Authoritarianism Debates: The Ongoing Formation of the State in Turkey

By: Melehat Kutun

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Synopsis: This methodological, theoretical and empirical contribution focuses on how the classical political-economic and sociological approaches that have long prevailed in studies on the state and authoritarianism reproduce or update themselves in the particularity of Turkey. It considers the &“strong state tradition thesis&” and its contemporary versions, &“new-developmentalism&” and &“competitive authoritarianism&”, to be variants or adaptations of the classical political-economic and sociological approaches, questioning why these new concepts are needed and what is, in their view, "new" since 2011 in the politics of Turkey. It problematises the ways these approaches are reproduced in the contexts of varied countries&’ own peculiarities and Turkey&’s specifically. It focuses on how these approaches have been transformed and updated while explaining recent political developments in Turkey and it presents an open-Marxist critique and a comprehensive explanation of authoritarianism contextualised amongst the other prominent discussions in Marxist state theory. It presents a multi-disciplinary approach that builds bridges between state theory, methodological concerns and contemporary politics in Turkey, focusing on the period since 2010 but with particular consideration of both the continuities and ruptures with the previous period.