Politics of Re-Building Secular Hegemony and the Subject in Post-1997 Turkey
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POLITICS OF RE-BUILDING SECULAR HEGEMONY AND THE SUBJECT IN POST-1997 TURKEY A Ph.D. Dissertation by HAKKI TAŞ Department of Political Science İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara September 2011 POLITICS OF RE-BUILDING SECULAR HEGEMONY AND THE SUBJECT IN POST-1997 TURKEY Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of Ġhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by HAKKI TAġ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ĠHSAN DOĞRAMACI BĠLKENT UNIVERSTY ANKARA September 2011 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. ………………………………………………….. Assistant Professor Berrak Burçak Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. ………………………………………………….. Professor Dr. Elisabeth Özdalga Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. ………………………………………………….. Professor Dr. Ümit Cizre Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. ………………………………………………….. Assistant Professor Ioannis Grigoriadis Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. ………………………………………………….. Assistant Professor Akif Kireççi Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences …………………………………………………. Professor Dr. Erdal Erel Director ii ABSTRACT POLITICS OF RE-BUILDING SECULAR HEGEMONY AND THE SUBJECT IN POST-1997 TURKEY TaĢ, Hakkı Ph.D., Department of Political Science Supervisor: Assistant Prof. Berrak Burçak September 2011 This study aims to analyze the interrelation between hegemony and the subject within the case of the February 28 process, which refers to the military’s long-term project to reshape the Turkish social and political system which had brought the Islamist Refah Partisi (RP - Welfare Party) to the office after the 1995 general elections. It sets out to analyze through what mechanisms the military attempted to re-institute secularism and how the religious groups responded to this process. Taking the Gramscian approach to power at its theoretical background, this dissertation argues that studies on hegemony should go beyond the dichotomies such as domination versus resistance, or cooptation versus subversion. Instead, it offers iii multiple responses the subaltern subject may give. These “strategies of survival” include exit, submission, liminal resistance, and violence. Framing Turkey’s “postmodern coup” as a hegemonic project, this dissertation examines the coercive and consensual means employed by the military to refashion Turkey’s political, economic, and social texture. The responses of the religious subaltern are analyzed within the three case studies, which are the National Vision movement, the Islamic capital with special reference to the Islamic finance, and the Islamist music in the political, economic, and socio-cultural fields, respectively. The February 28 process became a milestone in Turkish politics that defined the political alignments in the subsequent decades. This dissertation argues that globalization and the adoption of Western norms have become a strategy of survival for the religious subaltern. While the post-Islamists adopted a pro-Western liberal approach, the secularists moved towards a more state-centered communitarian conception of politics. Keywords: Hegemony, Military, February 28 process, Islamic Banking, Islamist Music iv ÖZET 1997 SONRASI TÜRKĠYE’DE SEKÜLER HEGEMONYANIN VE ÖZNENĠN YENĠDEN ĠNġA SĠYASETĠ TaĢ, Hakkı Doktora, Siyaset Bilimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Berrak Burçak Eylül 2011 Bu çalıĢma, 28 ġubat süreci örneğinde hegemonya ve özne iliĢkisini imcelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Süreç, 1995 genel seçimleri sonrası Refah Partisi’ni (RP) iktidara getiren Türkiye’nin toplumsal ve siyasal yapısını yeniden Ģekillendirme adına askeri bürokrasinin uzun soluklu projesini yansıtmaktadır. Bu çerçevede ordunun laikliği yeniden tesis için hangi mekanizmaları kullandığı ve bu sürece dindar grupların nasıl tepki verdikleri ele alınacaktır. Kuramsal altyapısında Gramsci’nin iktidar yaklaĢımını takip eden bu tez, hegemonya çalıĢmalarının baskı ya da direniĢ, dahil etme ya da yıkma gibi ikili karĢıtlıkların ötesine geçmesi gerektiğini savunmaktadır. Bunun yerine madun öznenin sergileyebileceği pek çok tepki bulunduğu, bu “Sağkalım stratejileri”nin çıkıĢ, itaat, liminal direniĢ ve Ģiddeti içerdiği ifade edilmektedir. v Türkiye’nin “postmodern darbe”sini bir hegemonya projesi olarak değerlendiren bu tez, ordunun ülkedeki siyasal, ekonomik ve sosyal dokusunu yeniden Ģekillendirmede kullandığı rızaya ve Ģiddete dayalı araçlarını incelemektedir. Dindar madun grupların tepkisi ise üç örnek olay incelemesiyle ele alınmaktadır. Bunlar; sırasıyla siyasal, ekonomik ve sosyo-kültürel alanlara karĢılık gelecek Ģekilde Milli GörüĢ Hareketi, Ġslam bankacılığına özel referansla Ġslami sermaye ve son olarak Ġslamcı protest müziktir. 