On the centennial of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, we, as researchers engaged in political philosophy in Turkey, have prepared a book on the idea of republic. Dedicated to the first century of the Republic, this book aims to discuss the theoretical elements of thinking about its second century. Bringing together different approaches to the idea of the republic, the institutions of the republic and the problems of the republic, this study addresses the current problems of political philosophy from the perspective of the debate on republic.
The first quarter of the 21st century has been witnessing a historical conjuncture in which the republican moment in the world is coming to a close. Neoliberal governance and new neoliberal forms of citizenship impose their existence by eroding republican institutions. Even the most robust republican traditions are suffering from this erosion. In this process of erosion of equality and freedom, it has become necessary to define the republic with new forms of political action.
Evidently, republican institutions need to develop procedures to re-strengthen social bonds in the face of neoliberal imposition. The production of new modes of res publica and ranges of meaning requires the perception of the republic not only as a regime but also as a political form. Beyond being a state ideology, the republic is the sum of interventions that defend the openness and normativity of the sphere of political action against inequitable relations. Therefore, republics demand democracy through which public conflicts are not closed but left open. It is clear from the current political and social pathologies of our time that the Earth needs a new republican moment to solve its current problems.
From the historical origins of the issue of republican to its contemporary contexts, Özgür Emrah Gürel with “Rhetoric, Persuasion and Political Deliberation: The Greco-Roman Roots of Republican Political Philosophy”, M. Ertan Kardeş with “The presence and absence of republican emotion, idea and institution”, Zeynep Savaşçın with “The Political Community facing the Challenge of New Citizenships: the ‘Right to have rights’ and the ‘Res publica’ ”, Kurtul Gülenç with “Dynamic Republic, Argumentative Democracy, Active Citizenship”, Arda Telli with “Machiavelli’s Republicanism and the Problem of the Prince”, Armağan Öztürk with “Democratic Republic in Viroli’s Thought”, Eylem Yolsal-Murteza with “Pierre Manent: Action and Representation in the Republic”, Funda Günsoy with “The Concept of the Modern State, the Idea of Republic and the Turkish Modernization” and Ahmet Emre Ateş with “One Century and its Aftermaths: the Republic as a Process” made important contributions to this volume. |
