Turkey Between Nationalism And Globalization

Turkish society has been going through institutional and ideological change that has affected its social, cultural and political practices. This book examines these contemporary tensions, which have led to a re-appraisal of Turkey as a nation and Turkish nationalism as it tries to situate itself as a regional and global power. Analysing the internal and external dynamics of Turkey and the role played by nationalism, this book considers how the understanding of the nation and nationalism has changed since the creation of the Republic of Turkey, and how it has now become central to its desire to become a global power. Despite on-going negotiations about entry into the EU, an ambition for Turkey to be a regional power feeds nationalist feeling that contradicts institutional, discursive and cultural changes. Presenting interdisciplinary perspectives from experts in history, sociology, political sciences and economics, the contributors offer new perspectives on contemporary Turkey and its future. Turkey between Nationalism and Globalization will be of interest to students and scholars of Turkish studies; globalization studies, nationalism studies, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies, international relations, political science and sociology.

This book explores how Turkey's contested national identity has affected its foreign policysince the late Ottoman era. The book takes a constructivist approach, asserting that identity matters for foreign policy decisions, but it separates itself from statist approaches by bringing identity question into domestic politics.

Through critical analysis of Turkey's transformation under the AKP, this book explores the relationship between domestic transformations and global/regional dynamics. It also discusses the relationship between the Turkish transformation and the Arab uprisings and the implications of the Turkish case for regime transitions in the Arab world.

Turkish society has been going through institutional and ideological change that has affected its social, cultural and political practices. This book examines these contemporary tensions, which have led to a re-appraisal of Turkey as a nation and Turkish nationalism as it tries to situate itself as a regional and global power. Analysing the internal and external dynamics of Turkey and the role played by nationalism, this book considers how the understanding of the nation and nationalism has changed since the creation of the Republic of Turkey, and how it has now become central to its desire to become a global power. Despite on-going negotiations about entry into the EU, an ambition for Turkey to be a regional power feeds nationalist feeling that contradicts institutional, discursive and cultural changes. Presenting interdisciplinary perspectives from experts in history, sociology, political sciences and economics, the contributors offer new perspectives on contemporary Turkey and its future. Turkey between Nationalism and Globalization will be of interest to students and scholars of Turkish studies; globalization studies, nationalism studies, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies, international relations, political science and sociology.

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in Turkey's ability to create a secular, constitutional democracy within a predominantly Muslim population. Remaking Turkey provides a comprehensive and detailed account of how Turkey has achieved the possibility of modernity and democracy in a Muslim social setting as well as the important problems and challenges confronting this achievement. Turkey has demonstrated that as an alternative modernity and as a significant historical experience of the co-existence between Islam and democratic modernity in a secular political structure it could make an important contribution to the most needed democratic global governance for the creation of a secure, just and peaceful world. Remaking Turkey starts its investigation with an analysis of the Ottoman legacy, then focuses on identity-based conflicts and civil, economic, and global processes, all of which have brought about significant challenges to modernity and democracy in Turkey. The book concludes with an account of the recent changes and transformations that have given rise to the process of 'remaking Turkey.' In this way, editor E. Fuat Keyman presents a political theory-based approach to Turkish modernity and its recent changing formation, creating an original study of contemporary Turkey.

Turkey has leapt to international prominence as an economic and political powerhouse under its elected Muslim government, and is looked on by many as a model for other Muslim countries in the wake of the Arab Spring. This book reveals how Turkish national identity and the meanings of Islam and secularism have undergone radical changes in today's Turkey, and asks whether the Turkish model should be viewed as a success story or cautionary tale. Jenny White shows how Turkey's Muslim elites have mounted a powerful political and economic challenge to the country's secularists, developing an alternative definition of the nation based on a nostalgic revival of Turkey's Ottoman past. These Muslim nationalists have pushed aside the Republican ideal of a nation defined by purity of blood, language, and culture. They see no contradiction in pious Muslims running a secular state, and increasingly express their Muslim identity through participation in economic networks and a lifestyle of Islamic fashion and leisure. For many younger Turks, religious and national identities, like commodities, have become objects of choice and forms of personal expression. This provocative book traces how Muslim nationalists blur the line between the secular and the Islamic, supporting globalization and political liberalism, yet remaining mired in authoritarianism, intolerance, and cultural norms hostile to minorities and women.

A North Caucasian ethnic group that has been largely obscured in world history as a result of their expulsion from their homeland by Tsarist Russia in the 1860s, Circassians now comprise significant communities not only in the Northwest Caucasus but also in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Europe and the US. The Circassian Diaspora investigates how a community of impoverished migrants has evolved into a well-connected and politically active diaspora. This book explores the prominent role Circassians played during the Turco-Greek War or the "Turkish National Liberation War of 1919-1922," and examines the changing nature of Circassians’ relations with the Turkish and Russian states, as well as the new actors of Caucasian politics such as the US, the EU, and Georgia. Suggesting that the Circassian case should be studied alongside those of the Jews, Armenians and other diasporas whose formation is fundamentally tied up to a violent detachment from their homeland, and arguing that Circassian diaspora politics is not a post-Soviet phenomenon but has a history dating back to early 20th Century, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of Diaspora Studies, History, and Politics.