Countering globalization and regionalization: is there a united front within Turkish labour and disadvantaged groups?

Turkey, situated in the periphery of Europe, is governed by anti-labour policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Governments in the last 15 years. Embarking on a historical materialist perspective that draws concepts from Gramsci, this paper questions whether labour can come up with an alternative and form a united front vis-a-vis globalization and European Union membership. It then examines impediments behind the lack of a united front and a viable alternative. The analyses rely on empirical data generated through interviews conducted with trade unionists and representatives from civil society for struggles against patriarchy, environmental degradation, and human rights violations at two critical junctures in 2010 and 2017. This paper argues that labour and struggles within civil society contest neoliberal restructuring with two rival class strategies, namely Ha-vet (Turkish abbreviations for No to Capitalist Europe – Yes to Social Europe) and neomerchantilism, none of which stands as a viable alternative.     

土耳其阿莱维问题的历史嬗变及其和解进程

阿莱维派是历史上在安纳托利亚地区形成的伊斯兰教什叶派分支,在奥斯曼帝国时期曾受到数百年的宗教歧视和政治压迫。土耳其共和国建立后,世俗化和现代化改革在解除对阿莱维派的宗教歧视的同时,也对阿莱维派的宗教体制和信仰体系造成了冲击,宗教传统的迅速衰落导致该派出现了严重的认同危机。为摆脱边缘化的社会地位,阿莱维派寻求恢复传统宗教文化和信仰体系,进而催生了阿莱维复兴运动。随着宗教认同的回归和市民社会组织的建立,阿莱维派开始提出政治认同诉求,导致阿莱维问题逐渐凸显。土耳其阿莱维问题是指阿莱维派追求宗教平等地位的历史过程和现实困境。正义与发展党执政后启动了阿莱维问题和解进程,从法律层面推动阿莱维派组织的合法化,建立了阿莱维问题的和解对话机制,从国家层面承认了阿莱维问题的存在,并在关键性议题上展现出努力推动和解进程的积极姿态。     

Inclusion,exclusion or indifference? Redefining migrant and refugee host state engagement options in Mediterranean ‘transit’ countries

What determines policies toward migrants and refugees in the transit-turned-host countries? Compared to the vast literature examining migration to Europe and North America, we know relatively little about why ‘newer’ host states pursue a liberal strategy with access to residency, employment and services on par with citizens, or what drives them to treat migrants and refugees with exclusion. This paper argues that there is a third choice: the idea of indifference-as-policy. Indifference refers to indirect action on the part of the host state, whereby a state defers to international organisations and civil society actors to provide basic services to migrants and refugees. The paper uses data collected over two years in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey to examine how this tripartite understanding of engagement maps onto empirical reality. Drawing on this analysis, the argument in this paper is two-fold. First, indifference is a strategic form of engagement utilised by host states, and that it creates a specific type of environment that allows for the de facto integration of migrants and refugees. Second, even when host states take steps toward a more liberal engagement strategy, examining policy outcomes, rather than outputs, demonstrates that indifference is still the dominant policy.     

《奥兰多》中的东方和东方主义

国内学界对《奥兰多》中的东方再现缺少关注。伍尔夫在有关东方旅行的游记及与同性恋人维塔·萨克维尔-韦斯特的通信中,表现出明显的东方主义心态。她把这种心态带入对《奥兰多》东方场景的虚构,通过表现奥兰多对土耳其景物和土耳其吉卜赛人的偏见及由此生发的归家欲望,反衬奥兰多作为盎格鲁-撒克逊白人的种族和民族身份,将土耳其降格为文化他者。这种处理方式在一定程度上映射了20世纪20年代英国与土耳其的政治角力,揭示出《奥兰多》作为一部现代主义文学作品的现实指涉和地缘政治内涵,也体现了伍尔夫的文学创作与帝国政治的紧密关联。     

Elderly narrative reflections on the contradictions in Turkish village family life after migration of adult children

International and domestic labor migrations are changing the face of many countries. Those economic and demographic transitions collide with cultural expectations and ways of conducting intergenerational relations. This paper is a narrative analysis of some of those changes from the perspective of the elderly who remain behind in a small village in central Turkey. In particular, their narratives focus on filial expectations of sons and daughters, the status of mothers-in-law, health and economic well-being, and the future of village life. While these “left behind” elderly feel a loss of status and control and fear for their futures as their children pursue lifestyles unfamiliar and threatening to them, they are nevertheless gradually negotiating these changes and redefining late life to adapt to new circumstances and maintain their family relations.     

