Stray Dogs as Objects of "National Security Risk": An Examination of Conservative News Media's Advocacy for Animal Rights Regulation Within the Framework of Cultural Theory
ILEF DERGISI, cilt.13, sa.1, ss.150-188, 2026 (ESCI, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 13 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.24955/ilef.1786081
- Dergi Adı: ILEF DERGISI
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.150-188
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The purpose of this study, drawing from the premises of the Cultural Theory of Risk, is to uncover the cultural landscape in which social risks arejustified by conservative news media in T & uuml;rkiye, focusing on the 2024 amendments to the country's Animal Rights Law. The study also aims to highlight the potential political consequences of the idiosyncratic perception of risk presented by the media in that context. Risks that require public intervention render other risks relatively less important. Consequently, from the perspective of the ruling power, establishing a hierarchy among potential risks makes it possible to define and, in certain cases, revise the boundaries of society. While choices regarding risk classification may be based on genuine concerns, they can also transform into a tool for generating political capital from anxieties around the "acceptable citizen." This study focuses on the form of social classification created by the risks presented around animal rights, the cultural background on which this classification rests, and the problems that this form of classification poses for democratic politics. In line with the study's objectives, a thematic analysis was conducted on news articles and commentaries that presented stray animals as a risk and advocated for a legal amendment to address that risk. This material was gathered from three newspapers, Yeni & Scedil;afak, Sabah, and T & uuml;rkiye, where the need to take legislative action against stray animals was most heavily discussed during the period leading up to the 2024 amendment to Animal Protection Law No. 5199. The picture that emerges at the conclusion of the study is that in these discussions, the perception of risk regarding stray animals is reduced to a tension between conservative Turkish culture and Western culture. Consequently, the "aggressive stray dogs" argument functions as a metaphor targeting not only stray animals but also the secular segments of society. When the objections of groups defending stray animals' right to life are stigmatized as foreign to the society and culture within the context of "state-nation integrity," public discussion of social risks becomes impossible, resulting in an intellectual stagnation that leaves even everyday problems unresolved.