Queering Trialectics Among Space, Power, and the Subject: Spatial Representations and Practices of Othered İdentities in Turkey

Abstract

This article analyzes spatial configurations of biopower in Turkey, in other words, of the politics of ‘supra-identity’. In the multi-identity social structure of the country, the subjectification process of citizens has been controlled with several exclusionary policies through the definition of ‘supra-identity’–incorporating Turkish and Muslim identities and embodying heteronormativity–by the state as the institutional equivalent of the concept of power. In this process, space plays an essential role as a domain of closure, surveillance, prohibition, and punishment for the discipline of the body. This article deals with alternative spatial representations and practices in Turkey through a case study of LGBT-friendly spaces in the capital of the country. As a result of spatial observations, mappings, and interviews, it is noticed that these spaces, as encounter and solidarity domains for individuals with diverse ethnicities, beliefs, and genders, hold the capacity for queering bio-politics in Turkey.