Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests
Protests often indicate social states of emergency. Protesters no longer agree with the existing situation and the way their lives are regulated; therefore, they demand immediate change. The Gezi protests, in which people from various social, political, and class backgrounds went to the streets to v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture
2016-05-01
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| Series: | On_Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.on-culture.org/journal/issue-1/protest-emergency-emergence/ |
| _version_ | 1818486213296783360 |
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| author | Pınar Gümüş |
| author_facet | Pınar Gümüş |
| author_sort | Pınar Gümüş |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Protests often indicate social states of emergency. Protesters no longer agree with the existing situation and the way their lives are regulated; therefore, they demand immediate change. The Gezi protests, in which people from various social, political, and class backgrounds went to the streets to voice their dissent, certainly reflected a state of emergency in Turkey. Young people, often referred to as members of the country’s post-1980 apolitical generation within public discourse, unexpectedly gathered on the streets and acted as the frontrunners of this mass movement. What is more, their way of protesting through creative performances and humor effectively increased their visibility. Drawing upon the concept of emergency, and guided by a cultural performative approach, this article focuses on young people’s experiences of protest. It is a study of the reasons and meanings behind young people’s participation in the protests, as well as of values such as trust, solidarity, and collectivity upon which their action was grounded. My findings are based on qualitative field research, i. e., in-depth interviews conducted with young participants of the Gezi protests in İstanbul. The investigation is driven by the questions of how young people describe the notion of the political in relation to trust, solidarity, and collectivity, and how these diverse ways of describing the political through practices foreshadow a new understanding of the political, which gained momentum from the state of emergency of the Gezi protests. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:19:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22620882892b4aed91f5c61d8debf15b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2366-4142 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:19:57Z |
| publishDate | 2016-05-01 |
| publisher | International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture |
| record_format | Article |
| series | On_Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-22620882892b4aed91f5c61d8debf15b2022-12-22T01:41:51ZengInternational Graduate Centre for the Study of CultureOn_Culture2366-41422016-05-011Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi ProtestsPınar Gümüş0Justus-Liebig-Universität GießenProtests often indicate social states of emergency. Protesters no longer agree with the existing situation and the way their lives are regulated; therefore, they demand immediate change. The Gezi protests, in which people from various social, political, and class backgrounds went to the streets to voice their dissent, certainly reflected a state of emergency in Turkey. Young people, often referred to as members of the country’s post-1980 apolitical generation within public discourse, unexpectedly gathered on the streets and acted as the frontrunners of this mass movement. What is more, their way of protesting through creative performances and humor effectively increased their visibility. Drawing upon the concept of emergency, and guided by a cultural performative approach, this article focuses on young people’s experiences of protest. It is a study of the reasons and meanings behind young people’s participation in the protests, as well as of values such as trust, solidarity, and collectivity upon which their action was grounded. My findings are based on qualitative field research, i. e., in-depth interviews conducted with young participants of the Gezi protests in İstanbul. The investigation is driven by the questions of how young people describe the notion of the political in relation to trust, solidarity, and collectivity, and how these diverse ways of describing the political through practices foreshadow a new understanding of the political, which gained momentum from the state of emergency of the Gezi protests.https://www.on-culture.org/journal/issue-1/protest-emergency-emergence/gezi protestssocial movementpoliticalyouth in turkeyemergencyyouth culture |
| spellingShingle | Pınar Gümüş Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests On_Culture gezi protests social movement political youth in turkey emergency youth culture |
| title | Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests |
| title_full | Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests |
| title_fullStr | Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests |
| title_short | Emergency in Protest: Young People’s Politics in the Gezi Protests |
| title_sort | emergency in protest young people s politics in the gezi protests |
| topic | gezi protests social movement political youth in turkey emergency youth culture |
| url | https://www.on-culture.org/journal/issue-1/protest-emergency-emergence/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pınargumus emergencyinprotestyoungpeoplespoliticsinthegeziprotests |