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What does it mean for a government to declare its citizens 'dead' while they still live? Following the failed 2016 coup, the Turkish AKP government implemented sweeping powers against some 152,000 of its citizens. These Kanun hükmünde kararnameli ('emergency decreed') were dismissed from their positions and banned for life from public service. With their citizenship rights revoked, Seçkin Sertdemir argues these individuals were rendered into a state of 'civic death'. This study considers how these authoritarian securitisation methods took shape, shedding light on the lived experiences of targeted people. Bringing together approaches from political philosophy, social anthropology, and sociology, Sertdemir outlines the approaches and justifications used by the Turkish government to dismiss opponents, increase surveillance, and brand citizens as 'terrorists'. At the same time, extensive archival research and in-depth interviews bring focus to the impact of these measures on the lives of women, and the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities.
List of contents
Introduction: the emergence of the authoritarian securitisation State in Turkey; 1. Protection: State security and the widening Orbit of securitisation; 2. Punishment: civic death, cruel retribution, and the securitisation of academic purges; 3. Control: centralised digital politics, lateral surveillance, and shared governance of contingencies and extra-legal over-reach into domestic life; 4. Regulation: informal rule of law, radical uncertainty, and Atmosfearic (self-)regulation; 5. Biosecuritisation: the doubled civic death of purged women, LGBTQ+, and disabled people; Conclusion: Turkey's authoritarian securitisation State and the Global rise of authoritarianism; Reference list; Index.
About the author
Seçkin Sertdemir is a Collegium Researcher in the Department of Philosophy, Contemporary History and Political Science at the University of Turku. She is also a Visiting Fellow in the European Institute at the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on ideas of democracy, and current problems of political philosophy such as civil disobedience and political rights.
Summary
This study analyses the aftermath of the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, wherein the AKP government introduced new methods of authoritarian securitisation which saw 152,000 people dismissed from their positions and banned from public service. Seçkin Sertdemir considers the processes by which these citizens were rendered 'dead' in civic terms.