Reviewing building construction statistics in Turkey: Stakeholders’ perspective

Construction is one of the industries of strategic economic importance. Governments using their national institutions are involved in the collection of economic statistics, which indicate the state of their economy in the form of an annual time series. However, the completeness and accuracy of these statistics is frequently questioned by the stakeholders within the sector. Therefore there is an increasing need for accurate, manageable and reliable statistics to enable sound analysis of the construction sector. The main purpose of this research is to review building construction statistics in Turkey. The objectives of the review are to 1) engage with users to ascertain their views on the statistics and to identify their needs, and 2) investigate whether the statistics in their present form continue to meet user needs, and identify options for change. As part of the review, a user consultation exercise is carried out to identify whether user needs are met by the statistics, as well as to ascertain users’ views on the European Statistical System (ESS) key dimensions of the quality of the statistics. This review of building construction statistics will facilitate statistical information to be presented in a more comprehensive manner, with sufficient detail, highly reliable in terms of quality and responsive to dynamic changes of the sector (such as inflation and structural adjustment policies).     

Tracking public relations history in 1960s’ Turkey: The prevalence and reflections of development discourse

This study is based on a historical research, which focuses on the institutionalization of public relations in Turkey during the 1960s, and interprets this process in the frame of planned development discourse. Primary written sources collected from archive research and oral narratives generated from fourteen semi-structured interviews conducted with the pioneers in Turkey are analyzed through categorization and thematization. Findings of the historical research indicated that similar themes and orientations guided public relations practices in public and private sector in this period. Accordingly public relations education provided necessary intellectual background and human resources.     

土耳其汉学研究与孔子学院发展现状

土耳其是中东阿拉伯一伊斯兰世界重要国家。近年来,随着中土两国经济贸易的飞速发展,两国间文化交流不断深化,本文在系统总结土耳其汉语专业与汉学学习的基本情况、土耳其汉学研究的历史与现状以及土耳其孔子学院发展等基本情况的基础上指出,随着中土两国关系可期的美好前景,土耳其汉学教学与汉学研究、孔子学院发展等正处于历史最好最快时期。本文分析了孔子学院发展所存在的问题与对策,以期为中国语言与文化在土耳其传播有所启示。     

土耳其和上海合作组织的关系研究

土耳其积极推行多纬度的外交政策,拓展战略纵深,努力成为一个中心国家;对欧盟的失望推动土耳其寻求加入上海合作组织。2013年1月和11月时任土耳其总理埃尔多安公开表达了希望上合组织接收土耳其为成员国的愿望;上合组织的影响力和吸引力增强;土耳其国内外舆论中有反对土耳其加入上合组织的声音,土耳其和上合组织成员国在一些问题上有分歧;土耳其和上合组织关系的发展将促进有关国家和地区的发展和安全。2014年9月,上合组织杜尚别峰会批准两份关于扩员的法律文件,强调开放包容的方针。土耳其和上合组织关系的发展迎来新的机遇。     

Migration and the dialogue of multiple identifications: Kurdish migrants in the tourist industry of Istanbul

This article examines the cultural dilemmas proceeding from the multiple identifications of Kurdish migrants working in the multicultural environment of Istanbul’s tourist industry. Since identifications invariably multiply when migrants enter multicultural environments, the question emerges how migrants cope with increasing identifications? How are multiple identifications related within the self? In this article, these questions are addressed, first, by analysing how Kurds explain ethnic stereotypes of themselves with reference to migration from the region of origin. Furthermore, conflicts and ambiguities between identifications as individual migrant and identifications as family member are investigated. Third, identifications of the ‘villager’ versus the ‘urbanite’ are reviewed, while, finally, the role of ‘learning’ in the migration process for Kurdish identifications will be highlighted. Dialogical self theory is used to situate the analysis of cultural dilemmas and contradictions of Kurdish migrants in Istanbul within the broader study of multiple identifications of migrants in multicultural societies.