Secularism in practice: Freedoms, public services, and finance
HALE AKAY
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the practice of secularism in Turkey on the grounds of religious freedoms and with a specific focus on the regulation of services related to religious liberties. Though in Turkey secularism is one of the most controversial topics that creates polarization within the society, problems concerning the implementation of secularism through rules and practices that cover all different religious groups are rarely brought forward. The general approach in Turkey is to handle the problems of different groups as identity issues and to discuss them separately within specific conceptual frameworks. This approach hinders not only the opportunity to deal with the subject of secularism in Turkey in utter detail, but also possible debates concerning the demands of different groups related to religious rights and freedoms. This paper examines various types of regulations related to the implementation of secularism in exemplary countries and compares these examples with the legislative framework in Turkey. This comparative analysis covers religious institutions of worship and the discriminative practices in different types of public services as well as the financing of religion in Turkey.
Keywords: Secularism, freedom of religion, discrimination, religious services, public services
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A transformed Kemalist Islam or a new Sunnite civic morality?: A study of “Religious Culture and Morality” textbooks in Turkish high school curricula
BUKET TÜRKMEN
This article asks questions about the relationship between secularism, citizenship and Islam in contemporary Turkey. We discuss the meaning of the formulation of a new Turkish civic morality infused with Islam in contemporary Turkey through a content analysis of the 1995 and 2007 editions of “Religious Culture and Morality” course textbooks that are used in high school curricula. This course, while maintaining continuity with the aim of the Republic’s diffusion of national religious morality through a revised version of Islam, concretizes in its recent syllabus the reislamisation of the Turkish public sphere since 1980s. Our research tries to figure out in what sense the content of “Kemalist Islam”, which used to be the only legitimate religiosity taught in national education, changed with the modifications, and whether Kemalist Islam loses its centrality in the definition of citizen’s identity, to the advantage of a new Islamic morality with the reislamization of Turkish public sphere.
Keywords: Religion, education, citizenship, civic morality, Islam, secularism
Keywords: Religion, education, citizenship, civic morality, Islam, secularism
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The hunger strikes and death fasts as a gift relationship: The case of Turkish radical leftists
Y. EYLEM ÖZKAYA
This article reviews hunger strikes and death fasts staged by the militants of radical left organizations in Turkish prisons with regard to altruistic-gift theories. Within this context, this article aims to prove that hunger strikes at the prisons feature a gift relationship based on two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is; hunger strikes take place within the triangle of giving, accepting and reciprocating, which forms the backbone of gift theory. The second hypothesis states that there is an overlap between the aim of gifts and the aim of hunger strikes, which is the reconstruction of social and ideological ties constituting radical left organizations in the Turkish context after the 1980 coup d’état.
Keywords: Altruism, death fasts, gift theory, hunger strikes, prisons, Turkish radical left
Keywords: Altruism, death fasts, gift theory, hunger strikes, prisons, Turkish radical left
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The approaches of mothers and fathers of the martyrs to political participation
ESRA GEDİK
When we analyze the discussions starting “as debates on the Kurdish issue“ and continuing as “debates on democracy”, we witness that both the ruling party and the opposition parties use families of martyrs in their discourses to legitimize their goals. Meanwhile, some families support the process while some talk about the fact that martyrs would not renounce their rights. Among these discourses of families, the outshining discourse has been that of the fathers of the martyrs. They spoke both for themselves and for the mothers of the martyrs. However, we could slightly hear of voices of the mothers in these discussions. Is there any difference between the approaches of women and men who lost their sons in the war towards participating in politics as active actors after they have lost their sons? I argue that while men who lost their sons in the war line up with formal political participation, women are more hesitant about it although they are more aware of the political issues than they were before they lost their sons in the war. While religion and nationalism, which of course have patriarchal bases, make fathers politically more active, they curtail the discourse of mothers.
Keywords: Mothers of martyrs, fathers of martyrs, martyrdom, Kurdish question, nationalism, religion, political participation, NGOs
Keywords: Mothers of martyrs, fathers of martyrs, martyrdom, Kurdish question, nationalism, religion, political participation, NGOs
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Spaces representing political identity: Çayan Mahallesi
ŞÜKRÜ ASLAN - BESİME ŞEN
This paper focuses on the establishment of Çayan Mahallesi, a neighborhood in Istanbul better known for its political identity. Many characteristics of this neighborhood defined as a ‘ghetto’ when viewed from the residences of higher classes and as a ‘space of resistance’ by political movements makes it distinct. In this paper the experience of the establishment of Çayan Mahallesi is analyzed as an example of socialist groups’ power to shape urban politics and to supersede public bureaucracy in the 1970s.
