A case study for cultural public sphere for civil encounters: Mutfak||Matbakh Workshop

Although more than ten years have passed since the intense wave of immigration from Syria, the sociological and political ground on which social peace might be achieved has not yet been established. The search for a solution requires an integrated approach due to the intersectionality and globality of the issue. Without an integrated approach, the multilayered problems to social peace will remain a burden on the shoulders of individuals. Addressing social cohesion from the perspective of democratization through both civil society and the public sphere paradigms will enable the development of a holistic solution to the subject. The study was shaped through four problems identified in the field; the lack of development of long-term cohesion policies in migration governance, the prevention of democratization opportunities due to the fact that the non-pluralistic language established in public narratives does not allow different components in civil society to take up space, the hierarchical structure established in cultural public spaces limits possibilities in subject's experiences, and the (in)adequacy of visibility into the subject. In this direction, the case of Mutfak (Kitchen)||Matbakh Workshop is examined through a public space model that paves the way for social cohesion by creating cultural sharing opportunities for civil actors, based on the relationship between immigrants and local people. The aim of this study is to develop a forward-looking method by examining possibilities, achievements and limitations of this work, and to increase the field of local-based civil solidarity practices that can be established with this experience. Within the scope of the study, the historical development of the idea of civil society from Ancient Greece to the present and the possibilities of public space to open up further and establish a certain social cohesion will be discussed through theories. In the study, participant observation, semi-structured interview, and archive analysis methods will be used.