Liberal Vaatlerin Ötesinde: Sosyal Hareketlere İlliberal Devlet Tepkilerini Foucault’nun Devlet Aklı Kavramıyla Yorumlamak

Year 2025, Volume: 25 Issue: 2, 113 - 126, 28.10.2025

Semih Altıntaş

https://doi.org/10.30976/susead.1681071

Abstract

Amaç – Bu makale, liberal demokratik devletlerin liberalizm ya da demokrasi ile bağdaşmayan eylemlerinin sebeplerinin somut bir örnek seti -sosyal hareketlere verdikleri karşılıklar- üzerinden araştırılması amacıyla yazılmıştır.
Yöntem - Bu makalenin yazılmasında nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden fenomenoloji ve vaka çalışmasından yararlanılmıştır. Bu yöntemlerden fenomenoloji kavramların tanımlanmasında, vaka çalışması ise makalenin temel tezlerinin şekillendirilmesi ve kanıtlanması için kullanılmıştır.
Bulgular – Yapılan çalışma sonucu elde edilen temel bulgu, liberal demokratik devletlerin sosyal hareketlere karşı liberalizm ya da demokrasi önceliğiyle açıklanabilecek karşılıklar vermediğidir.
Sonuç – Liberal demokratik devletlerin gündelik hayatın ekonomik ve materyal dolaşımının kesintiye uğrama ihtimaline yol açan her türden eylem, faaliyet ve çabaya karşı liberal ya da demokratik nitelemelerine uymayan birtakım karşılıklar verdiği değerlendirilmektedir. Bu karşılığın altında ise modern devleti tanımlayan ve liberal demokratik olma niteliğini de aşan hayatın ve özelinde ekonomik dolaşımın sürekliliğinin garanti almasını önceleyen bir modern devlet aklının bulunduğu sonucuna varılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Liberal demokratik devlet, toplumsal hareketler, Foucault, modern devlet aklı, hayatın maddi dolaşımı.
JEL Kodları: D72, D74, P10

Keywords

Liberal demokratik devlet , toplumsal hareketler , Foucault , modern devlet aklı , hayatın maddi dolaşımı.

Beyond Liberal Promises: Interpreting Illiberal State Reactions to Social Movements through Foucault’s Raison d’état

Abstract

Purpose – This article aims to research the reasons behind the actions of liberal democratic states incompatible with liberalism or democracy, through a concrete case set which are their responses to social movements.
Methodology – This study employs qualitative research methods, specifically phenomenology and case study. Phenomenology is used for conceptual analysis, while the case study method serves to shape and substantiate the article’s main arguments.
Findings – The main finding obtained from the study is that liberal democratic states' reactions to social movements cannot be explained by a prioritization of liberalism or democracy.
Conclusions – It is assessed that liberal democratic states respond to all kinds of actions, activities, and efforts that pose a potential disruption to the economic and material circulation of life with certain reactions that do not align with their liberal or democratic characterizations. It has been concluded that underlying this response lies a modern state rationality—one that defines the modern state and transcends its liberal democratic quality, which prioritizes guaranteeing the continuity of life, and specifically, economic circulation.
Keywords: Liberal democratic state, social movements, Foucault, modern state reason, material circulation of life.
JEL Codes: D72, D74, P10

Keywords

Liberal democratic state , social movements , Foucault , modern state reason , material circulation of life