28 ġubat süreci Türk siyasetinin bir köĢe taĢı haline gelmiĢ, sonraki yıllarda siyasal oluĢum ve gruplaĢmaları belirlemiĢtir. Bu tez, küreselleĢme ve Batılı değerlerin benimsenmesinin, dindar madun gruplar için bir sağkalım stratejisi olduğunu savunmaktadır. 28 ġubat süreci sonrası, yeni Ġslamcılar daha Batı yanlısı liberal bir yaklaĢım benimserken, laikçiler daha devlet merkezli ve toplumcu bir siyaset anlayıĢına kaydılar. Anahtar Kelimeler: Hegemonya, Ordu, 28 ġubat Süreci, Ġslam Bankacılığı, Ġslamcı Müzik vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been privileged to study with Prof. Dr. Ümit Cizre, who supervised my thesis from the beginning to its very late stages. No words can convey how much her mentorship has meant to me. I owe special thanks to her for her guidance and support in my academic life. She is and will remain a mentor and a source of inspiration for me. I would like to give my deepest appreciation to Asst. Prof. Berrak Burçak, whose labor made every single page of this dissertation better. She was not only a gracious supervisor, but also a friend who supported me in the past several years. I also had the opportunity to study with Prof. Dr. James C. Scott during my time at Yale University. I would like to thank Jim Scott for offering wisdom and roadmaps when needed. I feel blessed to have conscientious and supportive professors in my dissertation committee. All were generous with their time. I am indebted to Asst. Prof. Akif Kireççi for his kindness as he spent considerable time to read and comment on my dissertation even in his hard times. I am also very thankful to Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Özdalga and Asst. Prof. Ioannis Grigoriadis for their close, careful readings and their insightful comments. Needless to say, I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, who were ecstatic to know their son has finally “done it.” I would like to thank my sister, brother, vii grandmother, and other members of my extended family, whose existence and encouragement made every difficulty in this long process easier for me. During the years of research, I have accumulated much debt to a number of individuals, whose friendship kept me healthy, sane, and loved. In this regard, I am very thankful to Adnan, Bahri, Hamza, Duygu, Seray, Selin, Edip, Senem, and Mustafa for their friendship in this long process. Special thanks go to Salim Çevik and Mustafa Gürbüz for their academic feedbacks and sincere friendship. Last but not least, I offer my deep gratitude to Emrullah, who has always been with me whenever I needed help. I owe many thanks to Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TÜBĠTAK - the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for their generous grant to carry out my research and write this manuscript. I would not have survived this process without its financial assistance. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….……..iii ÖZET……………………………………………………………………………...…v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………..………vii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………...……ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………...… 1 1.1 Setting the Agenda…………………………………………………..…1 1.2 The Scope and Significance of the Study…………………………… 7 1.3 Methodology………………………………………………………….15 1.4 Order of Presentation………………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………………………………….21 2.1 Thinking with Gramsci………………………………………………. 21 2.1.1 Difficulties in Theorizing Hegemony………………………….27 2.1.2 The Main Tenets of Hegemony……………………………….. 29 ix 2.2 Hegemony and State as Educator……………………………………. 34 2.3 Resistance……………………………………………………………. 41 2.3.1 Possibility of Resistance………………………………………. 42 2.3.2 Politics of Dignity: Mask Becoming Skin?.................................43 2.3.3 Strategies of Survival: What do Losers do?................................50 2.3.3.1 Exit……………...……………………………………………50 2.3.3.2 Submission: Shifts in Paradigms……...………..…………….52 2.3.3.3 Liminal Resistance……………………………………...……56 2.3.3.4 Violence: “War of Movement”……………………...…...…..61 CHAPTER 3: THE KEMALIST MODERNIZATION PROJECT………………..62 3.1