Two-Faced Societies

-Hannah Long

I believe the question of European identity failing in the wake of a postcolonial society can be boiled down to a push by many (not all) governments and their respective medias to reflect a more utopian society, one that is more multicultural and representative of a wider population than what the majority is still composed of. This challenge however is that it only shows one face of a two sided society, the opposing side to this push in mass migration is just as if not more active and is only given mass attention during times of crisis, even though their extreme views and actions are still done in an everyday setting. Take Atilla Hildmann’s initiative towards spreading conspiracy theories along with anti-semitic rhetoric, the way Hildmann approaches his work is of an identity that is rooted with extreme nationalistic views.

There is an attempt to tie back to a past that is more sought after, and can be more blatantly seen in countries such as Turkey where there was once a high level of white colonial interference that there is still a present day modern yearning to see Turkey in a white context. Politically the White Turk and Black Turk as is described in Güner’s article, are pitted against each other a tale of the working class vs the elite, and in history’s case a white supremacy. Both progressives and populists use narratives like this in their own political agendas as it is an aspect of history that has affected all nations in some regard, with the main difference between the two political sphere’s is either using this as a way to bring about change or going against it. Ironically both wanting to create a way of uniting a prospective group of people, it is just done so in fundamentally different ways.

Sources:

Ezgi Güner “Rethinking Whiteness in Turkey Through the AKP’s Foreign Policy in Africa South of the Sahara,” Middle East Report 299 (Summer 2021). https://merip.org/2021/08/rethinking-whiteness-in-turkey-through-the-akps-foreign-policy-in-africa-south-of-the-sahara/

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