Kemalism vs Erdoganism

What is it about?

Abstract: For over a decade the Turkish ruling party, AKP, is consciously trying to construct a new historical narrative by contesting, and replacing, the dominant ideological doctrine of Kemalism. In so doing, the Turkish government recycles the past selectively and interprets the present in terms of historical myths to offer a counter-memory, challenging the Kemalist indoctrination in Turkish society. Thus, the article focuses on the core socioeconomic and political program of ‘Yeni Türkiye’ (New Turkey) of the AKP, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in particular, and explores how a counter memory is being constructed. It analyses the methods, discourses, and repertoires employed to cast a new narrative to hegemonize Turkish society and politics into the future, as Kemalism did in the past. Finally, it discusses continuities and discontinuities between Kemalism and Erdoğanism.

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Why is it important?

The article attempts to explain erdoganism and contrast it to Kemalism, and show in what ways contemporary Turkey's politics develop.