Naturalization of work accidents through political dynamics: A discursive analysis

Abstract

Over the last two decades a number of devastating work accidents have occurred in Turkey that have resulted in massacre-like deaths and destructions. Although dramatic consequences forced all actors to promise for betterment, no significant improvement has been achieved yet and one accident followed the other. Apart from social and economic factors, political power tends to be attributed to having the most critical responsibility in all incidents. The present government, which has been in power since 2002, has aimed and achieved to create a pro-government capitalist class who can dominate specific sectors, such as construction, energy and mining in which most of the serious accidents occur. By taking the control of media, the government not only attained the majority of communicative channels but also created a manipulative discourse potential that has enabled to shade reality concerning the accidents. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to analyze how these accidents are normalized by the government’s discourses. A multi-stage naturalization model is employed to reveal the production and circulation of discourses in public sphere during the framing process of the accidents. The model can also be used to propose a solution for de-naturalization, which is also one of the aims of this study.