Working-Class Protest in Turkey (2015-2023)

This presentation analyzes dynamics in working-class demonstrations in Turkey between 2015 and 2023. The research addresses key questions such as: Why did these protests occur? In which sectors? Were they aimed at promoting or defending rights? How many workers were involved? Was the union involved? What was the duration? Were these one-time events or continuous actions? Was production halted? Did women lead the protests? What was the workers' employment type? Were there attacks by police or employer security? What were the outcomes, and did any lead to legal processes?

Our descriptive analysis, based on a labor-intensive data collection process, reveals that the working class in Turkey continues to resist, even during a period of union weakness and an authoritarian political sphere. Through this analysis, we also seek to answer new questions: What factors make worker resistance stronger? Is it the industry, the number of workers, the persistence, creative methods, independent trade unions, support of political groups or the ability to gain public support?

The data on working-class demonstrations, compiled by scanning local and national print media and relevant websites, was coded and analyzed collectively by the Labor Studies Group (LSG – emekcalisma.org).

This study also aims to contribute to quantitative research methods in the social sciences, drawing inspiration from Beverly Silver’s work. A key limitation of the research is that the protests analyzed reflect only those reported in the media.

Ultimately, we aim to interpret the losses and gains of workers' actions and contribute to the data-driven policy-making capacity of workers' organizations.