The Public Sphere and the Turn in Mass Politics in the 1908 Revolution

Abstract

The concepts of public sphere, mass politics and social mobilization are directly related with the modernization process and the formation of the modern state. In the course of 19th century, the Ottoman state began to intervene into the daily life of its subjects and there emerged new legitimation and governing problems. Mass politics and social mobilization of the masses were modern devices and governing techniques that the elite of the empire invented in order to cope with the "new" needs of the politics. These new politics both took advantage of and contributed to the formation and expansion of the public sphere. The public sphere provided the space in which new politics took place. The 1908 Revolution marked the beginning of a new era in which different sections of the Ottoman society mobilized in the public spaces such as streets, public squares, bazaars etc. "National" celebrations, elections, economic boycotts and flourishing civil organizations and daily pres provided an opportunity to the ordinary people to voice their words. Particular problems and interests of different sections of society turned out to be public issues that debated before the public opinion. Therefore, mass politics and social mobilization patterns in this period had a bilateral character in which state and different sections of society played their roles reciprocally in contrast with the general peculiarities of the previous era.