Religion and Politics in Modern Turkey
Lecturer: Anna Leander
This course gives an introduction to modern Turkish politics by focusing on a central tension in the Turkish political life, namely that between secularism and Islam. The aim of the course is double. First, it tries to provide a general introduction to politics in modern Turkey. Focusing on religion it aims at supporting the claim that the tension between religion and secularism is central by showing how it has been present in the key (national and foreign) policy choices in modern Turkey. Secondly, the course is a more general statement on the role of ideas and world views in shaping politics. By showing, in a very concrete way, how the tension between Islam and secularism has shaped understanding and arguments about politics it tells a story which is not only about Turkish politics. It is also a story about the important, but changing, multiple and complex influence that Islam (or other world views) has on concrete policy making.
In a first section, the course shows how the tension between Islam and secularism has been present and how it has shaped the understanding of politics historically. In a second section, it analysis how electoral victory of a religious party has led to a reformulation of the understanding of what Turkish society is, what Turkish politics should be about and what place Turkey has in the world. In each of the sections a constant effort will be made to link the tensions in understanding of politics to the actual practice of modern Turkish politics.
Requirements (2 credits):
Students are expected to participate actively in the weekly seminar, i.e. read the weekly readings, be capable of discussing them (45% of final grade). They will also be expected to make a presentation (30% of final grade) and write a short paper (min. 2500 words; 25% of final grade). Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the journal New Perspectives on Turkey (CEU library), the article collection available in the programme office, and they are encouraged to consult the reviews available in the academy of science (The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin, Turkish Review, The Middle East Journal, The Journal of Middle East Studies, etc.).
Course outline
Readings marked * are copied in the reader (and are required readings), those marked # are in the programme collection, and those marked + can be borrowed from me. The rest are suggested and available in the library.
0. Introductory meeting:
A short introduction on Islam and politics
* Fred Halliday, Islam and the myth of confrontation (IB Tauris, 1995), pp. 107-132.
Olivier Roy, The Failure of Political Islam (IB Tauris, 1994, 322.10917671), intro, and chap. 1.
John Esposito, Islam and Politics (Syracuse UP, 1991,, 1st ed. 1984).
Mehmet Özay, Islamic Identity and Development (London: 1990)
Islam and secularism: the central tension in the political legitimacy of modern Turkey
For 1-4 the following books and articles are recommended.
Bernard Lewis, The emergence of modern Turkey (Oxford UP, 1961),
Feroz Ahmad, The making of modern Turkey
Çalar Keyder, State and class in Turkey
erif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey
Erik Zürcher, Turkey a modern history
Andrew Davidson, "Secularization and modernization in Turkey", Economy and Society vol 24, no. 2 (1995).
chaps on MNP, MSP, and REFAH in Heper and Landau eds, Political Parties and Democracy in Turkey (1991).
1. Ataturkism: the attempt to create a secular republic (1923-1950)
*Bernard Lewis, The emergence of modern Turkey (Oxford UP, 1961), chap. viii.
Stephane Yérasimos, "The monoparty period", in Schick and Tonak eds, Turkey in Transition.
2. Democracy and the return of religion (1950-80)
Binaz Toprak, Islam and Political Development in Turkey (Leiden: Brill, 1981), chap. Chaps. 4-5.
#Jacob Landau, "The MSP"
Clement H. Dodd, The Crisis of Turkish Democracy (1990).
3. The attempt to normalize religion (1980-)
*Hakan Yavuz, "Political Islam and the Welfare (Refah) Party in Turkey, Comparative Politics (October 1997).
Nilüfer Göle, "Authoritarian Secularism and Islamist Politics: The Case of Turkey", in A. R. Norton (ed.), Civil Society in the Middle East, vol. 2 (1996).
+ Chrisitian Rumpf, Laizismus und Religionsfreiheit in der Turkei (Stiftung Wissenshaft unde Politik, 1987).
#Binaz Toprak, "Civil Society in Turkey", in A. R. Norton (ed.) Op.cit.
Binaz Toprak, "The religious right", in Schick and Tonak eds., Turkey in Transition
Paul Dumont, "The Power of Islam in Turkey" in Olivier Carre and Imtiaz Ahmad, Islam and the State in the World Today (New Delih: Manohar, 1989, 322.10917671).
Religious politics and key debates in contemporary Turkish politics
General
Haldun Gülalp, "Globalizing postmodernism: Islamist and Western Social Theory, Economy and Society, vol. 26, no. 3 (1997).
