EUROPEAN-TURKISH IDENTITY INTERACTION FROM THE SOCIALCONSTRUCTIVIST PERSPECTIVE

• Main Author: Zuhal Unalp Cepel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Social Sciences Research Society 2011-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies
• Online Access: http://www.sobiad.org/ejournals/journal_IJSS/arhieves/2011_2/zuhal_unalp_cepel.pdf

Identity formation efforts of the EU draw attentionin Turkey’s membershipprocess. This paper is based on a hypothesis that identity, culture, norms andvalues which construct the social structure affectEuropean and Turkish identityinteraction. In the paper, right and left views within the Turkish parliament andEuropean parliament will be analyzed in the framework of social constructivism.Social constructivism which is provided as an alternative area of study in thesocial sciences to the European integration, is still evaluated as a debatedapproach in the internatioal relations literature.Wendt, Checkel, Smith,Katzenstein, Keohane and Krasner define social constructivism as an approachbetween rationalism represented with neo-realism, neo-liberalism and neo-liberalinstitutionalism- and reflectivism represented withpost-modernism and post-structuralism. On the other hand, some other authors evaluate socialconstructivism within the critical theories. This paper is based on the firstdefinition.The first assumption of the social constructivism asserts that material structuresshould be observed beyond the biological facts(Jupille, Caporaso, Checkel,2003).According to this asumption, material structures gain importance by interpretingwithin the social conditions and environment. By following this assumption, thispaper will focus on different foreign policy strategies of Turkey and Europe as aresult of different identity perceptions. The second assumption points to the natureof the actors and their relations with the institutional environment. In accordancewith this assumption, opinions, values and discourses of the party groups in theTurkish parliament and European parliament will betaken into consideration.Social constructivism stresses on the social interaction of the states and non-state actors. In this respect analyzing the social interaction within the framework ofTurkish-European identity will make a contributionto the literature.