Is there a time and place for politics?

What is politics? The simplest answer to this question is: Politics is everything that concerns society. It covers a wide spectrum, from social decision-making processes to everyday life practices, and everything is political. From labor strikes to women's movements, from the struggle for the right to education to environmental resistance, it manifests itself in every area of social life determined by production relations, in daily relationships, and in cultural production processes.

So, does politics have a time and a place? Some administrators want to confine the political stage to a narrow area. A politics limited to speeches made in parliament, on the podium, or at election rallies... Yet the reality is quite different. Politics exists in the soup boiling in the pot in the kitchen, in the worker walking on the street, in the education children receive at school, in the violence women are subjected to, in the dreams of young people, and in a child's poverty. The park in the neighborhood, the shelf price at the grocery store, academic freedom at the university, mobbing at the workplace, violence at home... All of these are subjects of politics. Because they are all the result of a decision, a preference, an order. Because politics is the expression of conflicts of interest between classes.

The fact that social opposition has found a place for itself in the digital world has created a new practice of forming political subjects and public opinion. For this reason, the boundaries of the concept of “where to do politics” are being redrawn, and it is now defined not only by physical spaces but also by digital and cultural spheres. The Gezi Park protests (2013) in Turkey revealed the power of digital media in mass mobilization and agenda-setting. Because the issue was not just about cutting down a few trees, but about defending public space, the right to the city, and freedom of expression. In other words, it was the very essence of politics. 

Social media is now a platform where class conflicts are both made visible and reproduced. However, dominant powers also use these spaces as tools of hegemonic control, trying to silence dissenting voices through censorship and manipulation. Agendas shaped by algorithms, masses managed by disinformation, and dissenting voices restricted by censorship reveal the contradictions of this space. Thus, by creating a “spiral of silence,” a genuine public debate is prevented. In this context, the discourse of “this is not the place for politics” has often become an ideological shield used to suppress social opposition, class struggles, and the pursuit of rights. Therefore, using digital media and social platforms effectively is of critical importance to break the spiral of silence and ensure social transformation by creating a real public opinion.

We can also understand when, where, and why politics should be done by looking at the topics that have been on the agenda in digital media in recent years and in recent days.

WHY ARE EARTHQUAKES POLITICAL?

The earthquakes we experience in Turkey are a natural phenomenon, but the destruction is the result of a management style. Zoning amnesties granted to construction companies, unregulated construction, rent-seeking relationships... An earthquake is not just a natural phenomenon; the destruction is a story of whose pockets are being filled, who is being ignored, and who is not speaking up. All of these are political. In the earthquake zone, people are told “Now is not the time for politics” so that they do not ask “Where did my taxes go?” That is exactly the moment when politics should be done: Where did the taxes go? For whom was urban transformation carried out? Who got rich, and who remained under the rubble and destruction? Without asking these questions, real change is impossible. Because if those questions are not asked, new buildings will rise again with rent-seeking and will collapse again.

WHY ARE FIRES POLITICAL?

Forest fires are also political. In the major fires experienced in Turkey, the lack of an aircraft fleet, the destruction of the livelihoods of forest villagers, the legitimization of ecological plunder for the sake of tourism and rent... A forest fire is not a coincidence; it is the result of unregulated tourism projects, tender politics, and decisions to ‘shrink forest areas.’ While a public carries water with their own buckets because there are no planes for the fire, they are told “Do not do politics over the fire.” Yet the culprit is clear. It is the political decisions that created this order and this result. For this reason, politics should be done exactly at this time: Why were no precautions taken? Who is responsible? For the sake of which interests is nature being destroyed? Without asking these questions, the truth and those responsible will not be revealed.

GRADUATION CEREMONIES ARE POLITICAL 

In recent years, students have been prevented from opening banners, expressing their opinions, or voicing their demands against rector appointments or for freedom of expression at graduation ceremonies. Reactions at graduation ceremonies are being silenced with phrases like “This is not the place for politics.” Yet values such as academic autonomy, free thought, and merit are subjects of politics. Those who say “This is not the place for politics” even on the graduation podium cannot tolerate the words, demands, and resistance of young people. Because they know that a questioning society's search for a new order and politics is very dangerous for them. 

THE KITCHEN ALSO HAS POLITICS 

If the pot is not boiling in the kitchen, this is also political. Wage policies, inflation, agricultural policies... They are all the result of production relations. Poverty is not a coincidence; it is a class relationship, a preference of the ruling class. That is why kitchens where pots are not boiling are a subject of politics. When the lid of the pot is lifted and one looks inside, first the field and shelf prices, natural gas bills, and then privatizations, agricultural and economic policies appear. The fact that the grocery bag gets lighter every day is a subject of politics. All of them are the product of a preference, an interest. Who is winning, who is losing? Those whose wealth grows while wages erode, those whose profits skyrocket while labor becomes cheap, are responsible. In short, there is a naked class conflict at play.

Today, whether the pot in the kitchen boils or not, the controversial inflation data of TÜİK, the label prices at the market, the purchasing power of the minimum wage, all are determined by politics. In other words, the products missing from a mother's grocery bag and the prices in a child's school canteen are the results of political decisions. There is no time and place for politics; because politics is everywhere; politics is in the earthquake, in the fire, at the graduation ceremony, in the market, in the kitchen. Therefore, every moment there is oppression, injustice, and corruption is the right time to do politics. This is exactly the place and this is exactly the time to do politics. Because everything related to human life is political.