European Union Civil Society Policy and Turkey: A Bridge Too Far?

ISBN-13: 9781137274410 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 171 str.

Ozge Zihnioglu

Opis

The increasing importance of civil society and civil society actors in recent decades has ensured that they now feature prominently in the European Union's enlargement strategy with the EU now possessing a series of policies on civil society in line with its perceived importance in the expansion of the Eurozone. Drawing on interviews with civil society organizations and in conjunction with an examination of EU Civil Society Policy and the legal and institutional environment in Turkey, this book questions the impact that these policies have had on Turkish civil society suggesting that it is, at best, limited. Instead this book argues that the EU could not accomplish its expected objectives within the framework of its civil society policy in Turkey due to a universalist understanding that ignores the current domestic structure of Turkish civil society as well as disregarding its political nature and the autonomous character of Turkey's civil society actors. The result is one of the most wide-ranging and in-depth studies on Turkish civil society and European Union, as such it is an important text for students and scholars of EU enlargement and civil society.

Recenzje

"Civil society is widely employed in the literature on democratization as well as in studies on the European Union's efforts to promote democracy. Strong empirical work, however, is often lacking. Özge Zihnioglu's work fills this gap in the important case of Turkey, assessing the efforts of the EU to develop and implement a 'civil society policy.' This work makes an important contribution to the growing body of work on Turkey and its efforts to meet the requirements to join the EU."

Paul Kubicek, Department of Political Science, Oakland University, USA

'Part of the complexity of Turkey-EU relations lies in the fact that government-to-government ties are but one dimension of this multifaceted relationship. Beyond official Brussels-Ankara ties, the EU has made engagement with civil society a cornerstone of its policy. In this book, Özge Zihnioglu meticulously explains how the EU has influenced Turkey's civil society scene, contributing to the empowerment of the third sector and thus to the overall democratization of the country.'

Nathalie Tocci, Europe and the Neighbourhood, Istituto Affari Internazionale, Italy

Spis treści

Acknowledgements List Of Acronyms List Of Tables List Of Figures List Of Maps PART I: INTRODUCTION: CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE EU APPROACH 1. The Case Of Turkey 2. Eu Approach To Civil Society 3. Methods Of Analysis 4. Organisation Of The Book PART II: ESTABLISHING THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 5. Emergence Of The Concept Of Civil Society 6. Civic-Liberal Tradition 7. Neo-Tocquevillians 8. The Impact On EU Civil Society Policy PART III: UNDERSTANDING EU CIVIL SOCIETY POLICY IN TURKEY 9. Eu Civil Society Policy And European Integration 10. Eastern Enlargement And Its Impact 11. Eu Civil Society Policy In The Turkish Context 12. Instruments Of EU Civil Society Policy In Turkey PART IV: THE IMPACT OF EU CIVIL SOCIETY POLICY IN TURKEY 13. Thematic Field Analyses 14. Transformation Of The Legal And Institutional Environment PART V: WHAT GOES WRONG? 15. Challenging The EU's Conceptualization Of Civil Society 16. A Different Perspective On Civil Society 17. The Implications For The EU Accession Process 18. The Role Of Immediate Environment PART VI: WHAT GOES WRONG? 19. An Overview Of The First Decades Of Turkish Republic (1923 – 1945) 20. Multi-Party Period (1946 – 1960) 21. Years Of Turbulence (1961 – 1980) 22. The Post-1980 Period (1981 – 1999) 23. The Eu Accession Period (2000 – 2012) 24. The Impact Of Historical Baggage On Contemporary Civil Society PART VII: CONCLUSION 25. Summary Of Research Findings 26. Arguments And Discussion 27. The Way Forward Appendices A.1 List Of Civil Society Organisation Interviews A.2 Number Of Associations In Turkey (1980-2011) A.3 Number Of Foundations In Turkey (1980-2012) A.4 Number Of Associations According To Their Types (1998-2011) A.5 Provincial Breakdown Of The Number Of Active Associations In Turkey A.6 List Of Legislative Reforms On Freedom Of Association And Freedom Of Assembly In Turkey Since 1999 Bibliography List Of Personal Interviews Glossary Index ?

O autorze

Özge Zihnio?lu is a Lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Kültür University, Turkey. Zihnio?lu has researched on and worked with civil society organizations on Turkey's accession to the European Union and their role in Turkey's democratisation.