“Chapuling” for freedom and democracy in Gezi Park. A case for communication ethics, conflict and social media
| Date | 04 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-11-2018-0083 |
| Pages | 62-82 |
| Published date | 04 November 2019 |
| Author | Ozum Ucok-Sayrak,David M. Deiuliis |
“Chapuling”for freedom and
democracy in Gezi Park
A case for communication ethics,
conflict and social media
Ozum Ucok-Sayrak
Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Duquesne University,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and
David M. Deiuliis
Department of Communications and Media Arts, Bethany College, Bethany,
West Virginia, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to discuss the role of social media during the Gezi Park protests (2013) in Turkey in
facilitating and promoting the expression of what matters to the protestors in a communicative environment where
most traditional media turned away from reporting the events. Furthermore, the role of social media in promoting
“interspaces”(Arendt,1955/1983) and constructing “communicative dwellings”that maintain public conversa tion of
diverse ideas during the Gezi Park events (Arnett et al., 2014, p. 14) is highlighted.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors usethe framework of communication ethics and conflict
offered by Arnett et al. (2014)that highlights the importance of recognizing “the goods that mattertooneself
and others”(p.17) inaconflict situation.
Findings –Notwithstanding its potentialfor misinformation, social media was the only reliable option for
Gezi Park protesters. During the Gezi Park protests, social media facilitated the creation of interspaces
through which people could make sense of, share, and interactively negotiate meanings about the protests
through dialogue. During the Gezi Park protests, social media served both as an alternative source of
information and a platform for sharingwhat people protect and promote that allowed for the construction of
multiple narratives of resistance.Social media revealed the many components of the protests collected under
the label of Gezi Park. In this historical moment of narrative and virtue contention, it becomes crucial for
leaders to sense what matters to oneself and othersifconflict is to be constructively engaged, allowing for
increasedinsight and productivity.
Originality/value –Although there are variousstudies on Gezi Park protests and the use of social media,
there is no discussion related to communication ethics. In this paper, the authors used the communication
ethics framework offered by Arnett et al. (2014) thatunderlines the “interplay of ethics and conflict”(p. 2)
highlightingethics as “the good that one seeks to protect and promote”(p. 7) that generate conflict because of
“multiplicityof ‘goods’” (Arnett et al.,2009, p. 9) and contrasting ethical positions. Thus, giventhe multiplicity
in terms of what is considered as that whichmatters, and the contrasting ethical positions that are at odds
with each other, conflictand tension can be generated. There are no other studies in the literature thatuse the
abovementionedcommunication ethics perspectivefor discussing the Gezi Park protests in Turkey.
Keywords Social media, Conflict, Public space, Protests, Communication ethics
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Chapuling/Çapuling is a term derived from çapulcu (pronounced “cha-pul-ju”) in Turkish
that would conventionally refer to mean “bum,”“rascal,”“idler”or “vagabond,”which got
JICES
18,1
62
Received7 November 2018
Revised7 June 2019
23August 2019
Accepted16 September 2019
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.18 No. 1, 2020
pp. 62-82
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-11-2018-0083
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1477-996X.htm
appropriated by the protesters during the Gezi Park protests following a speech by the
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who referred to the protesters as çapulcu. It reflects
the humor and solidarity of the demonstrators who adoptedthe term to refer to themselves
in a creative way, using it in various ways such as “Everyday I’m Çapuling!”Some
protestors described chapuling as “to act in a peaceful and humorous manner to remind
governments whythey exist”(Harding, 2013).
In Conflict Between Persons: Origins of Leadership,Arnett et al. (2014) highlight the
importance of “sensing what matters”(p.51) ina communicative environment. The authors
state:
Conflict can be invited when we do not sense what matters to another. If we are to navigate a
particular conflict setting well, we must sense what matters within a given place and among a
group of people (Arnett et al., 2014, p. 51)
In this paper, we examine the Gezi Park protests in Turkey through the framework of
communication ethics and conflict offered by Arnett et al. (2014) that highlights the
importance of sensing what matters in a communicative environment and recognizing “the
goods that matter to oneself and others”(p. 17) in a conflict situation.We discuss the role of
social media for facilitating and promotingthe expression of what matters to the protestors
in a communicative environmentwhere most traditional media turned away from reporting
the events. Furthermore, we highlight the role of socialmedia in promoting interspaces and
constructing “communicativedwellings”that maintain public conversation of diverse ideas
during the Gezi Park events (Arnett et al.,2014, p. 14). Studying social media use in Gezi
Park protests within the framework of communication ethics opens possibilities for
improving our understandingof the role of social media in public protests.
In the following, we first discuss our theoretical framework. Next, we offer background
on the Gezi Park protests that took place duringthe summer of 2013 in Turkey, and describe
the communicative environmentduring the protests. Third, we present a literature review of
social network sites and relationship organization, including a section focusing on the
literature on social media and social movements. Finally, we offer a discussion along with
key lessons learned.
Theoretical framework
In Conflict Between Persons: Origins of Leadership,Arnett et al. (2014) wrote about the
“interplay of ethics and conflict”(p. 2) highlighting ethics as “the good that one seeks to
protect and promote”(p. 7) that generate conflictbecause of “multiplicity of ‘goods’” (Arnett
et al., 2009, p. 9) and contrasting ethical positions. Thus, given the ethical multiplicity in
terms of what is considered as that which matters and worthy of protectingand promoting,
and the contrasting ethical positions that are at odds with each other, conflict and tension
can be generated. The perspective taken by Arnett et al. (2014) along with Cheney et al.
(2010) is an understanding of ethics in termsofdiffering views on what matters that reflects
the postmodern era defined by narrative and virtue contention rather than a uniform set of
standards (MacIntyre, 1981). Accordingly, “all ethical ground is biased”(Arnett et al., 2014,
p. 7) given the different goods it protects and promotes. From a postmodern understanding
of narrative diversity and difference, conflict is not “a mere problem requiring correction
that necessitates imposing proper, right thinking upon the other”(Arnett et al., 2014,p.9).
The hope is not about finding a single answer, “a master ethical standard”(Arnett et al.,
2014, p. 9) but to acknowledge and learn from contrasting perspectives. People in
postmodernity must take responsibility for recognizing the goodsthat matter to oneself and
others, to maintain the public spaces to “keep the conversation going”(Rorty, 1979) and to
Freedom and
democracy in
Gezi Park
63
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