The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Turkey

Investigates the relationship between culture, politics and power in present-day Turkey, from headscarves to heavy metal

• Provides an overview of the politics of culture in Turkey under the rule of the AKP
• Analyses the success of authoritarian populism and the decline of democracy in Turkey from a cultural studies perspective
• Brings together 16 empirical studies that explore cultural aspects from heavy metal music to arthouse films, and from headscarf politics to national memory

Since coming to power, President Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have focused on narrating their vision of a ‘New Turkey’ – an ideal that has resulted in the politicisation of popular culture and people’s everyday lives. Exposing the strategy of Turkey’s ruling elite to obtain cultural hegemony, this book examines the AKP’s efforts to rewrite Turkish public memory by promoting its ideas through TV series, movies, propaganda videos, school curricula and material culture in urban public spaces. It also explores the tactics of cultural resistance developed by the politically weak to counter the ruling elite’s dominant culture of pious conservatism.