Project Culture and Turkish Civil Society

Influenced by international donors and policy institutions, civic activism in Turkey has increasingly become synonymous with carrying out projects. Project culture is reshaping what civil society is, and what civic activism means. By showing how civil society is changing due to the integration of Turkey with the outside world, particularly with the EU, this article aims to move beyond the prevalent approaches to the study of Turkey-EU relations, which emphasize macro-policy issues and most often discuss pros and cons regarding Turkish EU-membership or evaluate how far Turkey is from fulfilling various criteria. Instead, this paper argues for an increased focus on how Turkey-EU relations reshape Turkish political culture.