Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul

205 Pages·2012·1.58 MB·English

Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul
An analysis of the perceived role of ICT in changing
institutional politics, activism, and identity
Itır Akdoğan
Academic dissertation
To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of
Helsinki, for public examination in the Arppeanum auditorium, Snellmaninkatu 3, 2nd floor,
on 24 March 2012, at 10 a.m.
Väitöskirja esitetään Helsingin yliopiston valtiotieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella
julkisesti tarkastettavaksi Arppeanumin auditoriossa (Snellmaninkatu 3, 2.kerros)
lauantaina 24. maalisuuta 2012 kello 10.
Publisher:
Communication Research Centre CRC, Department of Social Research,
University of Helsinki
Author:
Itır Akdoğan
Title of the Publication: Type of the Publication:
Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul Academic dissertation
An analysis of the perceived role of ICT
in changing local institutional politics,
activism, and identity
Keywords:
ICT, politics, activism, identity, fantasy
Publication series:
Media and Communication Studies Research Reports 1/2012
ISSN: ISBN:
ISSN-L 1799-7933 ISBN 978-952-10-7883-5 (paperback)
ISSN 1799-7933 (printed) ISBN 978-952-10-7884-2 (PDF)
ISSN 1799-7941 (electronic publication)         
Printer: Electronic Publication:
Helsinki University Print http://helsinki.fi/crc/julkaisut/index.html
Helsinki 2012
Abstract
This research analyses how different groups of people perceive the role of new
information and communication technologies (ICT) in social change, and how they
make sense out of these claimed changes in society.
There are claims for social change in many areas. This research frames its analysis
in three areas of social change namely the local-global relation; politics and the
political, and ICT. The study first looks at the theoretical discussions on how different
perspectives conceptualize social change in these areas. The theoretical framework then
looks at the three dimensions that emerge from the interaction of these three areas;
institutional politics, activism, and identity.
There are different frameworks for making sense of social change. Lacanian fantasy
is one that allows deeper analysis of perceptions and fluidity between the various
perceptions. As all fantasies are frustrated, the concept also allows a critical analysis.
The theoretical framework finally also looks at what fantasies the theoretical discussions
create, regarding social change in the above three areas and dimensions.
At the empirical level, the research focuses on the perceptions of the role of ICT in
the changing institutional politics, activism, and identity in Istanbul from the local-
global relation, politics and the political, and ICT perspectives. The research then
discusses what fantasies come out of these perceptions.
The research uses the grounded theory methodology. This is a methodology that
allows researchers to discover new concepts that are not initially included in the
theoretical framework so that they can extend and develop their theoretical frameworks.
Once researchers find a new concept, they first need to theorize it by going back to the
theoretical level, and analyse the empirical data deeper after that theorization. Fantasy
is the new concept that was grounded in the empirical data of this research. That is how
the concept was first theorized and used for the deeper analysis of the empirical data.
The study collected the empirical data from 57 in-depth interviews with institutional
politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens that each primarily fed one dimension of
the study. The research also used secondary data for the chapter of the contextual
background on Istanbul and Turkey.
The results of the analysis suggest that all three groups in Istanbul create fantasies
in their perception of the role of ICT in social change. The research concludes that
institutional politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens all create fantasies of political
power, technological power, and harmony. The research also concludes that among
the different groups there are variations and contradictions in the fantasies that all are
frustrated by several local challenges, especially the political culture.
Acknowledgements
I am very lucky, delighted, and thankful that I am surrounded by amazing people who
have shared with me their time, energy, knowledge, thoughts, and love.
I thank my supervisors Sinikka Sassi and Nico Carpentier. This combination is the
best thing that can happen to a doctoral researcher. I thank Hannu Nieminen and Esa
Väliverronen from the Media and Communication Studies for their support. Over the
years, I had the opportunity to discuss about the earlier drafts at various occasions; I
thank Ronald Rice, Tobias Olsson, Don Norris, Graham Murdock, Gavan Titley, Aslı
Tunç, Okan Tanşu, and Özge Aktaş, among others, for their feed-back. I am privileged
that Bart Cammaerts and Peter Dahlgren have reviewed my dissertation; I thank them
for their comments. I thank Bridget Emery who has proofread the manuscript and
Pauliina Shilongo who has done the page lay-out, for their generosity and friendship.
