Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Democratic Backsliding in Turkey: Beyond the Narratives of Progress. Issue 2 (3rd April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tansel, Cemal Burak
• Is Part Of: South European society & politics. Volume 23:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 197
• Page End: 217
• Publication Date: 2018-04-03
• Subjects: AKP -- authoritarianism -- democratic backsliding -- neoliberalism -- Turkey; Europe, Southern -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Europe, Southern -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; 940
• DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2018.1479945
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1360-8746

Abstract

Abstract: Unpacking the core themes that are discussed in this collection, this article both offers a research agenda to re-analyse Turkey's 'authoritarian turn' and mounts a methodological challenge to the conceptual frameworks that reinforce a strict analytical separation between the 'economic' and the 'political' factors. The paper problematises the temporal break in scholarly analyses of the AKP period and rejects the argument that the party's methods of governance have shifted from an earlier 'democratic' model – defined by 'hegemony' – to an emergent 'authoritarian' one. In contrast, by retracing the mechanisms of the state-led reproduction of neoliberalism since 2003, the paper demonstrates that the party's earlier 'hegemonic' activities were also shaped by authoritarian tendencies which manifested at various levels of governance.