Ideology in Action: Symbolic Localization of Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey

In: Sociological inquiry: the quarterly journal of the International Sociology Honor Society, Volume 85, Issue 1, p. 1-27

Abstract

Revolutionary ideologies such as Marxism and Islamism often aim to transform dominant local structures, leading their proponents to find themselves torn between global ideologies and local politics. A critical question arises: What does happen when a revolutionary movement's ideology drastically contradicts with the movement's local pragmatic purposes? Analyzing Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey, this article explores the complex process of ideological transformation under the forces of local competition. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogic approach, I introduce the concept of symbolic localization to understand how revolutionary ideologies evolve through pragmatic concerns. Symbolic localization refers to a discursive process of collective reputation work in which social movement activists blend local cultural repertoires and their "we" identity in order to build recognition, legitimacy, and prestige in the eyes of local population. Three major mechanisms of the symbolic localization process are identified: moral authority building, public symbolism, and memory work. Symbolic localization suggests analyzing movement ideology as a discursive process and illuminates how political activists are shaped by relational local engagements.