Browsing by Subject "Civil Society"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Open Access
The Andican uprising, 13 May 2005
(2008) Kuzu, Durukan
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union state building process in Uzbekistan became subjected to the social, political and economic problems. When all these factors came together Andican Uprising occurred on 13 May 2005. In this thesis I tried to clarify the basic motives behind the Andican Uprising. By investigating these motives, I attempted to shed light on religious fundamentalism that the Government of Uzbekistan faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a part of problematical state building process, role of domestic politics in the emergence of the uprising was also covered by pointing out the characteristics of clan politics and civil society in Uzbekistan. Reasons of the event were also investigated on international level. In this context geopolitical strategy of international actors, the colored revolutions and U.S – Uzbekistan relations were explored. Economic integration of Uzbekistan to world economy and its failing reformation process was explored. While promotion of iv democracy in Uzbekistan was necessitating broader freedom for society, religious fundamentalism led the government to intensify its authoritarian character. These two conflicting characteristics of the country created two sides over which international actors played their cards. While the west insisted on the democratization of the country the east supported the Uzbek government’s harsh measurement over religious groups. Andican Uprising is an important case in which it is possible to find all prominent characteristics of the Uzbek politics, and therefore this thesis can be taken as a laboratory work in which all relevant traces were investigated to understand Uzbekistan.
Open Access
Civil society and democratic consolidation : the case of TUSIAD
(2002) Yaman, Mine
This thesis questions the relationship between civil society and democratic consolidation. By referring to the development of the concept of civil society and civil society organizations in Turkey, this study focuses on one of the influential, economically powerful, protective interest group; namely TUSIAD as a case study.
Open Access
Civil society as foreign policy actor : the case of TÜSİAD
(2006) Demirkol, Özhan
This thesis analyzes the influence of the strong state tradition on Turkish entrepreneurs with a special focus on TÜSİAD’s involvement in Turkey-EU relations. The thesis traces the reasons of TÜSİAD’s support for Turkey’s EU membership. Consequently it analyzes TÜSİAD’s contribution to Turkey-EU relations.
Open Access
Exploring the possibilities for the social and the political in the public-private disctinction in Arendt
(2011) Yıldırım, Senem
This dissertation basically asks the question of whether the public- private dichotomy in Arendt‟s theory is an absolute one. This question is a result of the fact that the intricate layers in the distinction between the public and the private in Arendt‟s works has not critically examined within the literature. In answering that question, this dissertation argues that the multi-layered terrain of Arendt‟s political theory makes it possible to point out some conceptual spheres that transcend a particular understanding of the mentioned dichotomy. This kind of inquiring reading enables one to escape the chains of dichotomous thinking and to come up with an alternative theoretical space for thinking Arendt‟s conception of politics. Correspondingly, this dissertation points out the concepts of work and social as possible loopholes that transcend the dichotomous thinking in Arendt‟s theory. Possible implication of pointing out these loopholes is to challenge to the fixed nature of the public-private distinction. This challenge directly effects how one positions the political within the dichotomy. If the political is not observed within the confines of the public-private distinction in every context, it means that it sometimes exists within an in-between space of sociability. The idea of civil society as an associational life in contemporary political experience corresponds to that in-between space. This particular reading points out a contemporary political experience, in which the political and the social co-exist. It also offers an Arendtian perspective to critically reflect on how we experience politics within the space of contemporary civil society.
Open Access
Local participation and social capital in women's development projects : influence of external versus internal financing on NGOs in Turkey
(2008) Walterova, Iva
Sustainable development has been a great challenge for a number of experts. The social dimension of development studies has gained significance in recent decades. Civil society and social capital are, therefore, increasingly more examined as these concepts are widely discussed; and there are not many empirical country specific studies of them. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on local participation and social capital in women’s development projects in Turkey. The research question in this study is: how does internal versus external financing influence local participation in women’s development projects of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Turkey? In order to examine the role of financing in local participation in women’s development projects, the theoretical arguments focusing on development, civil society, women’s development and social capital are assessed to demonstrate the importance of local participation for sustainable development and women’s development projects for empowerment of women. Furthermore, an overview of Turkey’s history from the angle of civil society and women’s movement is presented to provide a background for the evolution of women’s NGOs and their work in Turkey. A sample of donor organizations and externally and internally funded women’s development projects is selected as cases. The assumption of this study is that local participation can facilitate social capital. Women should be perceived as able and active participants in all phases of the NGOs’ projects, including implementation and monitoring. Thus, NGOs and local donors are expected to use more participatory approaches because of the grounded knowledge potentially stemming from ‘internal’ resources that are embedded in these organizations. However, the research findings demonstrated that this argument cannot be sufficiently supported. Despite the participatory requirement in the iv applications, managers/administration of both externally and internally funded projects perceive no such requirement. Neither the externally nor the internally financed projects were undertaken with considerable local participation. Overall, the findings have shown that the participatory approach is often part of the rhetoric of the donors and the NGOs; however, it rarely appears in practice. Since local participation is not facilitated to a full extent in the sample projects, social capital is not used to allow empowerment of women as active owners of their choice of development programs. Therefore, bonding and bridging social capital among women in Turkey requires further research. Consequently, it is puzzling that development practitioners in Turkey dealing with women/gender in development would not fully utilize this invaluable resource.