The Future of The Present: Autonomous Archiving of Activist Videos vorgelegt von Elif Çiğdem Artan ORCID: 0000-0002-3839-6720 an der Fakultät I - Geistes- und Bildungswissenschaften der Technischen Universität Berlin zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktorin der Philosophie – Dr. phil – genehmigte Dissertation Promotionsausschuss: Vorsitzende: Prof. Dr. Petra Lucht Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans-Liudger Dienel Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Christoph Bernhardt Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Stephen Brier Gutachterin: Associate Prof. Pelin Tan Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 15. Februar 2019 Berlin 2021 This study is dedicated to my mother, Ayşegül Artan, for her unconditional support and believe in me despite all our disagreements. Acknowledgements I’m grateful to Prof. Dr. Hans-Liudger Dienel, Prof. Dr. Christoph Bernhardt, Prof. Dr. Stephen Brier and Associate Prof. Pelin Tan for their guidance and support whenever it was challenging for me to make any progress. This research project would not be possible without the inputs of my interview partners in Istanbul and New York. I’m thankful to each of them for sharing their experiences, knowledge and archival materials with me. I would also like to thank to DFG- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and TU-Berlin for providing me research funding. I’m indebted to my chosen family in Berlin for making me feel at home whenever I get close to lose my way. This research project would be incomplete without the comments of my mentors and fellows at TU-Berlin Center for Metropolitan Studies Colloquium. All sorts of friendships are priceless and appreciated. Last but not least, I’m beholden to my sister, Dr. Z. Selen Artan, who inspired me to study sociology in the first place and encouraged me to apply for doctoral research. Academic blues would be unbearable without her intellectual sisterhood. Abstract This study examines the contribution of activist videos from the Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Gezi Park movements to non-authoritarian and non-linear history-writing. To this end, it focuses on three major domains with particular points of interest in each: a) urban—the temporary emergence of commoning practices in and footage from early twenty-first century social movements, b) image—the heterogeneous characteristics of producing a visual counter-narrative and activist videos practices as learning tools, and c) archive—activist archiving practices versus hegemonic state archives and the reconfiguration of archival practices. Two autonomous archives were examined in depth as case studies: Interference Archive in New York, and bak.ma in Istanbul. On the basis of grounded theory, an ethnographical methodology was used to collect data, including archive visits, participatory observation, and a series of interviews with activists, archivists, librarians, videographers, and scholars engaged with the selected archives. Working from these case studies, this study reveals the different ways of video activism, the ethical dilemma in recording the protests, and the contribution of autonomous archives into counterimage of the resistance as part of historiography. Keywords: Protest, Resistance, Social Movements, Historiography, Video Activism, Counterimage, Autonomous Archives Table of Contents Acknowledgements 3 Abstract 4 Table of Contents 5 List of Figures 7 List of Oral Resources 8 Introduction 14 Conceptual Framework 20 The Temporary Emergence of Commoning Practices 20 Image of the Protest 22 Research Questions 31 Method 32 Thesis Overview 39 The Dialectic of the Commons in Early Twenty-first Century Social Movements 41 The enclosure of the Commons 44 Occupy Barricades for Reclaiming the Commons 52 #OccupyWallStreet: “People Over Profit” 53 #OccupyGeziPark: “Neither Shopping Mall nor Artillery Barracks” 62 Footage of the Commons 69 Producing the Counter Image 84 The Heterogeneous Culture of Video Activism 88 Ethical Dilemmas in Recording Early Twenty-first Century Social Movements 101 Image as Activist 110 Learning from Activist Videos 120 Autonomous Media Archives 134 Grassroots Archiving and Documenting History in Real Time 143 Collecting Activist Videos Remaining from the Occupy Movements 156 Voices of Dissent: Occupy Wall Street and the Interference Archive 161 Save As Visual Memory: Occupy Gezi Park and bak.ma 183 Reconfiguring Archiving from the Perspective of Autonomous Media Archives 195 The Future of the Present: Analytical Imagination 215 Conclusion 230 Conceptual Framework 233 The dialectic of the Commons in early twenty-first century social movements 236 5 Producing the Counter Image 238 Autonomous Media Archives 241 References 252 6 List of Figures Figure 1‘#OCCUPYWALLSTREET: A shift in revolutionary tactics,’ Adbusters Blog ............ 