PATERNALISM DURING THE PANDEMIC: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE MINISTER OF HEALTH OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

Authors : Halil KANADIKIRIK, Tugba YOLCU

Pages : 91-111

View : 22 | Download : 8

Publication Date : 2023-03-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :During the pandemic, all states, whether they have liberal or illiberal regimes, have returned to their paternalistic character and suspended many of their citizens\` fundamental rights and freedoms, albeit temporarily, in order to prevent the spread of the disease and the collapse of the health care system. These paternalistic interventions stemming from the states’ rights of sovereignty, are based on an implicit argument that if individuals have freedom of action, they will harm themselves and the rest of society by acting irrationally and imprudently. Turkey is one of these countries that took such measures against the pandemic. In the process when these measures were announced and implemented, the name that the public turned to was Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca. In this study, Koca\`s Twitter messages were analyzed with the critical discourse analysis method. Thus, it is aimed to understand the type of his paternalist interventions and what kind of discourse he established to legitimize them. It has been argued that the discourse established by Koca is a representation of fear, traditional peer pressure, collaboration, and a patriarchal family environment built largely on scientific knowledge.
Keywords : COVID 19, Söylem Analizi, İrrasyonalite, Liderlik, Paternalizm, Discourse Analysis, Irrationality, Leadership, Paternalism