REPRESENTATIONS OF MILITARY SERVICE IN CONTEMPORARY TURKEY: A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

Military service is an essential civil obligation for male citizens in Turkey as well as being seen as a prominent way of serving one's country; therefore, it is of prime importance for this cultural context. In an attempt to understand how this practice is experienced and interpreted in everyday thinking, an interview study has been conducted following the frame of Social Representations Theory. The study includes thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews that have been conducted with 51 adults. Results show that prevailing representations of military service and conscripts exist and that most of these representations are related to ideologies of militarism, nationalism, and hegemonic masculinity although representations approaching the phenomenon from another angle also exist.

Keywords

• Social representations,military service,militarism,nationalism

GÜNÜMÜZ TÜRKİYESİNDE ASKERLİĞİN TEMSİLLERİ: SOSYAL PSİKOLOJİK BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Abstract

Askerlik görevi Türkiye’nin tüm erkek vatandaşları için bir mükellefiyet olmasının yanı sıra bireylerin ülkelerine hizmet etmelerinin önde gelen yollarından biri olarak görülmekte; bu nedenle, bu kültürel bağlam içerisinde büyük önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışma kapsamında, askerlik pratiğinin gündelik hayatta ne şekilde deneyimlendiğini ve yorumlandığını anlayabilmek amacıyla Sosyal Temsiller Kuramının bakış açısından hareketle bir mülakat çalışması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma 50 yetişkin bireyle gerçekleştirilmiş yarı-yapılandırılmış mülakatlar üzerinde gerçekleştirilen tematik içerik analizi sonuçlarını kapsamaktadır. Araştırmanın bulguları genel itibarı ile toplumda askerlik hizmeti ve askerlere yönelik yaygın temsiller olduğunu ve bu temsillerin militarizm, milliyetçilik ve hegemonik erkeklik ideolojileriyle ilişkili olduğunu, ancak bahsi geçen olgulara farklı açılandan yaklaşan temsillerin de mevcut olduğunu göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Sosyal temsiller,askerlik,milliyetçilik,erkeklik,milliyetçilik,militarizm

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