TECHNOLOGY AS IDEOLOGY IN THE MAKING OF NEW TÜRKİYE: THE TEKNOFEST GENERATION

Date

2025-9-29

Author

Civalek, Arif Hikmet

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This thesis examines the case of Teknofest, an aerospace and technology festival organized since 2018, in terms of its role in the formation of ‘New Türkiye’ ideology and yerli ve milli discourse. The way ‘New Türkiye’ ideology is operated to construct youth through technology is the main question, drawing on the ideological character of technology in the new conception and narrative of the nation, history, and citizens that are symbolized by the Teknofest generation. This study employs document analysis for materials related to Teknofest, participant observation in Teknofest 2024 Adana, and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 university students participating in Teknofest. Findings from the analysis of the data obtained through these methods show that ‘New Türkiye’ defines the nation as yerli ve milli, the history by reclaiming the science and technology heritage of the Turkish-Islamic past, the mission as a technology-producing country, and the citizens as the Teknofest generation expected to take a role in the future of the country. Respondents’ opinions about and motivations for participating in Teknofest are reviewed in terms of serving the country by producing yerli ve milli technologies, taking on the role of engineers as bearers of ‘New Türkiye,’ having entrepreneurial tendencies, and being part of the Teknofest generation. This study claims that Teknofest incorporates youth into ‘New Türkiye’ ideology by using technology as a tool to construct new national conceptions and the Teknofest generation.

Subject Keywords

Teknofest, technology, youth, New Türkiye, yerli ve milli

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116123

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis