey: the inadequate protection of basic civil rights, the issue of relationship between state and religion, freedom of religion and Alevi Question and the political Islamist challenge. This study aims to understand how political actors in the Parliament, judicial institutions and Alevi organizations politicized the Incident and formed competing narratives around it. I use the political contestation of the Incident between 1993 and 2015 as a novel lens to look at the problematic working of democratic institutions in Turkey and the challenge that Alevi civil society presented to it for further democratization. The methodology of this dissertation rests on the content analysis of the parliamentary records, court documents and the publications of Alevi organizations. I’ve also made use of interviews with the representatives of Alevi organizations. I benefited from a review of secondary resources including the newspaper records in my research. I show how certain violent incidents are politicized in the Turkish context because of structural vulnerabilities that have been there since the foundation of the nation state. The examination of competing narratives establishes that the dismissal of existence of sectarian motives and tensions has characterized the responses of political and judicial actors. I demonstrate the difficulty of Turkish political system to meet the demands of a marginalized community for recognition and justice.
Citizenship and identity in Turkey: the case of the post-1980 Turkish-muslim immigrants from Macedonia
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Beltan, Sude Bahar.; Arat, Yeşim,
This study traces the relationship between citizenship and identity in Turkey through analyzing the narratives and experiences of the post-1980 Turkish-Muslimimmigrants from Macedonia. It inquires the ways in which the immigrants define their identity, rationalize their migration to Turkey, make their claims to citizenship, andnarrate their interactions with the locals.The research reveals that the Turkish-Muslim immigrants from Macedonia have migrated to Turkey and have made a claim to citizenship on the grounds that they are Turks and Muslims, and that Turkey is their original "homeland". Yet, even though being Turkish and Muslim end up constituting the basic parameters of citizenship in Turkey above and beyond the claims of "civic citizenship", paradoxically these two parameters define the very grounds on which these immigrants are marginalized in Turkey. They are treated as "foreigners" because for the local population, they are "converts to Islam", even "infidels" ("gavurs") and are not Turks but "Albanians". In response to this, it is argued that the immigrants ironically respond within the same essentialist paradigm by "re-articulating" their ethnic and religious identity along "genuineness" as "pure" and "unmixed" and positing it in contrast to an "impure" and "mixed" identity that the locals hold both in ethnic and religious terms. Moreover, the immigrants emphasize their "European" experience and identity in order to differentiate themselves from the locals. Therefore it is argued that in the self-narratives of the immigrants, there is a double and paradoxical process of articulation and construction ofidentity through sameness with and difference from the locals simultaneously. Revealing the contestations over the definitions of "genuine" Turkishness andMuslimness between the immigrants and the locals; this thesis argues that Turkishness and Muslimness that are constructed and articulated on "genuineness" are the main points of reference in the definition and the imaginary of the "proper citizen" within thenarratives of the immigrants as well as in the reactions of the locals in Turkey.
Civil society and democracy: the case of a migrant association
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Demirkaya, Betül.; Arat, Yeşim,
This thesis aims to discuss the relationship between civil society and democracy by examining the case of a migrant association in Istanbul founded by people comingfrom a town in the Black Sea region. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore how and to what extent the association promotes or undermines broader and deeper political participation, the exercise of civil rights, socio-economic equality and theenjoyment of cultural differences. Although the membership is based on an inheritedcharacteristic, i.e. hometown, the association differs from traditional communities in that it is justified on the basis of sharing common cultural elements rather thancoming from a common lineage. The common hometown also functions as aninstrument in the generation of resources and power. The prospects for thecontribution of the association to democracy are analyzed by looking at the opportunities for the articulation of demands, the economic empowerment of its , members, the representation of differences and the cultivation of democratic valuesamong its members. Moreover, potential problems are also considered such asreproduction of inequalities through exclusion of non-members, maintenance of unequal power relations within the association, limitation of individual freedom of its members, promotion of undemocratic values and possibility for rent-seeking activities. The problems are argued to emerge and exacerbate depending on thedegree of dependency of its members on the association, and the lack of a issuebased perspective and institutionalized relations within the association.
Compliance and negotiation: the role of Turkish Diyanet in the production of Friday Khutbas
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2013., 2013.) Saçmalı, Muhammet Habib.; Arat, Yeşim,
Friday khutbas are important instruments for reaching the public in Turkey, since approximately twenty million men could be addressed through the khutbas in the mosques every week. These khutbas are written by officials of the Directorate of Religious Affairs in the khutba committees in each city separately and distributed to imams to be delivered during Friday prayers. Due to the fact that these khutbas are religious texts and presented by the translators of a holy text in the eyes of the public, Friday khutbas have great influence on people through appealing to their hearts and minds. I consider the state and society to be the main actors that determine and shape the position, aim, discourse, and activities of the Diyanet. With the AK Parti government, for the first time in the history of Turkish Republic there has been a cleavage between the government and established state ideology in the understandings of religion and nationalism. Because of this, I take the AK Parti government as another agent within the state in this determination and shaping. The argument of this thesis is that the officials in the khutba committee, who seem to be the real actors writing Friday khutbas are mostly passive agents and employ self-censorship in the process of khutba writing to comply with the orders and demands of the state, government, and society and to abstain from confrontation and conflict with these actors. To elaborate my thesis, I shall also present the boundaries of various kinds of initiatives taken by the Diyanet officials in the process of khutba production to stand against the demands of these actors.
Gypsies, the Roma and justice claims: the case of Lüleburgaz
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Uzun, Begüm.; Arat, Yeşim,
The Gypsy/Roma communities in Europe have turned into an intense area of focus both at the international level and in academic circles in the last decade. In Turkey, the revival of interest with the Urban Regeneration projects that demolished the Roma settlements along with others in different parts of Turkey; the persistent references to the disadvantaged position of the Gypsy/Roma in Turkey in the EU progress reports and the increasing tendency of the Turkish Roma to get organized have also attracted considerable media and academic attention in the recent years in particular and have led to the increasing involvement of NGOs in the projects targeting the Gypsy/Roma communities in different parts of Turkey. In the light of these developments (which I call the “Europeanization of the Gypsy/Roma issue”), my thesis is an attempt to focus on a seriously understudied region of Turkey- the Kuştepe and Altıyol districts of Lüleburgaz (a town in the Thrace region in the northwest Turkey where a considerably large number of people defined as Gypsy/Roma by the majority population are living.).By utilizing data obtained through in-depth interviews, informal focus groups and participant observation in these districts, this research explores the current socioeconomic status of the residents of Altıyol and Kuştepe districts and how they perceive their own identity as well as how they respond/what kind of politics they entail to cope with their marginalization. I argue that the residents of Altıyol and Kuştepe districts constitute the local manifestation of racism towards the Gypsy/Roma in Turkey and thus should be identified as “a racialized group” in terms of their political, economic and social marginalization. What is striking, however, in the case of Lüleburgaz, is that the residents of the districts perceive being a Gypsy/Roma not as an ethnic affiliation but as a social/cultural and class position and develop ways to get rid of their perceived subaltern position. In this context, the main focus of my thesis is how the survival/coping strategies of the residents of Altıyol and Kuştepe districts have been replaced with their claims to justice. On the one hand, at the discursive level, by perceiving being a Gypsy/Roma as a subaltern position instead of ethnic affiliation and by sheltering strategically within the Islamic identity, I assert that their justice claims, at the discursive level, entail having access to employment, education, better housing and welfare benefits as equal Turkish citizens. On the other hand, however, that discursive strategy has been accompanied and somehow transformed at the action level by getting organized under Roma associations which are supposed to take action against the injustices towards them on the basis of Roma ethnic identity. In this sense, though conflicting and competing in nature with regard to citizenship, those justice claims are the strategies which strikingly reflect their increasing demands for integration with the larger society.
