Human Rights Organizations and Mobilisation Strategies in Turkey: Ideal of Civil Society as Monitors, Norm-Shifters, and Law-Makers

Abstract

Various players in the human rights arena range from social movements and grassroots organizations to bar associations, business associations, and informal networks. As one of the most influential actors, civil society organizations (CSOs) perform multiple functions for establishing, protecting, and advancing human rights at the national and international levels. This study aims to examine the activities and mobilization strategies of human rights organizations in Turkey. Drawing on the work of Glasius, I argue that even though Turkish domestic human rights organizations have been vocal as human rights monitors and norm shifters, they remain marginal actors as lawmakers in promoting and protecting human rights. While human rights organizations use naming and shaming and litigation strategies in human rights monitoring, framing is commonly used in norm-shifting, and advocacy strategies are used in law-making. This study focuses on documents of CSOs by using the content analysis method and contributes to academic discussions by examining the relationship between human rights and civil society in Turkey.