Turkish State Turkish Society

This book focuses on the historical sociology of the Turkish state, seeking to compare the development of the Ottoman/Turkish state with similar processes of large scale historical change in Europe identified by Michael Mann in The Sources of Social Power. Jacoby traces the contours of Turkey's 'modernisation' with the intention of formulating a fresh way to approach state development in countries on the global economic periphery, particularly those attempting to effect closer ties with northern markets. It also highlights matters of social change pertinent to states grappling with issues relating to political Islam, minority identity and irredentist dissent.

The deep wounds that exist from long-standing conflicts between Turks, Kurds, and Armenians have not yet been sufficiently addressed and healed. Nermin Soyalp explains the collective traumas and their significant psychosocial impacts in terms of the potential for reconciliation among these politically conflicted groups. Discussion centres on the transgenerational implications of the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917, the Greco-Turco war of 1920-1922, the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the population exchange with the Balkans in 1924, the conflict between the Turkish government and Kurdish identity since the formation of the Republic, as well as the impacts of assimilation policies on minorities. Drawing on the complexities of history, psychology, and identity, this book elucidates how collectively and historically shared traumas become inherently more complex, and more difficult to address, generation by generation. Epistemologies of ignorance in Turkey have suppressed the transgenerational experiences of trauma and prevented healing modalities. The Turkish state and society have consciously and unconsciously denied historical realities such as the Armenian genocide and Kurds ethnopolitical rights. The result is a collective dehumanization that fuels further trauma and conflicts. The collective traumas of Anatolia have impacted its society at multiple levels -- psychological, physical, economic, cultural, political, and institutional. The author, a dialogue facilitator for the non-profit Healing the Wounds of History organisation, proposes systemic healing modalities that address the dynamics at play. The research that underpins this work is highly relevant to the healing of other historical and cultural traumas.

The author draws attention to the strong state tradition and the pluralistic society that both prevailed in Turkey. He argues that the Turkish state tradition envisages centralization, social cohesion and an obedient political culture. Through the modernization process of the last century, it has tried to change the society from top to down, and built an ideological and unitarian public sphere. However, the transition to multi-party system in 1950 and the liberalization policies that followed in the post-1980s have prepared the ground for different social movements to come into existence in the same public arena. Social movements which developed particularly among Kurds, Alevis and women emphasize social diversity, pluralism, participation, limited authority, freedom and human rights. They, thus, have paved the way for the transformation of the ideological public sphere into a plural and a civil public domain. The author follows the traces of all these developments from the Ottoman Empire to the last decades of the Republican Turkey. Moving from the case of Turkey he makes an important contribution to the literature on various issues such as civil society, public sphere, modernization, democracy, and social movements.

In 1923, the Modern Turkish Republic rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming a new era in the Middle East. However, many of the contemporary issues affecting Turkish state and society today have their roots not only in the in the history of the republic, but in the historical and political memory of the state's imperial history. Here Fatma Muge Gocek draws on Turkey's Ottoman heritage and history to explore current issues of ethnicity and religion alongside Turkey's international position. This new perspective on history's influence on contemporary tensions in Turkey will contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding Turkey's accession to the EU, and offers insight into the social transformations in the transition from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Nation-State. This analysis will be vital to those involved in the study of the Middle East Imperial History and Turkey's relations with the West.

Women in Turkish Society: Seljuks, Ottoman Empire, and Turkish Republic, Livre de Lyon

Focusing specifically on the Kemalist project to create a modern Turkish secular nation-state, Ibrahim Kaya analyses its historical roots, the role of concepts of ethnicity and nation and the configuration of state, society and economy in the new Turkish republic.