Commemorating injustice: The case of Uğur Mumcu

Certain events that creates an idea that justice has not been served as it should be, has a feature which creates an obligation to adapt for the groups of people affected by those events. In this context, this thesis focuses on the assasination of Uğur Mumcu and the circles that commemorates Uğur Mumcu, and makes an effort to show how the perception of injustice that dominates human groups creates reflections in social memory. Uğur Mumcu was assassinated on 24.01.1993, and after this murder, some communities continued to commemorate him despite years have passed since his assasination. In these events to commemorate Mumcu, some rituals very spesific to the commemorations of Uğur Mumcu, some symbols, identities and 'memory places' emerged and the calander of these events, the feeling of sympathy and the organisation of these events arose. In this process, social memory is instrumentalized by those who are deprived of the restorative aspect of injustice. On the other hand, the same perception of injustice creates a ground that nourishes the identities of social actors and where they can disclose those identities, which derives its legitimacy from the social justification of the pursuit of justice, and which is called "the platform of injustice" in the thesis. With the activities, performances, attitudes and rituals put forward on this basis, individuals and groups of people show their identities to themselves and to the society. In this context, as a discourse on the pursuit of justice and as a social figure, Uğur Mumcu has gained new meanings and functions in the society. As a result, society uses social memory in an effort to adapt to injustice, and over time, the same social memory turns into an area where groups bring their identities into view.