DIALOGISM and DEMOCRACY a Ph.D. Dissertation by GÜRCAN
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Bilkent University Institutional Repository DIALOGISM AND DEMOCRACY A Ph.D. Dissertation by GÜRCAN KOÇAN Department of Department of Political Science and Public Administration Bilkent University Ankara April 2003 DIALOGISM AND DEMOCRACY The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by GÜRCAN KOÇAN In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITCAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION in THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA April 2003 i i 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 Philosophy in (Political Science and Public Administration) Assistant Professor Dr. Simon Wigley 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 Philosophy in (Political Science and Public Administration) Professor Dr. Şerif Mardin 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 Philosophy in (Political Science and Public Administration) Assistant Professor Dr. Hüseyin Özel 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 Philosophy in (Political Science and Public Administration) Associate Professor Dr. Professor Jeremy Salt 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 Philosophy in (Political Science and Public Administration) Assistant Professor Dr. Efraim Padosik Approval of Institute of Economics and Social Sciences Professor Dr. Kürşat Aydoğan iii ABSTRACT DIALOGISM AND DEMOCRACY Koçan, Gürcan Ph.D. Department of Political Sciences and Public Administration Supervisor: Assistant Professor Dr. Simon Wigley April 2003 This thesis examines the notion of democracy not as a straightforward political process for decision-making, but as a type of dialogue. One of the main reasons for choosing this particular approach is to reveal the conditions of genuine democratic politics. A politics built on the image of people who can express themselves without fear and are free of obligation of sameness. Therefore, this thesis excavates the assumptions and complex relations of values by virtue of which democracy can be produced, reproduced and validated. It approaches Bakhtin’s idea of dialogue as an important but neglected concept in democratic studies and explores what dialogue is for Bakhtin, showing how his general theory of language and meaning not only implicates particular concepts of democracy such as addresser/ruler and addressee/ruled, but also reveals the conditions of freedom that is necessary to produce the momentum towards the enabling practices of political life. With respect to these, it discusses how Bakhtin’s idea of dialogue anticipates normative concerns that are central to contemporary democratic theory: Is it possible to establish a balance between unity and diversity or between the universal and the particular in a way that promotes recognition of differences as an instrument of democratic rule? Or, is it possible to prevent the inevitable tension between constituting a regulatory framework for political participation (which inevitably posits some fixity and exclusion) and celebrating heteroglossia? In order to address these issues, this thesis considers politics not only as a united body, but also a heteroglossic and multivoiced body. Key words: Democracy, Dialogue, Self-government, Constitution iv ÖZET DİYALOGİZM AND DEMOKRASİ Koçan, Gürcan Doktora, Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doçent Dr. Simon Wigley Nisan 2003 Bu tez demokrasi olgusunu karar verme sürecinin ötesinde diyaloğun bir türü olarak açımlamaktadır. Bu yaklaşımı seçmedeki ana amaç, demokratik siyasetin şartlarını sadece “kendi kendini yönetme” ya da “halkın kendi üzerindeki iktidarı” gibi tanımlara bağlı kalmadan ve insanın ruhunu tutaksaklık altına alan çoğunluğun ya da kendisini çoğunluk olarak kabul ettirmeyi başarmış olan aynılık ve bütünlük iradesinin ötesinde yaşamın farklılıkları arasındaki ilişkiyi çok daha derin bir biçimde diyalog çerçevesinde betimleyerek yeniden ortaya koymaktır. Yaşamın ve dilin özünde diyalog olduğunu ileri süren ünlü düşünür Mikhail Bakhtin’in felsefesinden faydalanarak diyalog olgusunu çeşitli yönlerden açımlamak, siyaseti homojen bir vücut bütünün ötesinde çok sesli, karmaşık ve heterglot bir etkileşim bütünü olarak algılamamızı sağlar. Bu karmaşık bütün içinde farklı dillerin ya da anlamların birbirinden bağımsız olmaması nedeniyle, siyasal etkileşim süreci farklı konumlar arasında belli bir merkezde uzlaşma üretebileceği gibi, bunların merkezden uzaklaşarak muğlaklık düzlemi içerisinde yeni anlamlar kazanarak hem kendilerine hem de diğer konumlara göre yeniden farklılışmasına yol açabilir. Bu nedenle demokrasinin yalnızca kendisinden anlamlı bir biçimde söz etmek güçtür çünkü demokrasinin en önemli kaynağı dildir ve bu dilde diyalogsaldır. Dilin sözkonusu diyalogsal özelligi dikkate alındığında, demokratik siyasi kurum ve pratikleri gerçekte ifade ettiği anlam, halkın en çok sayıda veya en katılımcı kısmınının ya da kendilerini halkın iradesi olarak kabul ettrimeyi başarmış olanların iradesinin ötesinde heteorjen doğası içersinde çoksesli bütünlüğün olduğunu ifade eder. Bu bütünlüğün temelinde her sesin, görüşün ya da konumun yanıtlanabilir olduğu ilkesi bulunur. Yanıtlanabilirilik ilkesi temel alındığında, demokratik sürece katılan bütün aktörler aynı anda hem yöneten (özne) hem de yönetilen (nesne) niteliğini kazanacağından siyasal sistem öziktidar özelliğini kazanır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Demokrasi, Diyalog, Öziktidar, Anayasa v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completing this dissertation, I have greatly benefited from critical discussion over a number of years with friends, teachers and colleagues. They always provided with me an aspiration to sharpen my arguments on the issues that are explored in the thesis. A particular debt of gratitude is owed to Professor Simon Wigley who supervised this dissertation from its earlier stages, and who has been generous, encouraging and critically astute as a supervisor right up to the present. I am also grateful to my thesis committee members, Şerif Mardin, Jeremy Salt, Hüseyin Özel and Efraim Podoksik who provided insightful and substantive comments on the thesis. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Şerif Mardin who read over the entire manuscript with a keen eye and who has encouraged my work. I would especially like to thank Ahmet. F. Öncü who critically read much of the contents of the thesis and has continued to give me the confidence to further develop the arguments therein. I also received invaluable feedback from others in terms of the language usage in this work. In that regard I would like to thank Charmaine Enger, Sooyang Kim, and Jason Nash for their helpful suggestions over the period I have worked on the text. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. IV ÖZET...............................................................................................................................................................V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................................... VI TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................................VII INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. WHAT IS DIALOGUE?....................................................................................................26 I.1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................26 I.2. CONDITIONS OF DIALOGUE.................................................................................................................28 I.3. DIALOGUE AS UNDERSTANDING ........................................................................................................44 I.4. DIALOGUE AS RELATION OF CONTINGENCY AND NECESSITATION ..................................................56 1.5. CONCEPTIONS OF DIALOGUE .............................................................................................................65 I.5.1. Regulative Dialogue...................................................................................................................65 1.5.2. Truth-oriented Dialogue............................................................................................................68 1.5.3. Celebratory Dialogue................................................................................................................71 1.6. CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................74 CHAPTER II. LANGUAGE, DIALOGUE AND DEMOCRACY......................................................77 II.1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................77