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Necessary Conformism: An Art of Living for Young People in Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

Demet Lðkðslð
Demet Lðkðslð*
Affiliation:
Yeditepe University, Department of Sociology, Inönð Mah. Kayisdagi Cad., 26 A;ğuştos Yerleimi, 34755 Ataşehir-İstanbul, Turkey, [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper focuses on the everyday life experiences of the post-1980 generation in Turkey–a generation stigmatized for being depoliticized and apathetic. Rather than accepting this stigmatizing view, however, this analysis aims to better understand young people's actual lived experiences. To do so, it adopts the concept of “necessary conformism” developed in previous empirical research. This concept offers an alternative analytical framework that transcends the engaged/disengaged or political/ unpolitical dichotomy in young people's social participation. Specifically, the application of this concept reveals that apathetic behavior may actually mask powerful discontent and suffering that can be expressed neither through conventional politics nor open resistance. The necessary conformism of young people, therefore, is not apathetic behavior, but the expression of an underlying discontent and often a hidden agony.

Keywords

Youthpost-1980 generationpolitical apathynecessary conformismTurkey
Type
Articles
Information
New Perspectives on Turkey , Volume 48 , Spring 2013 , pp. 79 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 2013

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