The limits of pluralism: How anti-semitism figures in the oppositional imaginaries in Turkey

Abstract

This thesis interrogates the limits of pluralism in Turkey’s left by focusing on the concessions towards the anti-Semitic discourse in this realm. Through an analysis of Birikim, the longest standing pluralist leftist journal in Turkey and interviews with Jewish intellectuals and activists, the author aims to account for the historical transformations of Turkey’s left vis-à-vis the tension between pluralism and anti Semitism. By considering neither Jewishness nor the pluralist left in Turkey as monolithic structures, this thesis also offers a dynamic approach to understanding the interactions between these spheres. Considering the radical pluralist critiques towards liberal multiculturalist assumptions, provided by thinkers such as Judith Butler and Donna Haraway, the author also problematizes the notions of invisibility and silence which are often attributed to the Jewish community of Turkey.