DYNAMICS OF COLLECTIVE ACYION IN TURKISH PRISONS:COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MAMAK AND DIYARBAKIR PRISONS BETWEEN 1980 AND 1985

Historically, one of the most significant periods in which incarceration was used as a tool to manage political opponents of the regime in Turkey was the 1980s, specifically during and after the 1980 military coup. This study investigates the high-risk environments of the two notorious military prisons: Mamak and Diyarbakir Prisons between 1980 and 1985. These two\ud military prisons: Mamak Prison, where Turkish revolutionaries were incarcerated and Diyarbakir Prison, where Kurdish revolutionaries were incarcerated, were infamous for the torture and level\ud of repression implemented by the military junta. The aim of the military junta was to dissolve revolutionary organizations and military prisons were one of the state institutions that were used to realize this aim. Thus, while comparing the dynamics of collective action of the political\ud prisoners in two prisons, I also consider how different prisons/ prison contexts affect the success a regime has in demobilizing dissident groups.Using in-depth interviews I conducted, along with contemporary writings from former political prisoners, my research will demonstrate how the development of solidary interpersonal\ud relations and shared identity were solidified during prison life and facilitated formation of collective action. Moreover, the risk-taking ability of the leaders appear as contingently interconnected themes to identity and relations in explaining how political prisoners in Diyarbakir Prison formed more frequent and sustainable collective actions than the political prisoners in Mamak Prison. This thesis contributes to the discussions of different mobilization processes under high-risk contexts in undemocratic environments and addresses the understudied aspect of collective action in Turkish prisons