The memorialization of conflict in the digital age: A Narrative Study on human rights workers’ perceptions and experiences of digital memory in Turkey
2018 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Historically, Turkey has always struggled with a deeply divided and conflicted society, in
which various political actors but also civil society actors have sought for truth and
justice. Against the background of past human rights violations in Turkey and the digital
development, human rights workers are confronted with new opportunities and mediums
of tools but also with the digital sphere full of risks in their advocacy for human rights.
Through narrative thematic analysis focusing on the perceptions and experiences of seven
human rights workers at the Truth Justice Memory Center in Istanbul on the construction
of digital memory in Turkey, this research touches upon the highly politicized discourse
of the struggle for spaces and resources in the memorialization process for recognition.
By using a narrative design and a thematic analysis the interview material has been
organized and analysed. In regard to the participants of this study, narrative research
offers us to make sense of the social world and contribute to the understanding of social
agency, which is essential in order to get a deeper insight of personal narratives related to
identifications, motivations and choices to work in the sector of digital memorialization
and human rights.
The results suggest that the active engagement in the human rights sector in Turkey is of
utmost importance but yet comes along with risks and threats. The struggle for
democracy, solidarity and transitional justice and peace is the drive to get engaged for the
participants, who oscillate between an activist and a professional life in their work. While
the digital development offers human rights workers new opportunities to monitor and
challenge the state’s hegemonic narrative, it is argued that the coercive Turkish state will
always hold stronger resources in its hands and jeopardize their work. The digital sphere
can also be perceived as an escape or retreat for human rights advocates to remain active
during times of political repressions. In the field of Peace and Conflict Studies, this
research offers an insight of the crucial role that human rights workers assume in the
symbioses and collaboration between grassroots activism and professional human rights
work in Turkey.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö universitet/Kultur och samhälle , 2018. , p. 63
Keywords [en]
memory, digitization, Turkey, human rights, alternative narrative, peace and conflict
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-22121Local ID: 26882OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-22121DiVA, id: diva2:1482042
Educational program
KS GPS Peace and Conflict Studies
Supervisors
Examiners
2020-10-272020-10-27Bibliographically approved