Civil Society and Latent Mobilization under Authoritarian Neoliberal Governance

This article reflects on the impact of Turkey’s authoritarian neoliberal governance on the transformation of civil society with a particular focus on latent counter-mobilization. The first section investigates the current state of civil society under the rule of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party-AKP). On the one hand, the AKP has gradually increased repressive measures targeting autonomous organizations and activists through judicial harassment and new regulations. On the other hand, it has cultivated a loyal government-oriented civil society sector (GONGOs). New pro-government actors have emerged to take on the responsibilities of the state as a result of the neoliberal restructuring. They fulfill two aims: softening the immediate effects of the state’s withdrawal from social provision and generating a bottom-up consent for authoritarian neoliberal governance. The second section analyzes resistance against the authoritarian neoliberalism that have emerged at the unexpected intersections of ideologies and everyday experiences. It delves into the case study of a unique social movement that fuses class politics with Islamic social justice. Based on insights from original fieldwork and interviews with activists conducted in 2018-2019 in Turkey, this section demonstrates that the syncretic amalgamation of socialist ideology with Islamic justice, simultaneously challenges the AKP’s neoliberal exploitation, instrumentalization and politicization of religion and authoritarian governance.