Islamism and islamic literature in contemporary Turkey: From epic to novel understandings of Islam
(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2004., 2004.) Çayır, Kenan.; Arat, Yeşim,
This study explores Islamism and Islamic identities through literary representations of Islamism in Turkey in the last two decades, a period in which Islamism came on the public agenda through novels, films, music and other artistic productions. My focus will be in particular on the Islamic novels of the 1980s and 1990s in order to elucidate Islamist actors' perceptions of 'self' and 'other' and of the social milieu in which they lived. I will note a change in emphasis in Islamic representations and discourse between the 1980s and 1990s. I will argue that with their didactic and pedagogical narratives detailing 'how Muslims should live in the modern world,' Islamic novels of 1980s provided Islamists with a means to disseminate ideas in popularized form and to develop life strategies that paved the way for assertive collective Islamic subjectivity. By contrast, in the 1990s more self-reflexive/self-exposing novels have emerged in Islamic circles that mirror the questioning of radical conceptions of the previous decade in Islamic circles. The new Islamic novels, with their self-reflexive forms and their narratives exploring the inner conflicts of Islamic actors in the face of changing social relations challenge the collective definitions of Islamic identity and signify novel practices and interpretations of Islam.
Leadership of Meral Akşener :|transforming or reproducing the Turkish nationalist righ
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Melek, Emircan.; Arat, Yeşim,
Idealism is an eclectic nationalist ideology, where women's visibility is low and masculine indoctrination is dominant. This thesis argues that Meral Akşener transformed the nationalist right in a democratic and feminist direction with her particular personality traits and political skills. In this regard, she led to remarkable changes in the fundamental pillars of ülkücülük by changing the leadership cult and party structure, and highlighting the presence of women while preventing them from being condemned to traditional roles in the nationalist ideology. In the thesis, Meral Akşener’s transformative leadership performance is scrutinized, based on the critical discourse analysis (CDA) based on her speeches at the group meetings of IYI Party. This single case study shows the interrelationship between democratization and the feminist movement through the analysis of the transformation Meral Akşener brought to the nationalist right.
Nezihe Muhiddin: |an Ottoman Turkish women's rights defender
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 1998., 1998.) Zihnioğlu, Yaprak.; Arat, Yeşim,
This thesis has attempted to show through a study of Nezihe Muhiddin and her works that women sought their political rights before they were granted them in 1934. It has long been claimed that women were given their rights by the Kemalists and that they did not have to fight for them. This study aimed to show that through the initiative of Nezihe Muhiddin, women did fight for their rights including political rights and sought full equality. Women's struggle was suppressed, Nezihe Muhiddin was silenced and the founding fathers could claim a tabula rasa -over which they could rewrite women's history as the granters of woman's rights.
Nezihe Muhiddin: |bir Osmanlı-Türk kadın hakları savunucusu
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 1998., 1998.) Zihnioğlu, Yaprak.; Arat, Yeşim,
Bu çalışmada, Nezihe Muhiddin'in düşünceleri ve etkinlikleri incelenerek, ülkemizde 1934'de kadınlara siyasal hakların Kemalistler tarafindan verilmesinden önce, kadınların siyasal haklarını almak üzere harekete geçtikleri sergileniyor. Şimdiye değin sosyal bilimler alanında kadınların haklarının Kemalistler tarafindan verildigi ve bu hakları için mücadele etmedikleri ileri sürüldü. Bu tez, Nezihe Muhiddin'in başlattığı etkinliklerle kadınların, siyasal haklar da dahil olmak üzere tüm haklar ve tam eşitlik için mücadele ettiklerini göstermeyi amaçlıyor. Ancak kadınların bu mücadeleleri bastırıldı ve Nezihe Muhiddin susturuldu. Bunun sonucu oiarak Kemalistler "kadınlara haklarını biz verdik, onlar mucadele etmediler" iddiasını, kadın tarihini yeniden yazarak bugüne değin sürdürebildiler.
