Parti liderinin mücadelesi: David Hare’ın Savaşın Yokluğunda adlı oyununda değişim olasılığı

Abstract

David Hare’ın The Absence of War (Savaşın Yokluğunda) (1993) adlı oyunu Britanya’da erken düzenlenen bir genel seçim öncesi dönemi ve George Jones tarafından yönetilen İşçi Partisi’nin Muhafazakâr Parti’ye yenilmesini konu almaktadır. Hare, George Jones’u partinin politika geliştirme sürecinde yer alamayan zayıf bir lider olarak gösterir çünkü George’un danışma kurulu üyeleri partinin sisteminde bulunan yerleşik gelenekleri kullanarak George’un toplumun önünde ve medyada kendi fikirlerini açıklamasına engel olur ve onu sürekli kontrol altında tutar. Hare, George üzerinden 1983-1992 yılları arasında İşçi Partisi’nin liderliğini yapan, partinin sosyal ve ekonomik politikalarını değiştirmekle suçlanan ve 1992 genel seçimindeki yenilgi sonrası parti liderliğinden istifa eden Neil Kinnock’a gönderme yapar. Bu makalenin amacı, Hare’ın oyunda George’un liderliği üzerinden aslında Kinnock’un liderlik yıllarını anlattığını ve bir bakıma Kinnock hakkında yorum yaptığını, yani İngiliz siyasetinin bir dönemini kurgusal bir karakter üzerinden anlattığını ortaya koymaktır. Bu bağlamda, Hare, İşçi Partisi’nin iki liderinin de partiyi dönüştürmeyi hedeflediğini ancak her ikisinin de direnişle karşılaştığını; George’un danışma kurulu üyeleri tarafından susturulurken Kinnock’un partinin ideolojik ve ekonomik temelini değiştirmekle suçlandığını gösterir. Buna ek olarak bu makalede iki liderin de bir seçim kazanmadan parti liderliğinden istifa etmek zorunda kalmasına rağmen seçmenlere hitap edebilmek için partinin geleneksel sisteminde devrim niteliğinde değişiklikler yapmak için savaştıkları üzerinde durulacaktır.

Keywords

• İngiliz Siyaseti
• İşçi Partisi
• Neil Kinnock
• Muhafazakâr Parti

The struggle of the party leader: The im/possibility of change in David Hare’s The Absence of War

Abstract

David Hare’s The Absence of War (1993) deals with the period before an early general election in Britain and the defeat of the Labour Party, which is led by George Jones, to the Conservative Party. Hare presents George Jones as a weak leader who cannot actively take part in the policy making process because he is constantly controlled by the members of his advisory committee who prevent George from making his own statements before the public and while speaking to the media by using the established traditions in the party system. Through George, Hare makes references to Neil Kinnock who was the leader of the Labour Party between 1983-1992 and aimed to change the social and economic policies of the Party, but he resigned after the defeat in the 1992 general election. The major aim of this paper is to argue that Hare illustrates, and in a way comments on, Kinnock’s leadership through that of George’s in the play, so he presents a historical period in British politics through a fictional character. In this sense, Hare demonstrates that both leaders of the Labour Party aim to reform the party; however, both encounter resistance; while George is silenced by his advisory committee, Kinnock is accused of changing the ideological and economic basis of the party. Moreover, it will be displayed that although both leaders resign before winning a general election, they struggle to introduce revolutionary changes to the traditional system in the Party in order to appeal to voters.

Keywords

• British Politics
• the Labour Party
• Neil Kinnock
• the Conservative Party

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