Analyzing the JDP Era through Class Struggles
Several significant social changes have occurred during the 21-year tenure of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government in Turkey. However, the scholarship on this period either utterly disregards the working class or depicts it as a passive demographic that is only affected by these change...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/F0AD5F4BB3994D29A43D7B8607357F13 |
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| Summary: | Several significant social changes have occurred during the 21-year tenure of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government in Turkey. However, the scholarship on this period either utterly disregards the working class or depicts it as a passive demographic that is only affected by these changes. In other words, in the literature, the working class lacks agency. To fill this gap, this study examines the JDP government’s role in in relation to working class struggles. This analysis is based on labor protests between 2001 and 2019, obtained through newspaper reports of labor unrest. Based on this analysis, the JDP rule is divided into two periods: before and after 2010. In both periods, I illustrate that the working class was an agent of transformations, and it influenced transformations through bargaining processes and conflicts. In line with this analysis, this paper illustrates that the balance of power and class struggles between social classes constitutes an objective basis for understanding social and political transformations. Accordingly, based on new data, this study also contributes to the scholarly debate on authoritarianism, with an emphasis on the working-class agency. |
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| ISSN: | 2618-6330 |