Title: “THE FIELD OF NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS” AND “THE NEW ACTIVIST HABITUS” IN TURKEY
Abstract: Sociologists have shown that compared to the previous generations, today the actual participation of youth in political life has decreased. Apoliticism observed in youth increases especially between the ages 20-30. The researches concerning the political participation of Turkish youth reflect a similar situation. The researchers point out the relation between the increasing apoliticism in youth and the crisis of the traditional political parties and the political representational system. On the other hand, apart from the classical organizations and movements, the New Social Movements start to become widespread among the youth both in Europe and in Turkey. The New Social Movements increased in number within the last twenty years differ from classical social movements both in terms of organizational forms and action repertoires. Likewise, sociologists have illustrated that the movements such as ecology, anti-war, antiauthoritarianism, anti-capitalism and new anarchist movements as well as islamophobia, xenophobia, neo-conservatism, and new ethnical and religious identity movements are advocated by the youth. This study aims at problematizing the political participation of middle-class educated youth in big cities and analyzing the new social movements and new activism forms supported by the youth. Within this research, the works of Migration Solidarity Network which aims at building a solidarity network with the immigrants, Bagyanfest which has organized a first feminist festival in Turkey, Resistanbul which has organized demonstrations against IMF-WB, Imece which organizes social urban actions and Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative which struggles against racism are investigated by participant observation and depth interviews are done by activists of the groups. The youth who gather beyond classical political engagements to protest a specific issue without becoming a member of an organization, can organize horizontally at international level, with the possibilities rendered by internet. “Project based engagement” put forward single issue mobilization based on limited targets. Up to now, we have elaborated new action forms such as performative actions, action-space relationship, new militant habitus and new means of action organization, afterwards we intend to map the field of new social movements and study new activist habitus.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-06-13
Language: en
Type: article
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