Is post-modern politics an existential threat?

Modernity is a product of Enlightenment philosophy. It is based on rationality and scientific thought. It is the result of a cultural transformation process that proceeds through the acceptance of universal principles and truths. 

Secularism and the nation-state were products of this era. It set out from the rejection of the traditional social order and opened the doors to an age of thought that aimed to realize philosophical and social structuring under the leadership of reason and science.

Modernism is also an age of ideologies. 

Emerging in the last quarter of the 20th century, post-modernism is the rejection of modernism.

It was born as a reaction to the scientific truths and rationality contained in modernism. It approached Enlightenment philosophy and concepts of progress with skepticism. It continued its objections to established, accepted norms.

With post-modernism, digital platforms such as social media and artificial intelligence—products of the technological system—as well as individual beliefs and emotions, replaced objective reality. Thus, a common and accepted objective reality disappeared. 

Concrete and objective truths were lost with the “my truth” – “your truth” discourses frequently witnessed in society. Irrational and unscientific thoughts were not only accepted as worthy of respect but were also labeled as requirements of “freedom of thought and democracy.”

With the post-modern ethical approach, the invalidity of fixed and immutable moral principles was advocated.

The undeniable reality of science and its status in social life were opened to debate.

The effects of post-modernism on politics have been the rejection of concepts such as objective truth and the denial of Enlightenment and progressive universal thought.

A pluralistic understanding of identity was advocated instead of national identity. Ethnic, cultural, and local identities were brought to the forefront.

Instead of politics being conducted through “realities” and being sensitive to real problems, it was prioritized to be conducted through simulations presented via the media.

By rejecting fixed ideological stances, flexible political messages that could change according to the conjuncture and did not carry concerns for consistency gained validity.

• While post-modernism shakes trust in institutions, it has reduced trust in rational knowledge and major political parties.

• Local governments and non-governmental organizations have gained priority.

• Non-rational populist discourses that appeal to the emotions of the public have begun to be effective in politics.

• Because the reality reached through rationality and science is rejected, “post-truth,” which means unreality, has been legitimized through manipulations. Society has lost “what is true and real.” The confusion created has become the opium of peoples severed from reality.

• Since there are no longer any principles and values left that society would describe as “objective reality,” a form of politics has emerged that is directed by virtual realities and simulations, and where money is the dominant actor.

IDEOLOGY-FREE AND PRINCIPLE-FREE POLITICS

Ideology-free, unprincipled, and populist politics have begun to be presented as democracy.

Political parties have become identity-less, focusing on simulations, populist actions, and discourses. Instead of solution proposals for social problems and national interests, propaganda methods that appeal not to reason but to emotions, aspirations, and the subconscious have become widespread.

Messages that the nation-state cannot lead society to salvation and prosperity and that results cannot be achieved through social integration have been constantly repeated.

It was emphasized that the structure to which society should feel loyalty and moral responsibility is not the Nation, but the Community (cemaat).

Suggestions were made that the replacement of national identity with ethnic, religious, sectarian, and sexual identities is democracy and freedom.

Minds were confused with claims that national identity is not a collective identity and cannot create a sense of belonging in the individual.

Post-modern politics still maintains the claims that the nation-state process will be overcome, that the phenomenon of “local statehood” will come to the agenda, and that a World Confederation consisting of “city-states” to be established is the goal that must be reached.

This is exactly the system proposed as a solution by the separatist Kurdish movement and its political extensions in Turkey.

SIGNS OF POST-MODERN POLITICS IN TURKEY

In Turkish politics, “the CHP has been the flagship of ideological politics.” The founding ideology of the Turkish State is also the ideology of the CHP.

However, it must have been difficult to carry this weight, as the New CHP administrations, starting from the Kılıçdaroğlu era, have not seen much harm in adopting post-modern political patterns.

CHP members, who first met with ideology-free politics discourses during the Kılıçdaroğlu era, have witnessed their party evolving into an identity-less and populist structure over time, detached from its founding principles.

While the concepts of secularism and the nation-state, which are the building blocks of modernist politics, are being stretched, the polishing of communities (cemaats) is also among the important indicators of post-modern politics.

The replacement of National Identity with a “neutral identity,” that is, an identity that does not carry a national name, and even the statements that the word “Turk” in the concept of the Turkish Nation points to an ethnic origin, have undoubtedly been a lifeline for separatist movements that engage in politics through ethnic identity.

The most important indicators of post-modern politics, which is carried out under the name of democratization, are not limited to these. Because post-modern politics is a method of doing politics built not on facts and reality, but on perceptions.