Keywords: Çayan Mahallesi, socialist left, urban politics, spatial intervention, hierarchical relationships, authoritarian structure
Keywords: Çayan Mahallesi, socialist left, urban politics, spatial intervention, hierarchical relationships, authoritarian structure
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Market reforms and regulatory reforms in Turkey: An actor-centered approach
ÜMİT SÖNMEZ
This articleanalyses the inner discrepancies and congestions that emerged in the construction of the institutional structure of neoliberalism out of the fractional, fragmentary and pragmatist market reforms of the 1980s. It propounds that the code of contradictions experienced within the regulatory reform process which gained acceleration at the end of the 1990s may have been implicit in the market reforms and institutional strategies of the 1980s. The main argument set forth is that the institutional design of neoliberalism is not pre-given, and the preceding institutional strategies practiced by politicians determine the shape and direction of the subsequent reform process. While similar programs are launched to establish the regulatory state in many countries like Turkey, the mode and outcomes of these programs are essentially shaped by local factors. It is important to see that politicians, members of newly-created independent regulatory agencies, and bureaucrats are dynamic actors working under very different pressures and priorities, and they are making strategic selections between the existing resources and instruments in their hands to cope with problems and to generate solutions. Following such an analysis, this article declines to evaluate the importance of the current reforms in comparison to an ideal-type neoliberal framework, and aims to put across how and why the regulatory process can be complex, fragmentary, and dynamic.
Keywords: Market reforms, regulatory reforms, actor-centered approach, the Özal government, neoliberalism, financial crisis, independent regulatory agencies, regulation
Keywords: Market reforms, regulatory reforms, actor-centered approach, the Özal government, neoliberalism, financial crisis, independent regulatory agencies, regulation
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Clash, dialogue, alliance: The rise of civilizationist discourse and its influences on Turkey-EU relations
SEVGİ ADAK – ÖMER TURAN
This paper aims to analyze the emergence of the dialogue among civilizations discourse in international politics with a particular emphasis on its utilization in Turkey-EU relations. The idea of dialogue among civilizations was first formulated as a response to Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis. Its use as the main framework of Turkey-EU relations in the 2002-2005 period received support from both Turkish and European public opinion. With the help of this support, Turkey contributed to the evolution of the idea of dialogue among civilizations to the alliance of civilizations project. The currency of the project has increased under the foreign ministry of Ahmet Davutoğlu who has been a keen supporter of the idea from the beginning and has been emphasizing civilizational identities as well as the reshaping of Turkish foreign policy based on civilizational analyses.
The article has four sections. The first section contextualizes the emergence of the idea of dialogue among civilizations in the late 1990s within the framework of the revitalization of civilizational thinking, and discusses the concurrent rise of civilizational analyses in various fields, like political philosophy, sociology and international relations. Section two focuses on the appropriation of the dialogue among civilizations idea in Turkey-EU relations. Section three discusses Davutoğlu’s works and recent discussions in Turkey concerning the issue and suggests that AKP government’s search for an alternative vision represents a civilizationist turn in Turkish foreign policy. The last section raises a series of criticisms and questions about the revitalization of civilizational analyses and the idea of dialogue among civilizations in general, and about the transformation of this idea into a concrete project in the context of Turkey-EU relations in particular. The main argument of the article is that the discourse of dialogue among civilization falls short to offer a genuine alternative to Huntington’s clash thesis, and does not provide a viable ground for Turkey-EU relations.
Keywords: Dialogue among civilizations, civilizationist discourse, Turkey-EU relations, Turkish foreign policy
The article has four sections. The first section contextualizes the emergence of the idea of dialogue among civilizations in the late 1990s within the framework of the revitalization of civilizational thinking, and discusses the concurrent rise of civilizational analyses in various fields, like political philosophy, sociology and international relations. Section two focuses on the appropriation of the dialogue among civilizations idea in Turkey-EU relations. Section three discusses Davutoğlu’s works and recent discussions in Turkey concerning the issue and suggests that AKP government’s search for an alternative vision represents a civilizationist turn in Turkish foreign policy. The last section raises a series of criticisms and questions about the revitalization of civilizational analyses and the idea of dialogue among civilizations in general, and about the transformation of this idea into a concrete project in the context of Turkey-EU relations in particular. The main argument of the article is that the discourse of dialogue among civilization falls short to offer a genuine alternative to Huntington’s clash thesis, and does not provide a viable ground for Turkey-EU relations.
Keywords: Dialogue among civilizations, civilizationist discourse, Turkey-EU relations, Turkish foreign policy
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Negation, negativity and political ontology
NUR BETÜL ÇELİK
Negativity is a constitutive category in a series of leftist and critical attempts of political theorization. This study tries to specify the ontological status of negativity within Laclau and Mouffe’s political theory. Throughout the essay, constitutive negativity is traced within two moments: the first moment is the impossibility of political theory to construct itself as an objectivity. The argument on this point follows the leftist Heideggerian debate on the impossibility of grounding on the one hand, and the distinction between politics and the political on the other. Secondly, negativity is conceived in its internality to the political. Here, the argument focuses on the ways in which such internality is conceptualized and the ways in which the moments of failure for any attempt to ground, and the impossibility of a fully constituted totality are conceived through the category of negativity. This study is an attempt to reread Laclau and Mouffe’s project of radical democracy as “the ontology of the social”, focusing on their notion of constitutive negativity.
Keywords: Negativity, negation, political ontology, hegemony, antagonism, radical democracy, agonistic democracy
Keywords: Negativity, negation, political ontology, hegemony, antagonism, radical democracy, agonistic democracy
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Conservatism, liberalism and neo-conservatism: A comparison of Commentaire (France) and Commentary (USA) reviews
AYŞE YILMAZ CEYLAN
The aim of this article is to discuss systems of thought such as liberalism, conservatism and neo-conservatism through two reviews in France and America which have the same name. Commentary, published in the United States since 1945 is an important monthly political review focusing on Judaism, Jewish issues and Israel in addition to all other contemporary political, social and cultural issues. Known as a liberal review Commentary gained a neo-conservative identity after the New Left politics of the ‘60s.
On the other hand, Commentaire created by Raymond Aron in 1978 is an important review in France defining itself as liberal and feeling a certain admiration for the Commentary circle and neo-conservatism in America. As both of the reviews are attached to liberal principles, they are against all sorts of totalitarianism. Also, they both have a special interest in Jewish issues.
When liberalism, conservatism and neo-conservatism are studied through these reviews it’s obvious that they follow different routes in countries where they are published. Beneath those differences, the study of similar points will provide important data on these political thought currents. The liberalism that they follow is literally very similar to a Burke-style liberalism which is against all kinds of excess and fundamentalism. At this point, the American kind of liberalism of Commentaire and the neo-conservatism of Commentary have a lot in common and they are against all threats challenging liberalism like great transformations, revolutions and also excessive liberalism itself.
Keywords: Conservatism, neo-conservatism, liberalism, American conservatism, Judaism, Revolution, Commentary, Commentaire, Raymond Aron, Norman Pothoretz
On the other hand, Commentaire created by Raymond Aron in 1978 is an important review in France defining itself as liberal and feeling a certain admiration for the Commentary circle and neo-conservatism in America. As both of the reviews are attached to liberal principles, they are against all sorts of totalitarianism. Also, they both have a special interest in Jewish issues.
When liberalism, conservatism and neo-conservatism are studied through these reviews it’s obvious that they follow different routes in countries where they are published. Beneath those differences, the study of similar points will provide important data on these political thought currents. The liberalism that they follow is literally very similar to a Burke-style liberalism which is against all kinds of excess and fundamentalism. At this point, the American kind of liberalism of Commentaire and the neo-conservatism of Commentary have a lot in common and they are against all threats challenging liberalism like great transformations, revolutions and also excessive liberalism itself.
Keywords: Conservatism, neo-conservatism, liberalism, American conservatism, Judaism, Revolution, Commentary, Commentaire, Raymond Aron, Norman Pothoretz
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The formulation of Moskof, the enemy image of Russia in the Turkish right
G. GÜRKAN ÖZTAN
In socio-political memory, the relationship with an enemy image has complicated reflections. Enemy images are the products of deeply rooted social and political processes and have dynamism of regeneration. An enemy image doesn’t only consist of feelings of hate and dislike; it involves violence and possibility of destruction.
The international or domestic situation may also act to intensify enemy images. The aim of this study is to analyze the formulation of so called Moskof, the enemy image of Russia in the Turkish right in a historical perspective. This article is based on the assumption that anti-communism in the Cold-War period is not a simple ideological struggle but is also related to an enemy image in collective memory; in other words the legitimacy of anti-communism in Turkey is consolidated by an enemy image embodying traditional fears.
Keywords: Turkish right, nationalism, Moskof, collective memory, enemy images
The international or domestic situation may also act to intensify enemy images. The aim of this study is to analyze the formulation of so called Moskof, the enemy image of Russia in the Turkish right in a historical perspective. This article is based on the assumption that anti-communism in the Cold-War period is not a simple ideological struggle but is also related to an enemy image in collective memory; in other words the legitimacy of anti-communism in Turkey is consolidated by an enemy image embodying traditional fears.
Keywords: Turkish right, nationalism, Moskof, collective memory, enemy images
