Embodied practices of leadership

Abstract

Using the example of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the chapter explores how the staging of the physical body creates the political one by means of such elements as clothing, gestures and body language. In this vein the chapter begins with introducing the literature on the ‘staging of politics’, political performativity and the role of body in this process. Further it gives an overview of Erdogan’s use of body language in relation to his biography. In what follows, the public bodily behaviour of the past Turkish political leaders is analyzed against the backdrop of Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the ‘ultimate leader of the nation’. In the second part, the chapter explores how the staging of politics and the use of body language unfold in the context of a strong socio-cultural schism in Turkey, often labelled as the ‘Black Turk’ vs. ‘White Turk’ divide. The chapter also discusses the increasing influence of the religiously informed body language upon the staging of politics in Turkey, and relates it to today’s Turkey’s claim to the leadership role in Sunni Islam.