Transformation of the State and Class Relations: Furthering Authoritarianism in Turkey

2017-11-09
This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the transformation of state in different historically specific contexts by problematising the concept of authoritarian neoliberalism. It intends to do so by exploring the reorganisation of social forces and transformation of state power within an authoritarian state form as exemplified by the case of Turkey. It will also attempt to refresh class analysis in order to develop a better understanding of different modalities of reproduction of labour quite often without economic and social security. This is where the Gramscian theoretical framework gains saliency in understanding specific moments of collective will formation in the context of different ideological environments. This will entail an analysis of the extent to which and the methods by which popular classes are contained so as to preclude the development of counter-hegemonic strategies. This is pertinent to come to terms with the recent political developments in Turkey which could better be conceived - rather than simply in terms of a regime change - as a shift from one authoritarian form of state to another, specification of which is yet to be theorised in the light of the authoritarian turn experienced in several other capitalist countries
Historical materialism (9 - 12 Kasım 2017)

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Citation Formats
A. Topal Yılmaz, “Transformation of the State and Class Relations: Furthering Authoritarianism in Turkey,” presented at the Historical materialism (9 - 12 Kasım 2017), London, İngiltere, 2017, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Abstracts_0.pdf.