References

• Anderson, T. H. (1999). 1968: The end and the beginning in the United States and Western Europe. South Central Review, 16/17, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/3190072
• Castells, M. (1997). The power of identity. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
• Cerny, P. (1982). Non-terrorism and the politics of repressive tolerance. In P. Cerny (Ed.), Social movements and protest in France. York, England: University of York.
• Chafer, T. (1982). The anti-nuclear movement and the rise of political ecology. In P. Cerny (Ed.), Social movements and protest in France. York, England: University of York.
• Chamorel, P. (2019). Macron versus the Yellow Vests. Journal of Democracy, 30(4), 48-62.
• Dahl, R. A. (1998). On democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Della Porta, D. (2015). Social movements in times of austerity: Bringing capitalism back into protest analysis. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
• Dryzek, J. S., Downes, D., Hunold, C., Schlosberg, D., & Hernes, H. C. (2003). Green states and social movements: Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Norway. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• Eisinger, P. K. (1973). The Conditions of protest behavior in American cities. The American Political Science Review, 67(1), 11-28.
• Fine, B., & Saad-Filho, A. (2016). Thirteen things you need to know about neoliberalism. Critical Sociology, 43(4), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920516655387
• Foucault, M. (2003). Society must be defended: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975-76 (D. Macey, Trans.; A. I. Davidson, Ed.). New York, NY: Picador.
• Foucault, M. (2008). The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979 (G. Burchell, Trans.; A. I. Davidson, Ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Foucault, M. (2009). Security, territory, population: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1977-1978 (G. Burchell, Trans.; A. I. Davidson, Ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Gallup. (2022). Environment. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/1615/environment.aspx
• Gamble, A. (1996). Hayek: The iron cage of liberty. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Gamson, W. A. (1992). The social psychology of collective action. In A. D. Morris & C. McClurg Mueller (Eds.), Frontier in social movement theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
• Gamson, W. A., & Modigliani, A. (1989). Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology, 95(1), 1-37.
• Girling, J. (2004). Social movements and symbolic power: Radicalism, reform and the trial of democracy in France. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Goldstone, J. A. (2003). Introduction. In J. A. Goldstone (Ed.), States, parties and social movements. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
• Gospel, H., & Wood, S. (2003). Representing workers in Modern Britain. In H. Gospel & S. Woods (Eds.), Representing workers: Trade union recognition and membership in Britain. London, England: Routledge.
• Gottlieb, R. (1993). Forcing the spring: The transformation of the American environmental movement. Washington, DC: Island Press.
• Green, T. H. (1999). Lectures on the principles of political obligation. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Batoche Books.
• Hobhouse, L. T. (1945). Liberalism (9th ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
• Jobs, R. I. (2009). Youth Movements: Travel, Protest, and Europe in 1968. The American Historical Review, 114(2), 376-404.
• Koopmans, R., Statham, P., Giugni, M., & Passy, F. (2005). Contested citizenship: Immigration and cultural diversity in Europe. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
• Lowe, P., & Goyder, J. (1983). Environmental groups in politics. London, England: Allen & Unwin.
• Macpherson, C. B. (1984). Demokrasinin gerçek dünyası (L. Köker, Trans.). Ankara, Turkey: Birey ve Toplum Yayınları.
• Marullo, S., & Meyer, D. S. (2004). Antiwar and Peace Movements. In D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to social movements. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Mauger, G. (2019). The Gilets Jaunes (R. Grant, Trans.). Savoir/Agir, 47(1), 109-117.
• McNeese, T. (2008). The Civil Rights Movement. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publications.
• McPhail, C., Schweingruber, D., & McCarthy, J. (1998). Policing Protest in the United States, 1960–1995. In D. Della Porta & H. Reiter (Eds.), Policing protest: The control of mass demonstrations in Western Democracies. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
• Melucci, A. (1980). The new social movements: A theoretical approach. Social Science Information, 19(2), 199-226.
• Nash, K. (2010). Contemporary political sociology (2nd ed.). West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Nelson, B. (2006). The making of the modern state: A theoretical evolution. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Neocleous, M. (2003). Imagining the state. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
• Offe, C. (1985). New social movements: Challenging the boundaries of institutional politics. Social Research, 52(4), 817-868.
• Petras, J., & Weltmeyer, H. (2011). Social movements in Latin America: Neoliberalism and popular resistance. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Poggi, G. (1978). The development of the modern state: A sociological introduction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Reinhart, R. J. (2019, January 21). Protests seen as harming Civil Rights Movement in the ‘60s. Gallup. Retrieved February 21, 2023, from https://news.gallup.com/vault/246167/protests-seen-harming-civil-rights-movement-60s.aspx
• Rigakos, G. S. (2016). Security/capital: A general theory of pacification. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.
• Robinson, J. P. (1970). Public reaction to political protest: Chicago 1968. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 34(1), 1-9.
• Rootes, C. (2004). Environmental movements. In D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to social movements (pp. 609-640). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
• Saad, L. (2011, November 21). Support for “Occupy” unchanged, but more criticize approach. Gallup. Retrieved September 25, 2022, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/150896/support-occupy-unchanged-criticize-approach.aspx
• Scruton, R. (2007). The Palgrave Macmillan dictionary of political thought (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Switzer, J. V. (1998). Environmental politics: domestic and global dimensions (2nd ed.). New York, NY: St Martin’s.
• Thomas, L. D. A. (1995). Locke on Government. London, England: Routledge.
• Turner, R. H., & Killian, L. M. (1957). Collective behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Van Zwanenberg, P. (1997). The British national experience. In A. Jamison & P. Østby (Eds.), Public participation and sustainable development: comparing European experiences. Aalborg, Denmark: Aalborg University Press.
• Waddington, P. A. J. (1998). Controlling protest in contemporary, historical and comparative perspective. In D. Della Porta & H. Reiter (Eds.), Policing protest: The control of mass demonstrations in Western democracies (pp. 117–142). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
• Williams, R. H. (2004). The cultural contexts of collective action. In D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to social movements (pp. 91-110). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.