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Masculinities of the State: the Prime Minister and the Police in Turkey

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Masculinities of the State: the Prime Minister and the Police in Turkey MASCULINITIES OF THE STATE: THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE POLICE IN TURKEY A dissertation presented by Betul Eksi to The Department of Sociology & Anthropology In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Sociology Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts December 2015 MASCULINITIES OF THE STATE: THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE POLICE IN TURKEY by Betul Eksi ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University December 2015 ii Abstract Political power and gendered (as opposed to gender neutral) politics constantly inform and intimately shape each other. Burgeoning ethnographies of the state draw attention to the daily construction of the state while the feminist state literature has long documented several ways in which the state is gendered, largely focusing on the bifurcated nature of its laws and regulations, effects of state policies on women, and the interactions between women’s movements and the state. Although both bodies of literature have made valuable contributions to our understanding of the modern state and how it operates, the significance of men and masculinities has largely been neglected in the study of the state. This dissertation contributes to ongoing debates in Turkey and elsewhere about the growing authoritarianism of political regimes and police militarization, paying attention to the link between masculinities and democracy/authoritarianism. This study has uncovered what I call “masculinities of the state” in an attempt to identify and understand mechanisms of engendering political processes, institutions and norms. By using a multi-method approach, this study identifies the mutual construction of statehood and masculinities through everyday practices of state officials at different levels of the state: the prime minister and the Turkish National Police (TNP) between 2002 and 2015. This dissertation unravels the multiplicity, historicity, and contextuality of policing, police masculinities and political masculinities in Turkey, rather than seeing the masculinity of a political leader and police masculinities as constant and monolithic. Also, unlike the literature that envisions the police as a direct embodiment of the state or merely as one of the violent arms of the state, this research demonstrates the ways in which policing(s) are historically contingent, and constantly in the making in relation to ongoing political transformations as well as shifting political actors both within the organization and across the state. iii The analysis of police masculinities in relation to the gendered charisma of a political leader reveals the connections between the law enforcement and the political regime in Turkey. The shifting configuration of hegemonic masculinity of the prime minister and three models of policing and associated police masculinities that have emerged in Turkey inform and challenge each other. A militarized masculinity has become the defining characteristic of the latest model of policing in Turkey, attesting to the links between authoritarianism/democratization and shifting modes of masculinity across state branches. The Turkish case further suggests that reforms to engender a more democratic form of policing may only be temporary in the absence of well-established democratic institutions and a system of checks and balances, and in the face of arbitrary political rule. The logic of equating masculine power with political/institutional power within the TNP and the governing body results in marginalization, and limited presence of women and femininities across state branches, designating the state sites as historically constructed domains of men and masculinities despite the increasing but slow inclusion of women in those domains. iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Berna Turam, who has supported me not only throughout my dissertation but also during my long journey of doctoral study with her knowledge, patience, and guidance while allowing me the space to work in my own way. Without her unwavering support and encouragement at each phase, this dissertation would not have been completed. I believe she has more faith in me than I do. She has been a great source of inspiration with her scholarly productivity, curiosity and enthusiasm. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my committee: Prof. Kathrin Zippel and Prof. Linda Blum for their encouragement and insightful comments that led me to dig deeper in my research topic. I owe a deep sense of gratitude to Prof. Elizabeth Wood, whose own work has inspired my research in some meaningful ways, for her keen interest in me at every stage of my research. Her prompt inspirations, kindness and dynamism have generated a great source of strength as I traveled the bumpy roads of the PhD. I would like to thank Northeastern University for awarding me the prestigious Provost’s Dissertation Completion Fellowship award in the fall of 2015, which provided me the freedom to focus on writing the dissertation during the last phases. I thank a group of fellow graduate students at Northeastern University for contributing to a supportive collegial network through our writing group, where we presented our work and shared feedback. Katrina Uhly Carydis, Emily Cummins, Firuzeh Shokooh- Valle, Ethel Mickey, Behice Pehlivan, Yingchan Zhang, Sonja Teupen, and Nakeisha Cody provided insightful comments and feedback on earlier drafts of several of my chapters while they were conducting their own research in many parts of the United States and the globe. I am indebted to my friends and intellectual buddies Dilek Karal and Nevin Arvas for bearing with me while I formulate my arguments for the research and for helping me to maintain my v sanity and some semblance of a normal life. Thanks for being available at the other end of the table, phone, and email whenever I need you. I also offer my sincere gratitude to my research participants for their openness and devoting time for my research. Without their contribution, this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank my parents Medine Balkan and Rami Balkan, who instilled the courage to follow my goals in life and who have made me feel their unconditional love and support all my life. Thanks for putting up with me during my periods of absence during research and writing. My precious sons, Eren Alp and Kerem joined our family along the way. They have been a great source of constant distraction and love, and brought endless joy to my life. Last but not least, I must acknowledge my husband, my best friend, Emre, who has traveled along with me physically, mentally, and spiritually ever since I’ve known him and particularly during my graduate studies. Without him, I would not be able to thrive in my doctoral program or balance my research with everything else. Thanks for being there when the tasks seemed arduous and insurmountable. vi Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 5 Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1 : Introduction................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 2 : Theory and Methods ................................................................................. 16 Chapter 3: The State and its Mal(e)contents in Turkey: A Historical Background ... 38 Chapter 4: Gendering Charisma: Masculinity of Prime Minister Erdoğan’s Power and Politics ....................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 5 : Public Policing and Police Masculinities in Turkey................................. 70 Chapter 6 : The Myth of the Tough Men’s Burden: Constructing a Hegemonic Police Masculinity at the Turkish National Police ................................. 102 Chapter 7 : Conclusion............................................................................................. 128 Appendix A : Interview Questions for the Police...................................................... 138 References ................................................................................................................. 140 vii Chapter 1 Introduction Scenes of tear gas and masses of police in riot gear clashing with demonstrators in metropolitan streets have become recurrent images in many societies across the world. Such instances of violent encounters between police and public were frequent during the Occupy Protests of 2011 and 2012, the Gezi protests in the summer of 2013 in Turkey, protests against the failed fiscal policies of the governments in Greece and Spain, and political turmoil between pro- and anti-government groups in Ukraine. In 2013 a policeman tear-gassed a young woman at the Gezi Park near Istanbul’s historic Taksim Square during a sit-in at the park, which triggered nationwide anti- government protests that summer. A series of protests erupted in a Midwestern US city in August 2014 after a policeman shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown. The unbalanced police force used in those
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