The first year of this research has been funded by the Center for International
Mobility - CIMO and Istanbul Bilgi University. University of Helsinki and the Media
and Communication Studies have funded the completion of the research. I thank these
institutions, and the Media and Communication Studies and CRC which have given me
part-time teaching and other load as a support for my studies.
I have met wonderful colleagues at our unit after I have submitted my dissertation;
I thank them all for their enthusiasm to make the doctoral studies a more enjoyable
experience for future international students. There is one person who was there from
the very beginning with her warm smile; Yonca Ermutlu, thank you for being my friend.
I also thank Liina Puustinen for her friendship. In Finland, I’ve gained a family. I
have become sisters with Venla Stodolsky and Hanna Niinistö, god-mother of Tarico
Stodolsky, sister in law of Petri Myllyneva and Pasi Hytti, and daughter of Sirkka
Niinistö. Thank you all for your big hearts and sunshine. The Kassandra Choir divas,
you are the colours, energy bubbles, and a wonderful company; thank you for all the
laughter and fun. I thank the ECREA Summer School 2007 gang for the online support
and the offline reunions. I am very happy that I have met you all and shared the dark
days and nights.
I’d like to also thank my unforgettable colleagues and professors at Istanbul Bilgi
University; some of them appear in the second paragraph, here, I’d like to thank very
much Aydın Uğur and Sedat Örsel for their lovely care and support. I thank Sibel
Yardımcı and Başak Demir Saral for their help in data collection and their friendship.
My darling friends Deniz Akkan and Zeynep Alemdar, I’m the luckiest to have you,
thank you for all your support and love.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my darling mother Perihan Akdoğan, and to my
darling brother Fatih Akdoğan: all this luck and delight start with you two, I can never
thank you enough for being there for me.
Itır Akdoğan
Helsinki, February 26, 2012
Table of Contents
PArT I: TheoreTICAl FrAmework .......................................................................9
1. Introduction of the research ....................................................................................................11
2. Theoretical Framework ...........................................................................................................17
2.1. A changing world: concepts .......................................................................................17
2.1.1. the local - global relation ...................................................................................18
2.1.2 Politics and the political ....................................................................................23
2.1.3. Information and Communication Technologies ICT ..............................35
2. 2. Social change and technology .................................................................................37
2.2.1.Network society ..................................................................................................38
2.2.2.Institutional politics and ICT ..........................................................................43
2.2.3. Activism and ICT ..............................................................................................49
2.2.4. Identity and ICT .................................................................................................52
2.3. Fantasy ...........................................................................................................................56
2.3.1 Fantasy in Lacanian theory .............................................................................56
2.3.2. Fantasy in the political .....................................................................................57
2.3.3. Fantasies of social changes ...........................................................................59
2.3.3.1. Fantasies in local-global relation ................................................................59
2.3.3.2. Fantasies in politics and the political area .............................................60
2.3.3.3. Fantasies in ICT .............................................................................................62
3. Contextual background: Istanbul and Turkey ..................................................................63
3.1. Introduction: country background .........................................................................63
3.2. Institutional politics in Turkey (and in Istanbul) ..................................................66
3.3. Activism in Turkey (and in Istanbul) ........................................................................72
3.4. Identity in Turkey (and in Istanbul) ..........................................................................77
3.5. Media and ICT in Turkey (and in Istanbul) ............................................................84
4. Methodology ..............................................................................................................................95
4.1. Grounded Theory ..........................................................................................................95
4.2. Data Collection Methods ..........................................................................................97
4.3. Data Analysis ..............................................................................................................102
4.4. Advantages and Challenges ...................................................................................104
PArT II: AnAlysIs ..................................................................................................107
5. Institutional Politics ................................................................................................................109
5.1. Institutional politics and ICT .....................................................................................109
5.1.1. Efficiency ...............................................................................................................110
5.1.2. Reorganization of municipalities ...................................................................112
5.1.3. Democracy ...........................................................................................................113
5.2 Linking local and global in institutional politics with ICT .................................114
5.2.1. Access ...................................................................................................................114
5.2.2. Online networking ............................................................................................115
5.2.3. Global city ..........................................................................................................116
5.3. Interaction of politics and the political with ICT ................................................119
5.3.1. Influence on local politics ..............................................................................119
5.3.2. (e-) Participation ..............................................................................................121
5.4 Fantasies of institutional politics ...........................................................................125
5.4.1. Fantasy 1: ICT make local institutional politics more efficient .............125
5.4.2. Fantasy 2: ICT make cities global ...............................................................127
5.4.3. Fantasy 3: ICT make local politics more democratic .............................130
6. Activism .......................................................................................................................................133
6.1. Activism and ICT ..........................................................................................................134
6.1.1. Access ....................................................................................................................134
6.1.2. Interaction ..........................................................................................................135
6.1.3. Efficiency ............................................................................................................136
6.1.4. Status ...................................................................................................................139
6.2. Linking the local and the global with ICT ..........................................................140
6.2.1. Communication ..................................................................................................141
6.2.2. Online networking ..........................................................................................142
6.2.3. Multidirectional linking of the local and the global ..............................143
6.3. Activists in local political life ..................................................................................145
6.3.1 Discovery of local politics and the political .............................................145
6.3.2. Empowerment .................................................................................................147
6.4. Fantasies of activism in Istanbul ............................................................................148
6.4.1. Fantasy 1: ICT solve the problems of activism ..........................................149
6.4.2. Fantasy 2: ICT ensures local-global collectivism ....................................151
6.4.3. Fantasy 3: ICT empower activists in local political life .........................153
7. Identity .........................................................................................................................................157
7.1. Identity and ICT ..........................................................................................................157
7.1.1. Communication ..................................................................................................158
7.1.2. Access ..................................................................................................................159
7.I.3 Facilitation .............................................................................................................160
7.1.4. Virtual identities ................................................................................................160
7.2. Linking the local and the global with ICT ............................................................161
7.2.1. Access ..................................................................................................................161
7.2.2. Online networking ............................................................................................161
7.2.3. Feeling Global ..................................................................................................163
7.3. New identities in politics and in the political with ICT ...................................164
7.3.1. e-citizens using e-municipality .....................................................................165
7.3.2. Demanding citizens ..........................................................................................166
7.3.2.1. Testing the limits of citizens: hypothetical foreign mayor .................168
7.3.3. Engagement ......................................................................................................169
7.4. Fantasies of identity ....................................................................................................171
7.4.1. Fantasy 1: ICT create (virtual) identities.......................................................171
7.4.2. Fantasy 2: ICT make people feel global ....................................................172
7.4.3. Fantasy 3: ICT engage ordinary citizens in local politics ......................174
PArT III: ConClusIon ............................................................................................177
8. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................179
8.1. Contradiction in perceptions ....................................................................................179
8.2. Multiple Enjoyments and Others .............................................................................181
8.3. Digital – political fantasies ........................................................................................182
reFerenCes ..................................................................................................................186
lIsT oF TAbles
Table 1: Ladders of citizen participation (Arnstein 1969)
Table 2: Five stages of e-government (UNDPEPA & ASPA 2002)
Table 3: Stages of online service development (UN 2010)
Table 4: Fantasies of social changes
Table 5: ICT usage in households and by individuals (TÜİK 2009)
Table 6: Computer and the Internet use (TÜİK 2009)
Table 7: Purpose of the Internet use (TÜİK 2009)
Table 8: Presentation of the interviewees
Table 9: Multiple enjoyments and Others
Table 10: Fantasies of social changes
Table 11: Digital – political fantasies and their frustrations
lIsT oF FIgures
Figure 1: Location of Istanbul (Googlemap)
Figure 2: Share of mobile revenue in total telecommunication revenue in OECD countries
(OECD 2009)
Figure 3: Range of broadband prices for a monthly subscription, September 2008
(OECD 2009)
Figure 4: The legal notice by the Telecommunication Communication Presidency on .
the blocked websites (TIB 2011)
Figure 5: Comparison of Freedom on the Internet (Freedom House 2009)
8 Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul
Part I Theoretical Framework 9
PArT I: TheoreTICAl FrAmework
10 Digital-Political Fantasies in Istanbul