Political agency in antagonistic contexts: Turkey and the politics of disaster

Yildirim S.

JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN AND BLACK SEA STUDIES, pp.1-19, 2025 (SSCI)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/14683857.2025.2550080
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN AND BLACK SEA STUDIES
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-19
  • TED University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

As a theoretical framework accommodating conflict and deeply rooted cleavages, agonistic pluralism provides a fertile ground for scrutinizing the level of participatory democracy in specific countries, such as Turkey. These societies are characterized as divided and dealing with the challenges of representing differences through agonistic pluralism. Accordingly, citizens of Turkey are warned to avoid active politics by political elites regarding ‘controversial issues’ because being political, especially during crises, is depicted as inappropriate. Within this context, this study takes Turkey’s 2021 wildfires and flood disasters as a case for investigating how politics and political subjectivities are discursively constructed. Drawing on ‘the politics of disaster’, this study proposes that discursive strategies employed by political elites can subvert agonistic pluralism at different levels and eliminate ground for constructive dialogue to solve problems.