Spaces of hope in authoritarian Turkey: Istanbul's interconnected geographies of post-Occupy activism

Abstract

In Istanbul's history, Taksim Square has always been an identity place for activists, similar to Tahrir Square in Cairo or Maidan in Kiev, but this paper points out that the Gezi protests created other identity places across Istanbul. This article focuses on the notion of 'spaces of hope' in relation to ‘cycles of protests’ and ‘repertoires of collective action’, in examining the post-Occupy activism in Istanbul following the Gezi protests and in the face of increasing authoritarianism. Based on two phases of ethnographic research conducted in Istanbul from 2013 to 2017, commencing during the Gezi Park protests and later expanding to its anniversaries and other political events in the central parks of Istanbul, the paper traces the spatial memories, political emotions and cultural legacy of waves of protests. It defines the previously occupied parks as ‘political parks’ (Bayat, 1997, 2012) where identities of protesters transform and intersect through offline networks formed at various parks in Istanbul. This paper makes the case for how people's identities and political emotions transform due to their engagement with the spaces of social movements not only at their peak but also following their demise in an attempt to test, reinforce and challenge the participatory and spatial strategies of the Gezi protests and from a wider perspective other Occupy movements.