Symptomatic enjoyment: a postcolonial and psychoanalytic interpretation of Turkey’s relations with the European Union

This article aims to provide a postcolonially and psychoanalytically informed interpretation of the durability, longevity and depth of Turkish political actors’ (of almost all political orientations) quest to become a member of the European Union (EU), in spite of continuous frustrations and setbacks. It argues that psychoanalytic notions, such as Lacan’s enjoyment as social fantasy and social symptom, and postcolonial insights on the psychic effects of dehumanisation can help us understand not only historical and contemporary ambivalent Turkish views and attitudes towards EU/Europe, but the persistence of the EU membership bid even among political actors, such as the Justice and Development party (AKP), which otherwise appear resistant to the EU. It maintains that other possible explanations of Turkey’s persistence can be deepened by a reading which takes into account the affective dimension of politics and of identification processes in contexts of material and symbolic hierarchy.