#Binnaz Toprak, "Islamist Intellectuals: Revolt against industry and Technology, In Balim et al.
#Sencer Ayata, "The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism and its Institutional Framework", in Eralp, Tünay and Yesilada (eds), The Political And Socio-economic Transformation in Turkey (Praegr, 1993).
4. Rethinking Politics: the role of the army in politics
*Ümit Cizre Sakallioglu, "The Anatomy of the Turkish Military's Political Autonomy" Comparative Politics (January 1997)
+Taha Parla, "Mercantile Militarism in Turkey, 1960-1998", New Perspectives on Turkey, (1998), 19.
William Hale, "The Turkish Army in Politics", in Finkel and Sirman eds, Turkish State, Turkish Society.
William Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military (Routledge, 1994)
Mehmet Ali Birand, Steel Jackets
----------------------, The generals' coup (Brassey, 1987).
#Ersin Kalaycioglu, "The Turkish grand national Assembly: A brief inquiry into the politics of representation in Turkey", in Balim et al., The Political, Social and Economic Challenges in the 1990s (Leiden: E.J. Brill).
Ali Carkoglu, "The Turkish Party System", Political Studies XLVI, (1998).
#Üstün Ergüder, "The Turkish Party System and the Future of Turkish Democracy", in Balim et al.
5. The public private division : the position of women
*Yesim Arat, "Toward a Democratic Society: The Women's Movement in Turkey in the 1980s", Women's Studeis International Forum, vol 17 (1994).
+Nilüfer Göle, "Islamism, Feminism and Post-Modernism: Women's Movements in Islamic Countires", New Perspectives on Turkey (1998), 19.
#Ayse Saktanber, "Becoming the other as a Muslim in Turkey: Turkish Women vs. Islamist Women", New Perspectives on Turkey (Fall 1994).
Deniz Kandiyoti, "Islam, Nationalism and Women in Turkey", in Kandiyoti (ed) Women, Islam and the State (London: Macmillan, 1991).
irin Tekeli, "Women in the changing political associations of the 1980s", in Finkel and Sirman eds.
Nükhet Sirman, "feminism in Turkey. A short history", in New Perspectives on Turkey 3/1, 1989, 1-34.
#Aye Kadoöu, "Women's subordination in Turkey: Is Islam Really the villain", MEJ, vol. 48, no. 4, 1994.
Marianne Grünell and Anneke Voeten, "State of the Art: Feminism in Plural. Women's Studies in Turkey", European Journal of Women's Studies, vol 4 (1997).
Nilüfer Göle, Modern Harem,
6. The role of the state in the economy
*Jesse Biddle and Vedat Milor, "Economic Governance in Turkey", in Doner and Ramsay eds,Business and the State in Developing Countries (Ithaca: Corenell UP, 1997).
Faruk Birtek and Binnaz Toprak, "The Conflictual Agendas of Neo-Liberal Reconstruction and the Rise of Islamic Politics in Turkey", Praxis International (July, 1993).
#Henry J. Barkey, "State Autonomy and the Crisis of Import Substitution", Comparative Politics, 22/3 (1989).
Metin Heper, "Interest Group Politics in post-1980 Turkey. Lingering Monism", in Heper ed., Strong state and economic interest groups (Walter de Gruyter, 1991).
Henry Barkey, The State and the Industrialisation Crisis (Boulder, 1990).
Arcanl and Tosun eds, The Political Economy of Turkey (Macmillan, 1990).
Anna Leander, "Robin Hood Politics", Review of international political economy, 3/1 1996.
+Insel Ahmet, La Turquie entre l'ordre et le development (Harmattan, 1985).
Atila Eralp, "The politics of Turkish development strategies" in Finkel and Sirman eds, Turkish State Turkish society.
Bahri Yilmaz, "Wirtschaftskrise in der Türkei", Internationale Politik no. 1 (1998).
7. Minorities and the nature of Turkishness
*David McDowall, A modern history of the Kurds (IB Tauris 1996), chaps. 19, 20 and postscript-
David Kushner"Self-Perception and Identity in Contemporary Turkey", Journal of Contemporary History 32/2 (1997).
#Fuat Keyman, "On the relation between global modernity and nationalism: The crisis of Hegemony and the rise of (islamic ) identity in Turkey", New Perspectives on Turkey (Fall, 1995).
#Ersin Kalaycioglu, "Nationalism in Turkey: Civic versus Ethnic Nationalism in Post-Imperial Politics", Draft of paper presented at SOAS Conf. 1995.
