It Is Not About the Trees: Gezi Park Protests and Politics of the Square in Turkey

• In Event: 479 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Protest and Social Movements

Abstract

What makes a considerably affluent section of the population in one of the fastest growing economies and most stable democracies of the world get so enraged to kindle the fire of a proto-revolution? How could the best representatives of the consumer generation – “apolitical” twenty-somethings with smart phones in their hands, flip-flops on their feet, creased t-shirts on their back, and whose only experience with violence comes from the video games they enjoy playing – find the courage to clash with the police over a small promenade that was chosen by the government to become yet another “temple” (a shopping mall) of the very consumer society these young people inhabit? After all the commotion, what was behind the emergence of direct democracy, reminiscent of Ancient Athens, in a society where three and a half military coups in less than 50 years could take place? This paper focuses on the urban riots which began in Gezi Park in Istanbul in May and June of 2013. It first aims to locate the events which erupted in response to almost decade-long developments in the historic Taksim area within the process of global urban transformation. Following this, the paper offers a three-part sociological analysis to better grasp the underlying dynamics of this rebellion and how it quickly spread to different parts of Turkey.

Author

• Kaan Agartan, Framingham State University