World system theory and reading of social movements between 1960-80: Case studies of France and Turkey

In this thesis, the student and labour movement between the years of 1960-1980 took place in France and Turkey, are discussed comparatively in the concept of the world system theory. This thesis will discuss these debates over the hegemony, core-periphery, dependency of the world system and resource mobilization/political process approaches of social movements. Within this perspective, movements in terms of the national, political and social contexts that conditioned the objectives and strategies of the movements, and in terms of the efforts to change the social and political conditions, and in terms of the activists' own beliefs, strategic and tactical decisions, will take on a new significance by the analysis of the comparative social movement of the core and periphery countries. The thesis will evaluate the revolt of the "1968 World Revolution" as a determiner to assess the mobilization of social movements and political process perspective, will determine the role of 1968 student movements for identifying common or different points for France and Turkey, and the development of the labour movement. In addition to the basic hypothesis of the world system and social movements approaches, the hypothesis of "social movements lead to core solutions in the core countries, and to the periphery solutions in the semi-periphery and periphery countries" will be evaluated in the context of these discussions. As a result of such an effort, the effects of the 1968 movements, namely the crisis and transformation of the world system, symbolizes the increase of the importance of the new left wing, participatory democracy and civil society in the core countries, while in the semi-periphery and the periphery countries, radicalism, violence, polarization, state pressure and even military interventions took place.