Gülistan Gürbey, "Wandel in der Kurdenpolitik?", Internationale Politik no. 1 (1998).
Michael Gunter, The Kurds in Turkey: A Political Dilemma (Westview, 1990), pp. ??
Lale Yalcin-Heckman, "Tribal organisation and local political processes", in Finkel and Sirman eds.Turkish State Turkish Society (Routledge, 1990).
Gerard Chaliand, A people without a country (1990)
+ Riva Kastorýano, "L'integration politiqe par l'exterieur. La communaté juive de Turquie", Revue Francaise de Science Politique (Oct. 1992), 786-801.
# Walter F. Weiker, A history of the Jews in Turkey
Stanford Shaw, The Jews in the OE and in the Turkish Republic (1991).
Alexis Alexandris, The Greek Minority of Istanbul and Greek Turkish Relations 1918-1974 (Athens, 1992).
Jean-Francois Bayart, "The Alivi Question in modern Turkey", in Carre and Ahmad eds. Islam and the State in the World Today (New Delih: Manohar, 1989, 322.10917671).
#Kemal Kirisci and Gareth Winrow, Turkey and the Kurds: An Example of Trans-State Ethnic Conflict (London: FrankCass, 1997), Chaps. 3-4.
8. Panturkism and Turkish minorities
*Jacob Landau, Pan Turkism: From Irrendentism to cooperation (Indiana UP, 1995), chaps 1 and 6.
Matny and Graig, Turkey between East and West: The challenges for a rising regional power (Westview, 1996).
#Phil Robins, "Between sentiment and self-interest: Turkey's policy towards Azerbaijan and Central Asian states", MEJ, vol. 47, no. 4, 1993.
+ Gareth Winrow, "Turkey in Post-Soviet Central Asia" (Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995).
#Ismail Soysal, "70 years of Turkish-Soviet Political Relations", Turkish Review.
9. Turkey and Greece
*Tozun Bacheli, Greek Turkish Relations since 1955 (Westview, 1990), chaps. 4-5.
Dimitri Constas ed., The Greek Turkish Conflict in the 1990s (Macmillan, 1991).
Heinz-Jürgen Axt, "Zankapfel im Mittlemeer", Internationale Politik no. 1 (1998).
10. Turkey, the EU and the Middle East
Preston C, Enlargement and Integration in the EU (London:Routeldge, 1997), pp. TBA.
Chris Rumford, "Turkey and the EU Enlargement: Cross Border Projects and the Pre-Accesion Strategy for Non-members", New Perspectives on Turkey (1998), 19.
Meltem Müftüler-Bac, Turkey's Relations with a Changing Europe (Manchester UP, 1997).
Seyfi Tashan, A Turkish Perspective on Europe-Turkey Relations", Balkan Foru,
Canan Balkr and Allan Williams eds, Turkey and Europe (Pinter, 1993).
#Sabri Sayari, "Turkey: The changing European Security Environment and the Gulf Crisis" MEJ, vol 46, no. 1 1990.
Bassam Tibi, "Die postkemalistische Türkei", Internationale Politik no. 1 (1998).
# Meltem Müftüler, "Turkey and the European Community: An uneasy relationship, Turkish Review. (?)
#Mahmut Bali Aykan, "Turkish Perspectives on Turkish US Relations concerning the Persian Gulf in the Post-Cold War Era", MEJ vol. 50, no. 3 1996.
Bassam Tibi, Aufbruch am Bosphorus: Die Türkei zwischen Europa und Islamismus (München, 1998).
Henri Barkey (ed.), Reluctant Neighbour: Turkey's Role in the Middle East (Washington: US Institute of Peace Press, 1996).
Ziya Öni, "Turkey in the Post-Cold War Era: In Search of identity", MEJ, vol. 49, no. 1, 1995.
Katarina Dalacoura, "Turkey and the Middle East in the 1980s" Millennium vol. 19, no. 2 (1990).
# Oral Sander, "Turkish Foreign Policy: Forces of Continuity and of Change", Turkish Review (?)
# Seyfi Tahan, "Turkish Foreign Policy in the Balkans", Turkish Review (?).
#Mahmut Bali Aykan, "The Palestinian Question in Turkish Foreign Policy From the 1950s to the 1990s", IJMES, vol. 25 (1993),
Udo Steinbach, "Die Türkei, der Nahe Osten und das Wasser, Internationale Politik 1 (1998).
11. Conclusion:
Presentation and discussion of the final papers.