Struggle and Survival under Authoritarianism in Turkey

Burcu Yasemin Seyben highlights the importance of analyzing the theatre milieu to give an account of Turkey's transformation from an unconsolidated democracy to authoritarian politics. Struggle and Survival under Authoritarianism in Turkey: Theatre under Threat is a remarkable collection of stories of targeted artists, their resistance, resilience, exiles, and self-exiles. Seyben's book is also a tour d'horizon of the AKP's inability to impose its cultural hegemony on established cultural institutions and the expanding theatre sector. Hence, Theatre under Threat shows that it is inaccurate to portray today's Turkey as a place in which everything is determined by authoritarianism.--OEmer Turan, Associate Professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of International Relations, and Swedish Institute Senior Fellow at Lund University, CMES Burcu Yasemin Seyben offers a timely analysis of a pivotal moment in Turkey's history, where spaces for independent theatre as well as free thinking and expressing of its diverse cultural heritage have become scarce. She records and criticizes with much fervor how political and social processes under the AKP administration are eroding Turkey's once rich cultural scene, forcing theatre artists and academics, including herself, into self-exile. This time document is written with much love, dedication, and resilience that will inspire generations.--Pieter Verstraete, Assistant Professor at University of Groningen, and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Free University of Berlin