CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION IN TURKEY: A CASE OF EMANCIPATORY-CRITICAL SECURITY THINKING AND PRACTICE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ERTUĞRUL EROL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS NOVEMBER 2013 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Bilgin Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çıtak Co-Supervisor Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çıtak (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Bilgin (Bilkent University, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür (METU, IR) Asst. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Altınay (Sabancı University, FASS) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Ertuğrul Erol Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION IN TURKEY: A CASE OF EMANCIPATORY-CRITICAL SECURITY THINKING AND PRACTICE Erol, Ertuğrul Ph.D., Department of International Relations Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çitak Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Bilgin November 2013, 276 pages This thesis studies the issue of emancipatory agency in Critical Security Studies through the empirical case of Conscientious Objectors in Turkey. Trying to formulate a more practical way of looking into counter-hegemonic agency in Critical Security Studies, this study suggests the use of the concept of acts, and acts of dissidence in particular in a way to move away from the pre-occupation with great events and patterns to more daily ruptures and cracks in the given. The research frames Conscientious Objectors in Turkey as an agent of emancipatory- critical security thinking that aims to go beyond statist and militarist understandings of security and promote the idea of ‘security without militarism’and ‘security as emancipation’. Keywords: Critical Security Studies and emancipation, agency, acts, Turkey, conscientious objection iv ÖZ ÖZGÜRLEŞTİRİCİ – ELEŞTİREL BİR GÜVENLİK ANLAYIŞI VE UYGULAMASI ÖRNEĞİ OLARAK TÜRKİYE’DE VİCDANİ RED Erol, Ertuğrul Doktora, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Zana Çıtak Ortak Tez Yôneticisi: Doç. Dr. Pınar Bilgin Kasım 2013, 276 sayfa Bu çalışma Eleştirel Güvenlik Çalışmalarında özgürleştirici faillik konusunu Türkiye’deki Vicdani Red hareketi üzerinden incelemektedir. Bu tez Eleştirel Güvenlik Çalışmaları kapsamında pratik uygulamaya daha yatkın bir faillik anlayışının geliştirilebilmesi için eylem, özellike görüş ayrılığı-muhalif eylem, kavramını sunmaktadır. Bu şekilde faillik merkezini büyük olay ve kalıplardansa gündelik direniş hareketlerinde, hegemonyada oluşan kılcal çatlak ve fisürlerde aramanın uygunluğunu anlatmaktadır. Araştırma Türkiye Vicdani Red hareketini, bu bağlamda, özgürleştirici-eleştirel bir güvenlik failliği olarak ele almakta ve bu hareketin güvenliği devletçi ve militarist güvenlik anlayışının ötesinde geçilip özgürleşme temelinde güvenlik ve militarist olmayan güvenlik anlayışı çerçevesinde ele aldığını savunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Eleştirel Güvenlik Çalışmaları ve özgürleşme, faillik, eylem, Türkiye, Vicdani Red v To My Beloved Parents vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zana Çıtak and co-supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Bilgin for their guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the research. This study would have been truly impossible without the great help they never refrained from offering to the author. The author would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Jef Huysmans for his invaluable insights and guidance. The constructive feedback offered by the examination committee members, Assoc. Prof. Dr Oktay Tanrısever, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür, and Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Gül Altınay, have been greatly appreciated. The author also wishes to express his gratitude to his parents, who have been nothing but patient and thoroughly supportive at all times and by all means. Without their encouragement, emotional support, and parental ‘badgering’, it would not be possible for the author to finalise this research. The author would also like to thank all his friends for believing in him and giving him courage and hope when things might look overwhelming. Special thanks need to be uttered, alphabetically, for Ceren Babür, Deniz Ural, Gökçe Balaban, Melek Kırmacı, Ömer Cander, and Özge Hekimoğlu. Last but not the least, many thanks to my other half for putting up with me and supporting me in every way possible throughout this journey. This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ..........................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ...............................................................................................................................v DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ....................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................1 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND MOTIVATIONS .....................................8 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................11 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................14 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................18 OUTLINE ....................................................................................................19 2. SECURITY STUDIES DIFFERENTIATED ......................................................21 AN OUTLOOK AT SECURITY THEORIZING ...................................................23 TRADITIONAL SECURITY STUDIES ....................................................25 INTELLECTUAL HERITAGE LEADING UP TO THE FORMATION OF CRITICAL APPROACHES TO SECURITY....................................... 26 CRITICAL APPROACHES TO SECURITY IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA ................................................................................................... 30 CRITICAL SECURITY STUDIES .............................................................35 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................42 3. NORM DIFFUSION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE .......................................44 NORM DIFFUSION: DEFINITIONS .....................................................................45 NORM DIFFUSION: A PROCESS ........................................................................47 NORM EMERGENCE ................................................................................51 NORM INITIATION ...................................................................................52 viii DIFFUSION AND SOCIALIZATION PHASE ..........................................55 THE LOCALIZATION PHENOMENON ..................................................63 INTERNALIZATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION ........................69 NORM DIFFUSION: WHERE DOES IT FALL SHORT? ....................................70 4. EMANCIPATION RE-VISITED ........................................................................75 WHAT IS EMANCIPATION: A THEORY OF PROGRESS AND “A BETTER WORLD” .................................................................................................................78 EMANCIPATION AS AN EMPIRICAL PROCESS OF BECOMING SUBJECTS ..............................................................................................................83 BECOMING SUBJECTS ............................................................................83 EMANCIPATION AS A PROCESS .........................................................100 5. RE-THINKING AGENCY: INTRODUCING ACTS IN PROCESSES ..........104 AGENCY IN CRITICAL SECURITY STUDIES AND ITS CRITIQUES.......... 104 THE NEED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTION OF AGENCY.............. 105 CRACKS, FISSURES AND INTERRUPTIONS: CREATIVE ACTS OF DISSIDENCE ........................................................................................................109 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ACT .......................................................111 ACTS OF DISSIDANCE: TACTICAL ACTS VS STRATEGIC ACTS. 115 THE PROMISE OF PROCESSES: SUBSTANTIALISM VS RELATIONALISM