17 Figure 2 Where to Find the Commons .......................................................................................... 48 Figure 3 Self-governed common-pool resources .......................................................................... 50 Figure 4 NYC General Assembly – Hand Gestures ..................................................................... 56 Figure 5 Map of activities at Liberty Plaza ................................................................................... 59 Figure 6 OWS Journal Special Issue by Occuprint-Artist, Josh MacPhee ................................... 61 Figure 7‘The Gezi Park Festivals’ ................................................................................................ 64 Figure 8 Maps of the Occupy Gezi Park ....................................................................................... 67 Figure 9 Occupy Libaries.............................................................................................................. 79 Figure 10 “Disobedience Archive (The Park)” Exhibition ......................................................... 127 Figure 11 “Visual Archive of the Gezi Park Protests’ at ‘77/13: The Political Art of Resistance in Turkey” Exhibition ..................................................................................................................... 128 Figure 12 Counter Reflection Exhibition Flyer .......................................................................... 131 Figure 13 Human Rights Documentation ................................................................................... 142 Figure 14 Community Archives and the Occupy Wall Street Movement .................................. 160 Figure 15 “Why Archive? Postcard” .......................................................................................... 173 Figure 16 “OWS Digital Archive Structure” .............................................................................. 176 Figure 17 “OWS Oral History Project” ...................................................................................... 182 List of Oral Resources Barry, Louise Member of Audio Working Group at the Interference Archive Interviewed on November 27, 2016 Berensel, Ege Media activist Interviewed on March 4, 2017 Bold, Jeremy Librarian, co-founder of the OWS Archiving Working Group Interviewed on December 10, 2016 Brier, Steve Professor at CUNY, New York and co-executive of the September 11 Digital Archive Interviewed on December 9, 2016 Çağrı, Gözde Former member of Seyr-i Sokak (Course of Street) Interviewed on March 6, 2017 Caplicki, Kevin Member of Occuprint, co-founder of the Interference Archive Interviewed on December 9, 2016 Çelikaslan, Özge Co-founder of Artıkişler Kolektifi (Leftoverworks Collective) Interviewed on March 4, 2017 Çiftçioğlu, Kerem Director of Dissemination and Advocacy Program at Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Center) Interviewed on March 8, 2016 8 Delaplace, Clara Volunteer at MoRUS (Mueum of Reclaimed Urban Space) Interviewed on November 22, 2016 Di Paola, Bill Co-founder of the MoRUS (Mueum of Reclaimed Urban Space) Interviewed on November 26, 2016; and November 29, 2016 Duman, Mihriban Co-founder of Herkes için Mimarlık (Architecture for All) Interviewed on Interviewed on March 10, 2016 Eliş Türkmen, Co-founder of Hafıza Kaydı (Memory Documentation) Berivan Interviewed on March 10, 2017 Freedman, Jenna Volunteer at OWS People’s Library, Zine Librarian at the Barnard College Interviewed on December 8, 2016 Goldstein, Jesse Member of Occuprint Interviewed on December 9, 2016 Gordon, Bonnie Digital archivist, member of the Born-Digital Working Group at the Interference Archive Interviewed on November 20, 2016 Gündoğdu, Emre Co-founder of Herkes için Mimarlık (Architecture for All) Interviewed on March 10, 2016 and on March 28, 2017 Haydon, Kelly Moving image archivist, member of the Activist Archivists Interviewed on December 17, 2016 9 Holmes, Marisa Video activist, documentary filmmaker, and member of OWS Facilitation Working Group, and OWS Media Group Interviewed on December 2, 2016 Hoyer, Jen Librarian and facilitator of Cataloging Party at the Interference Archive Interviewed on November 5, 2016 İnce, Oktay Co-founder of Seyr-i Sokak (Course of Street) Interviewed on March 3, 2017 Kaya, Özlem Member of Memory Studies Program at Hafıza Merkezi (Truth Justice Memory Center) Interviewed on April 3, 2017 Köm, Yelta Co-founder of Herkes için Mimarlık (Architecture for All) Interviewed on March 10, 2016; and on March 28, 2017 MacPhee, Josh Member of Occuprint, co-founder of the Interference Archive Interviewed on October 6, 2016 Mert, Suphi Video activist Interviewed on July 21, 2016 Metin, Onur Founder of Balık Bilir (Fish Knows), member of Seyr-i Sokak (Course of Street), and member