Perceptions were created with calls for “reconciliation” (helalleşme), and the honorable history of the CHP was blamed, with emphasis placed on the “new and contemporary Y-CHP values.”

POST-MODERN POLITICS AND MARKETING

Marketing strategies of the capitalist model play a very important role in the roadmap of post-modern politics.

For post-modern politicians who declare that their ideologies are exhausted, the distinguishing feature of political parties is their Leaders. For this reason, election campaigns have focused on Political Leaders.

In the political market, the party no longer has an identity; it only has a Leader, and increasing the Leader's market share is the sole purpose of propaganda. We have been witnessing the most obvious example of this in the US Presidential Elections for years.

Leader-focused marketing strategies undoubtedly lead to the need for large financial resources and professional advertising agencies.

In these campaigns, “reality” has been completely sidelined. All visual materials, images, simulations, discourses, and even the Leader's clothing and body language are redesigned as material for political propaganda through professional experts and with a surreal narrative.

All methods applied to market a consumer good in TV commercials are also used to increase the Leader's market share by being processed into the subconscious.

In post-modern politics, the condition for the success of campaigns has turned into being directly proportional to the financial power of politics. It has already become an almost immutable rule for those who are candidates for politics to bring a substantial portfolio with them.

Leader-focused marketing strategies in elections also manifest themselves in posters hung on billboards.

The slogans that remain in memory are also an indicator of the success graph of advertising agencies. What do we remember from the election slogans?

AKP/ Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; “Right Time, Right Man”, “If Anyone Does It, the AK Party Does It”, “No Stopping, Keep Going”

CHP/ Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu; “I am Kemal, I am Coming!”, “Springs Will Come Again”, “Anatolia’s Kemal Carries All Colors to Power”

CHP/MHP Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, “Ekmeleddin for Bread”

The most popular of these slogans is undoubtedly the last one; everyone knows it!

As can be seen, most of the election slogans are leader-focused and devoid of ideology.

The last slogan with ideological content that we remember belongs to the CHP of the Bülent Ecevit era:

“The land belongs to those who till it, the water to those who use it.”

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The most prominent pressure group of post-modern politics is social media. Social media has the power to create perception through visual materials produced by trolls and unreal simulations in favor or against. The use of professional methods that process into the voter's subconscious is also a tool of unfair competition in politics. There are countless examples of attempts to silence criticism of leaders through lynching campaigns filled with threats and insults.

In the post-modern school of thought where reality is trivialized, the most effective weapon of propaganda has been to influence the emotions of the masses and manage the subconscious of society through constant repetition. It has also been proven that results can be achieved by putting grievances or lies and smear methods into play through social media from time to time. Lies and slanders have gradually been accepted as a legitimate tool of politics. Unfortunately, the effect created by smear campaigns has prevailed over the power of facts. The lie has defeated the truth, and the “throw mud, let it leave a mark” mentality continues to be used effectively in politics.

In post-modern politics; the power of the screen has taken over the human mind. Perception has defeated fact.

The continuation of ideological and unprincipled politics has also paved the way for the camouflage of the inconsistent and contradictory statements of leaders.

ÖCALAN GLORIFICATIONS AND POST-MODERN POLITICS

The mind-boggling glorifications of Öcalan, initiated with the “Process of a Turkey Without Terror,” are the most concrete example of the post-modern political understanding.

The fact that the partners of the People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı), who declared the CHP a terror suspect in the 2023 and 2024 Elections, bestowed the status of Founding Leader and Chief Negotiator upon Öcalan six months after the election is a unique example of post-modern politics.

The leader of the CHP, the founding party of the Republic, “raising the stakes” and promising a State to the Kurds is another similar example.

The acceptance of this political leadership approach, which does not carry concerns for consistency and proceeds with statements that do not align with the ideology and principles of political parties, by politicians in the parties is a concrete indicator of the post-modern fracture in Turkish Politics.

The roadmaps of political parties focused solely on the concern of harvesting votes are insufficient to respond to the expectations of voter masses waiting for solutions to their social and economic problems. The fracture in trust in politics in Turkey and the increase in undecided voter votes are the result of the replacement of the ideological reflex of politics with populist politics.

The voter is casting their vote by deciding not on whom they want, but on whom they do not want.

The votes that political parties receive outside of their ossified bases are not the product of approval, but of a reaction against what is not approved, and they show volatility.

Unprincipled and ideology-free post-modern politics continues to be an EXISTENTIAL THREAT for countries like Turkey, where territorial integrity and secularism are under threat.