Violence, Resistance, and Gezi Park

Abstract

As a student of politics whose primary research interest is in women's political participation in Turkey, my engagement with the study of violence is through the lens of gender. In gender studies, “violence” is arguably the most important critical concept for the articulation of the personal as the political. Women's recognition that violence in their personal lives and intimate relationships needed to be problematized in the political realm and transformed through public debate was a revolutionary development. Bringing this recognition into the canon of political thought has been a major contribution of feminist theorists.

Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa

“…Soon after, the protests turned into multifaceted dissent against the neoliberal authoritarianism of the government (Iğsiz 2013;Keyder 2014;Tuğal 2013;Yörük and Yüksel 2014). Many commentators drew attention to women's visibility in the protests, rebelling against growing attack by government officials on women's rights in recent years (Arat 2013;Kandiyoti 2014).…”

Toward postheroic leadership: A case study of Gezi's collaborating multiple leaders

“…Looking at the Gezi protests ''This is just the beginning, the struggle continues,'' was a slogan that was chanted in the Gezi protests, initiated as a reaction to government policies infringing upon civil liberties, affecting various gender, ethnic, religious, and class groups differently (Arat, 2013). They turned into a mass upheaval when bulldozers started to cut down trees in Gezi Park.…”

10 Music Videos as Protest Communication: The Gezi Park Protest on YouTube

“…The crowds, which consisted of diverse, even conflicting identities, united against what they called the 'authoritarian rule' (Erhart 2014(Erhart : 1728 and mobilized around 'concerns for detrimental urban policies and for the environment' (Atak 2013: 19). During the protests, nationalists, Kurds, Kemalists, socialists, feminists, vegan activists, anti-capitalist Muslims, LGBTQI groups, and white-collar workers stood 'shoulder to shoulder against fascism' (Erhart 2014(Erhart : 1725 and resisted together (Arat 2013). In light of this, we ask how do music videos operate to mobilize and unite the movement musically and as a multimodal form of online communication?…”