The politics of sheltering women: the case of SHÇEK
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2009., 2009.) Erdem, Aslı.; Arat, Yeşim,
This thesis aims to scrutinize the subjectivities of state social workers sheltering women inside the Directorate General of Social Services and Child Protection Institute (SHÇEK) in Turkey. SHÇEK’s shelter services had been severely criticized especially by women’s organizations in terms of its patriarchal and conservative approach towards gender-based inequalities and violence and its inability to provide an answer to women’s problems. Social workers who are stuck in the middle of this tension between the state and the women’s organizations challenge both the limits of state bureaucracy and civic volunteerism and open up a space transgressing their boundaries. This study shows that they have the potential to take on an important role as negotiators between feminists and the state, as a potential facilitator for the diffusion of feminist ethics and methods to SHÇEK. At the same time, the fact that the elimination of gender inequality and violence against women became the “state policy” in Turkey since the 1990s had limited impact on society due to a failure of implementation of new policies and reforms. It is argued that social workers, as state policy implementers, have the power to mend the breach between policy and implementation and hence build bridges between the law on paper and the life itself as well as between the state and women. Therefore, this research by enquiring about how social workers relate to the state, the feminists, and the women they work with, questions if a space can open up for an institutional transformation in SHÇEK that would eventually lead to a transformation in women’s lives in society. The data collected by interviews showed that there is a space for social workers to challenge SHÇEK’s and the state’s cosmetic, patriarchal, conservative, and pragmatic approach on violence against women, but it does not lead to an institutional transformation even though it creates significant cracks.
The presidency of religious affairs, women, and politics in Turkey: 1968 – 2014
(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Genç Yıldız, Ece Han.; Arat, Yeşim,
This study aims to provide an understanding of the evolving role of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA) or Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı and its implications for women. Due to democratization, over the years PRA’s primary role shifted from controlling religion to expanding the realm of religion. I hypothesized there is a relation between shifting sociopolitical context and Diyanet’s discourse on women. A qualitative analysis of the texts published by the PRA between 1968 and 2014 was conducted. The thesis examined the two periodicals Diyanet Aylık and Diyanet Aile, the book of İlmihal, the pronouncements publicized through the PRA’s official website, as well as the statements of the PRA notables. My cross-time comparative analysis found that the PRA has been dominated by a patriarchal discourse that reproduced gender stereotypes, hierarchy between sexes, and gendered division of labor. However, after the 1990s the PRA shifted toward a more gender - sensitive and egalitarian discourse. Dedicated efforts of the feminist movement, as well as the pursuit of EU membership were influential in transforming the state’s agenda, which in turn moderated Diyanet’s interpretation of religious norms concerning gender relations. Yet, within the last decade the PRA has been radically politicized and tilted toward a new and contradictory type of patriarchy. A critical and gender - focused study of the PRA not only makes a unique contribution to the literature on the relations between state, society and religion; but also deconstructs official religious discourse, which eventually affects the prospects of advancing gender equality in Turkey.
The teachers of the republic: mediating between state and students
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Yalaz, Evren.; Arat, Yeşim,
The purpose of this study is to examine how primary school teachers mediate the republican ideology. It aims to analyze how the teachers both contribute to there production and reinforcement of the official ideology, and on the other hand, to what extent they develop opposition, resistance and transgressions. Through considering schools as "contested domains" in which neither total domination nortotal emancipation takes place, this study analyzes the dialectical relations between the structures of the education system and the agencies of the teachers. By focusing on in-depth interviews with primary school teachers, firstly I analyze the teachers' perceptions of the Republican Days and their interpretations of republican values. Secondly, I examine teachers' conceptual perplexity in defining democracy and their discontents about the functioning of democracy in daily school life. Thirdly, I focus on teachers' conceptions of cultural differences in Turkey and explore how working experiences in the regions populated by culturally different people affect the inculcation of Kemalist ideology. Hence, by taking teachers' perceptions, interpretations and experiences as the basis of this research, I aim to analyze the contradictions between what is officially stated and what is actually lived in daily school life. Moreover, I dwell on how those contradictions lead to transformations in the boundaries of Kemalism and bring about refractions in the inculcation of official ideology.

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