International Journal of Social Inquiry

Öz

In this study, the opening processes, which were presented as a paradigm transformation in identity politics in Türkiye between 2009 and 2015, sustained with loaded social baggage, are analyzed in terms of the reflections of deliberative language practice. This analysis focuses on the "opening" mentality in the Kurdish and Alevi opening processes with a quantitative design and the theoretical discussion method. In addition to the survey technique, discourse and content analysis techniques were partially utilized. In this context, Habermas, one of the important representatives of critical theory, used the concepts in his "theory of communicative action," which is based on the idea of a language practice that transcends subjects. The possible equivalents of some of Habermas's concepts, in which communication is considered as a part of social consensus, in the processes of opening up have been emphasized. The study does not go into the opening processes in detail in political terms but focuses on the socio-linguistic impact of the opening in terms of deliberative possibilities and probabilities. The study is limited to the evaluation of the Kurdish and Alevi initiatives, which have a wider impact in terms of scope and process. As a result of this evaluation, it has been concluded that the deliberative language, which has come to the fore in the solution or re-discussion of entrenched social problems in Türkiye, is quite functional in opening up space in political communication and creating a positive space of meaning in terms of social legitimacy. However, it is seen that the possibilities of language are insufficient in terms of reaching a consensus in action, creating an ethic that includes all parties to communicative action and building a living space, and the necessity of supporting this possibility with concrete action comes to the fore.