Non-Violent Power of Collectivities: Voices from Tahrir and Gezi

Mass public protests in Egypt in 2011 and in Turkey in 2013 share similarities not only in terms of the diversity of the people in Tahrir and in Gezi but also the ways in which the protesters claimed a non-violent voice as a collectivity in the face of violence they were exposed to. First, in both cases, protestors did not share an ideological, identitarian, and economic backgrounds apart from the marginalized position they had vis-à-vis the ruling state elite. This frustration stemming from inequality could explain the beginning of the protests. However, it fails to shed light on how such diversity survived persistently against the police violence and created a body politic. In order to explain this phenomenon, this analysis combines Hannah Arendt’s power conceptualization with Judith Butler’s performativity through bodies. While Arendt’s collective power offers an understanding of non-violent ways of exercising power, Butler directs the attention to bodies and performances in generating this type of power. Two types of performances common in both Tahrir and Gezi will be scrutinized: (1) performances of women and members of LGBT communities and (2)protection of praying Muslims by LGBT communities in Gezi and by Christians in Tahrir. As a result of these performances, it will be argued, not only the collectivity claimed a voice, but also previously marginalized individuals generated a sense of empowerment within a collectivity without losing their differences.