Governing or Repressing Dissent via the Politics of Toleration: The Justice and Development Party versus the Working Class

Abstract

This paper attempts to critically scrutinize the recent policies of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in relation to the Turkish working class by means of the liberal concept of toleration. In order to realize this objective, it investigates the links between the theoretical framework of toleration, the AKP policies toward the working class (conceptualized in terms of toleration) and the history of dissent articulated by Turkish workers under the AKP. The five most recent May Day demonstrations (2007-11) constitute the focus of this study as historical moments when this tripartite relationship became most visible. As such, this study discusses the relationship between class difference, toleration and the substitution of the binary value of justice-philanthropy for that of equality.