Politically motivated precarization of academic and journalistic lives under authoritarian neoliberalism: the case of Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT Focusing on contemporary Turkey under the authoritarian neoliberal rule of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP), this paper examines the politically motivated precarization of the journalistic and academic labour force that otherwise might play an important role in establishing collective action through pursuing and reporting the truth. Politically motivated precarization here means the loss of the minimum socio-economic conditions for a living, deprivation of basic rights, and devaluation of lives for political reasons. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with academics and journalists from Turkey, who currently live in the UK because of political pressures in their home country, support the fundamental argument of this study, namely that there is an overlapping relationship between authoritarian neoliberalism and politically motivated precarization. Based on the interviews, this article also discusses alternative ways of knowledge production and dissemination beyond traditional structures, and the role of transnational solidarity to overcome the authoritarian neoliberal crackdown.