Nuclear energy as a hegemonic discourse in Turkey

Abstract

This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated ‘economic growth’ and ‘competitiveness’ discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a function of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish political economy since the 1980s. Based on an engagement between the neo-Gramscian approach and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper shows how the nuclear project in Turkey is historically situated and discursively constructed. Analysing the Parliamentary Records and statements of state officials, the paper has highlighted how the AKP exercises power through hegemonic discourses in terms of the legitimization of the nuclear energy in Turkey.