Anger, Joy and Beyond: Carnivalesque Transformation and Affective Management in the Saraçhane Protests

This study examines the transformation in the emotional repertoire of Turkey’s opposition politics and social movements, focusing on the Saraçhane Rallies that began on March 19, 2025. Adopting a psycho-political approach, the article addresses the emotional state of social opposition and discusses the evolution of the relationship between opposition parties and street politics through the lens of strategic choices. The research analyses the process by which protests, triggered by a “moral shock” stemming from injustice, evolve into a “carnivalesque” joy and ultimately transform into a routinized political performance. Employing a qualitative and interpretive methodology, the study argues that major emotions such as anger and intense euphoria carry the risk of being dissipated within representation-oriented politics and image-focused political performances. Conversely, it posits that minor emotions like insecurity and a sense of hopelessness offer a more resilient and foundational basis for social opposition. The article focuses on the democratic transformation potential of spontaneous emotional alliances emerging at the grassroots level around a shared sense of “woundedness,” beyond alliances at the leadership level. It emphasizes that freeing negative emotions from their pathological nature and moving beyond a state of melancholy could enable oppositional subjects to develop new structures and rebuild society.