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Abstract Intimacies: New Media Technologies and Charity Organizations in Turkey
Abstract
This paper examines the political impact of the use of new media by NGO’s for purposes of collecting donations and for the management of charitable organizations in Turkey. Internet and cell phone technologies are used increasingly for the collection and donation of funds in the era of global governance. The web interface provides new forms of social intimacy by ‘connecting’ potential recipients with donators both at national and international scales. In this paper, I examine the political discourses and ethical practices surrounding the use of new media in the charitable sector by analyzing Turkey as a case-study. The empirical evidence consists of 14 months of fieldwork in Turkey during which I observed and discussed the use of new media in the collection and donation of charity. More specifically, I compare the utilization of new media by two well-known civil society organizations in Turkey situated in different political constituencies: Deniz Feneri (Light House) and Cagdas Yasam (Contemporary Life). Through a comparative and systematic analysis of the technological repertoire utilized by these two organizations in Turkey, I argue that new technologies of giving foster abstract intimacies, solidarities and ways of social belonging.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries