THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY DISCOURSE IN AUTHORITARIANISM AND POPULISM: THE CASE OF TURKEY AFTER 2018

Date

2025-4

Author

Balta, Firuz Günseli

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This thesis examines the role of technology discourse in mobilizing a populist strategy within the recent rise of authoritarianism by focusing on post-2018 Turkey as a case study following the regime change. Rather than viewing technology as inevitable progress, the research frames it as a discursive field shaped by populist strategies employed by authoritarian leaders to consolidate their power and secure legitimacy. By focusing on the multi-scalar articulation of technology narratives, the thesis aims to understand how technology becomes embedded in state-led populist imaginaries of progress, modernization, development, national sovereignty, national pride and independence. In this regard, The Turkish case presents a significant point of analysis to examine the role of technology discourse within the context of authoritarianism. Over the past two decades, Turkey has undergone a significant transformation under the AKP governments. The thesis claims that the transition to the Presidential Government System in 2018 marked a regime shift while the new regime constituted its political discourse on technology around “National Technology Initiative”, declared in the 11th development plan (2019-2023). This shift is examined in relation to the crumbling hegemony led by the AKP’s urban-based strategy and the change of its populist discourse during a gradual shift toward authoritarianism. AKP’s technology-based strategy reframed ‘the nation’ through a populist discourse centered on technology as part of the regime design while the multi-scalar interplay of the populist strategy intertwines ‘the leader’, ‘the party’, and ‘the nation’ around the National Technology Initiative to legitimize the new regime and mobilize electoral support.

Subject Keywords

Technology, Populism, Authoritarianism, Discourse Analysis, Urban

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/114521

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis