SOC 232 Paper Template

Name/Surname Eylül Nurcan Geçer/ 11923018

Name of the Her Yerde Sanat Derneği / Sirkhane

NGO/Project

Problematic? To start with why I interested this topic is, when Syrian War began, I was in
Mardin, in 2011. The first wave of refugees moved Mardin, Gaziantep and other
What is the
cities that near to boundary. So, I met some of refugees, and their stories affected
significance of
me deeply. After 10 years, I had a chance to make a sociological analyze on people
studying
who affected me. The subjective significance of studying on refugees is they are
disability/refugee
part of the Turkish society, because they are living in Turkey more than ten years
issue today?
and the number of the official refugees is 5 million which is equal to 5 percent of
Develop a
Turkey’s population. Yet, they are still discriminated, stereotyped by who are
framework on
‘local’ people. There is a widespread belief that Syrian refugees damaged the social
living together with
unity, social cohesion of Turkey. But this belief has no reasonable basis. According
differences by
to Dragolov, holding society as one is based on high level of social cohesion
mostly giving
(Dragolov). Social cohesion means society’s ability to live together smoothly, as a
references to first
unit, and it has three main dimensions which are social network, common good
six weeks’ readings
and connectedness. After a quick research, I founded that there is a social
Give reference to cohesion problem in the Syrian refugees context. To explain, local people could not
at least three make a connection Syrians because there is no common network, or
course readings. connectedness that’s why, they have no common good, too. But this
Use brief quotes generalization is not valid in East and especially East-South of Turkey. Because,
from the readings Eastern and East-South regions have difference demography, the number of Turks
when necessary is very low, oppositely, the numbers of Kurds and Arabs were high. To clarify,
Syrians are not only speaking Arabic, but most of them also speaks Kurdish too.
That’s why, the settlement process in East and East-South regions was easier
(700-1000 words) because refugees and local people had a chance to bridge social capital, through
bonding social capital. To explain, bridging social capital means make a connection
(25 pts) with people that not met before, people who did not share a common stuff, and
bonding social capital means that meeting people that known, already coincided.
Therefore, bridging and bonding social capitals are necessary to increase social
cohesion. Summarily, migration of Syrian refugees to Turkey is changed some
dynamics, created bias, stereotypes and a new discourse existed owing to this.

To continue with other perspectives, this issue can be explained by xenophobia

and mixophobia. Xenophobia means hosting against strangers and mixophobia is a
fear of getting mixed with strangers according to Bauman (Michelle A. Peterie,
2019 ). The mixophobia and xenophobia is related to each other, and those are
related to mis/dis-information. For example, there is a common belief that Syrians
are living in Turkey free, the government gives them money and house support.
Therefore, Turkish proletariat can hate Syrians only because of this
misinformation, because they are living in difficult situation because of bad
economy and the idea of that Syrian refugees have a better living conditions than
them, creates an anger, a hate against Syrians. Also, the post-truth society affects
can be seen because local people are making a reasonable base with social media.
Post-truth society means that the erosion of the truth and the absence of an
absolute truth for everyone. What’s more, the social media is an important
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element for post-truth society. Significant point here is that all parts of the media
is not same, the effect of echo chambers is decisive here, which mean that the
framework drawn by algorithms due to person’s favorites, interests, etc. One's
social media experience is based on these algorithms, which do not allow them to
see the sides of social media that they are not interested in, such as dissenting
opinions. Bauman’s fluid society theory can be seen in the post-truth society
(Davis, 2013) The fluidity of the knowledge affects the accessibility and the lack of
access, and wrong access create misinformation and disinformation, then, false
beliefs. So, all factors that impacting fluidity, such as globalization and
individualism, also influencing the truth, and society. Eventually, the resources of
the xenophobia and mixophobia interrelated to each other, the fluidity, which is
came with globalization and individualism, is a key factor in the hate against
refugees because the fluidity is the decisive element of the post-truth society.

Summarily, the distance between local society and refugees based on the lack of
connection and social cohesion in across Turkey. So, non-existence of connection
and low level of social cohesion creates high level of xenophobia and mixophobia.
But, echo chambers, access to information and wrong access to information have
important roles in the occur and increase of hatred towards Syrian refugees in
Turkey.

Briefly describe the Her Yerde Sanat Derneği (HYSD) was founded in Mardin in 2011 to prevent the
NGO and project. trauma of war-torn children and strengthen ties with their new places. The first
Do not analyze just aim of the association is making tight connections between war-torn children and
make a describe local children. For this purpose, the Circus project was launched, and a space was
the project (max. created where children could learn and build relationships with fun. Circus is the
250 words) first and only example of the concept of social circus in Turkey (for the moment).
Here outside the circus, there are many workshops such as analogue photography,
(10 pts)
science workshops, music, and after a while, children receive education on basic
subjects such as ‘children's rights, human rights’.

Your research The analysis of the website is based on the discourse analysis basically. Because
methodology? HYSD aims that the activities and all the information they make available to the
public, are on the website. Meanwhile, the interview is semi-structured, because in
(max 100 words)
this in-depth interview me and İlayda, asked open-ended questions by following
(5 pts) topic order. During interview, I was careful not to use jargon, not to create
confusion and not to express my feelings. Also, the interview was synchronous
because of the pandemic. Additionally, we examined the newspaper and blog
articles about HYSD. Eventually, the analysis based on the discourse analysis of the
website and interview. There is no gathered qualitative data because this study is
based on creating an artistic bond between local and refugee children.

Analysis In this analysis, I will argue that how HYSD and Sirkhane project explained by social
cohesion, Bauman’s liquid modernity theory and xenophobia discourse, and
(Why do you think
Moghaddam’s Social Identity Theory. To begin with how Sirkhane has a role on
this NGO/Project is
the bridging relationships between local children and refugees. Sirkhane is the first
a good example in
social circus experiment in Turkey. The project allows children to unite under the
contributing to
umbrella of art, science and sports, and the aim of the project is to eliminate hate
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living together? speech among children and increase social cohesion. While doing this, social circus
Make a conceptual also finishes the notion of groupishness, mixophobia, xenophobia and racism. To
analysis sum up, this project is an example of action against hate speech.
(prejudices,
To begin with Bauman and his concepts toward discrimination, I would like to
stereotypes etc in
explain how liquid modernity occurs and how does it affect the society. Liquid
your own topic)
modernity firstly, has two main components which are globalization and
….Which strategies
individualism. The results of globalization can be sort like speed of information
does it make use of
flow, intense interaction, and access to almost everywhere in the world, to clarify,
to combat
in the liquid society, there is no absolute, unchangeable truth and this not absolute
prejudices towards
truth can be spread all around the world in just an hour. Conspiracy theories can
disability/refugees
be thought in this context. On the other hand, individualism effect can be
? Rationalize your
explained by selfishness and essentialism. This means that high notion of a being
argument on the
an individual brings essentialism which causes to underestimate, patronize others.
basis of one or two
With those effects and their results, concepts like moral uncertainty, racism,
of the theories we
discrimination, racialization occurs. In Sirkhane project, those concepts can be
discussed in the
seen. According to Bedran Eşer (interviewed sociologist of HYSD), children
class.
traveling in groups is a common situation when they first arrive. To analyze, the
Give reference to groupishness of children dues to liquid modernity and society theory (Bauman,
at least three 2000). Because children know first information about others from their parents,
course readings. and parents learn their information from their societies, medias etc. Information
Use brief quotes circulating between generations is actually transmitted by societies to each other;
from the readings information that is not absolute. In this blurred, liquid society the definition of race
when necessary and races are not certain too. Ethnicity and race intertwined each other, so, the
groups defined as ethnicity can be defined as a race, and this is called as
(1000-1500 words.)
racialization. Racialization works by stigmatizing the subordinate group by the
(50 pts) dominant group. Racially stigmatizing an ethnic or religious group and
discriminating that group is the example of this process, that’s exactly what
happened to the Syrian refugees in Turkey. At this point I would like to point out
that the subordinate and dominant group, and equity arose because of the lack of
equity. Consequently, inequity causes arose of the hierarchy and the groups are
ranked within themselves according to norms of the group that has the majority in
the society. In essence, inequity is a result of the moral uncertainty which is causes
the no existence of the absolute truth. Although the existence of moral uncertainty
seems to be the main reason for this process, there will be moral unity if
uncertainty is eliminated, which is impossible. Because moral unity will bring about
human robotization. In a world where what is right and wrong is determined with
certain lines, it will not be possible to talk about agency. This situation reminds me
Plato's state utopia. To sum up briefly, moral uncertainty is at the root of what we
encounter in the HYSD example. Inconsistent truths and norms formed as a result
of moral uncertainty form the hierarchy. Then stigmatization takes place and
finally xenophobia occurs. Xenophobia also causes repetition of previous
processes. So, there is a circulation.

If we go deeper on xenophobia, we can mention four different sources here. These

sources can be listed as false belief, new racism and racialization, sociobiological
explanation and capitalist globalization. To explain, we can say that capitalist
globalization is located at the intersection of individualism and globalization. For
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this reason, the fluidity, speed of information and spread of information, which are
the benefits of globalism, can be examined in this section. In addition, capitalist
globalization, which is the cause of selfish individualism, can also be cited as the
cause of introversion and essentialism. I can say that nationalism takes place in the
combination of essentialism with hatred. Then, I can argue that moral uncertainty
is the basis of false beliefs. Because one of the main reasons for the formation of
false beliefs is the lack of knowledge of what is true. For example, the use of even
the most unproductive opportunity by a group who has fled the war can be
interpreted by the locals as lowering salaries, but the lack of empathy of those who
say this is due to their moral uncertainty. If there was a moral certainty about the
attitude towards refugees, these behaviors would be exhibited by all or no one,
rather than by some people. At the same time, the neoliberal world order has
created a population of workers and consumers who feel vulnerable, fearful and
angry about their circumstances (Michelle A. Peterie, 2019 ) Furthermore, new
racism and racialization are significant to understand xenophobia. In the previous
paragraph, while explaining how xenophobia occurs, I went through racialization. I
explained that racialization also takes place in line with the stigmas and the
relations of hierarchical groups with each other. First type of racism is generally
about physical appearances like skin color and racists claimed their racism but in
the second type of racism, racists disclaim their discriminative behaviors like ‘I
have nothing against Jews, but…’ by verbal ways. Also, they avoid basing their
hatred on biological explanations. because biology is universal science and there is
a high rate of falsification of what is said. Therefore, their hatred is based on more
abstract things; such as behavior, discourse, thought, and misinformation. Even if a
biological basis is rejected here, there are some socio-biological claims. An
example of this is to define the feeling of belonging to a group as a natural and
ever-present feeling but we see that this is not the valid in the HYSD example, as in
many other examples.

By categorizing local and refugee children again and again, HYSD destroys the
learned groupishness perception in children. Children who have been re-
categorized and de-categorized, after participating in activities or workshops, can
thus find common ground with the child who is not from their group at the first
stage. Thus, 'shared value' and 'common good' are formed, which increase social
cohesion in children. In this process, categories are determined not through
discriminatory concepts such as race, ethnicity, and gender, but through art,
science and music. Analog camera workshop, science workshop, music workshop
can be examples of these.

The association removes the sources that cause the other group to be called the
'other' and the fear of the other, namely xenophobia. Thus, the association helps
children to live together in harmony without pushing each other or marginalizing
each other. In addition, in the social cohesion perspective I mentioned earlier,
there is an activity that meets six themes which are connectedness, social
relationships, orientation towards common good, shared value and quality of life.
But the important thing here is the frequency with which children come to the
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circus. The association needs to keep strong ties with those who have been to the
circus even once and ensure that children come regularly. For this reason, relations
with families need to be tight, but the association falls short in this regard. The
seminars held are not enough, a new way must be followed for this. As a result,
HYSD established a social circus for the first time in Turkey. This project in Mardin
created hope for me to live together. Because here, there is a sharing of values
under universal structures such as science, art and music, rather than traditional
structures such as religion, language, race and culture. The unification under the
universal shows that this example can be applied to the world. To remind that, the
applicability of the social circus experience to the whole world may seem
debatable and very challenging, but it is very possible to bring the social circus to
schools.

To conclude, I examined the real-life counterpart of Bauman's theory of liquid

modernity through immigration. I have described how the sources of xenophobia,
moral uncertainty, and groupishness, intermingled with liquid modernity, operate.
It should not be forgotten that the reason I used Bauman's theories that used in
this analysis is that it finds a one-to-one correspondence in the HYSD example.
While HYSD reveals the xenophobia and the problem of not being able to live
together, which Bauman explains with his theories, it applies the solutions offered
by the social sciences.

In addition, I submitted an analysis of this study from another perspective in

another article (quiz 3: social identity theory and migrants). For this reason, I found
it more appropriate to go through Bauman in detail in terms of using the
information I gained during the spring-term. I found it more effective to explain the
theory first, as explaining each step with an example from within the project would
make it difficult to explain the subject and distract the reader's attention.

References
References
Make a Bauman, Z. (2000). Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Polity.
bibliography of the
sources you used in Davis, M. (2013). Liquid Sociology- What For? In M. Davis, Liquid Sociology (pp. 1-
the paper 12). London: Routledge.

+ Dragolov, G. (n.d.). Theoretical Framework of the Social Cohesion Radar. In Z. S.

Georgi Dragolov, Social Cohesion in the Western Worlds, What Holds
Format please use Societies Together: Insights from the Social Cohesion Radar (pp. 1-13).
Calibri 11 font, Springer.
spellcheck before
submitting; use Michelle A. Peterie, D. A. (2019 ). Xenophobia towards asylum seekers: A survey of
clear, concise and social theories . University of Wollongong, Faculty of Law, Humanities and
accurate English. the Arts-Papers .
Upload to Turnitin
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till

June 13, 24:00

(10 pts)

“Beni ben yapan yegane şey, benden olmayandır” (aslında güzel sınav sorusu olur hocam)