Türkiye’de sivil toplum kuruluşlarinin ideolojik temelleri
The Ideological Foundations of Civil Society Organisations in Türkiye

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the ideological foundations of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Turkey through a historically grounded and theoretically informed analysis. It reconstructs the conceptual links between civil society and major political ideologies by engaging with Enlightenment thought and liberal, conservative and socialist traditions, and then traces how strong statehood, modernisation projects, military interventions and neoliberal restructuring have shaped the space of civil society from the late Ottoman Empire to the post-1980 era. On this basis, the article maps the organisational practices, legitimising discourses and state-society relations of four principal clusters of CSOs: secular/lay, Islamic, nationalist and leftsocialist organisations, while deliberately excluding ethnically based and weakly ideological liberal actors. The analysis shows that Turkish CSOs are deeply structured along ideological cleavages that simultaneously broaden opportunities for democratic participation and rightsbased activism, yet also reproduce polarisation, clientelism and dependence on state power. The conclusion discusses how cross-ideological cooperation and a more enabling public policy framework could strengthen the emancipatory potential of civil society in Turkey. Accordingly, the extent to which civil society can expand its democratizing capacity in a more inclusive and autonomous manner will likely hinge on the establishment of institutional mechanisms that promote inter-ideological cooperation and lessen reliance on the state.

• Details
• Contents