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Defining Alevism: Management of religion, secularism and religious affairs in Turkey

Title	Defining Alevism: Management of religion, secularism and religious affairs in Turkey
Author	Arslan, Berna Zengin
Publication Date:	2015
Publication Place	- Civilians' Association
Subject	Diyanet, Alevism, Islam, Management of religion, Secularism, The diyanet, Alevism, Islam, Management of religion, Secularism
Type	Periodical
Language	Turkish
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Library:	Özyeğin University
Library Asset ID	1305-9971
Record ID	a2ab44f5-de80-4029-9e9d-e2eeb9846cbe
Library Location	Humanities and Social Sciences
Date	2015
Sample Text	For a long time, Diyanet was seen by academic and political circles as an exceptional institution of secularism in Turkey and as an indicator of our inability to become sufficiently secular. However, today, especially within the discipline of anthropology, criticism is made against this approach, which understands religion and secularism as opposed to each other and separated by clear boundaries, and it is emphasized that secularism, as a nation-state practice, establishes itself in relationship with the field of religion (Asad, 2003). When we look at it from this perspective, we see that for different examples, the secular state does not withdraw from the field of religion, on the contrary, it manages the field of religion (Turner, 2013) and plays a founding role in the field of religion (in the modern sense) (Asad, 2003). Previously, with reference to Bryan Turner's concept of 'management of religion', we emphasized that Diyanet was one of the fundamental institutions in the shaping and management of the religious sphere and secularism throughout the history of the Republic (Turner and Zengin Arslan, 2013). This article aims to analyze the state's approach to the issue of Alevism with the help of the concept of 'management of religion'. The Republican regime recognized Alevism by dissolving it within secular identity, and in this sense ignored Alevism; During the AKP government, with the EU process, the state turned towards the 'Alevi initiative'; However, he emphasizes that in this process, the government did not seek to recognize Alevism, but to define it from its own perspective, despite the Alevis. It shows that this definition is realized through the understanding of religion of Sunni Islam, with reference to Sunni Islam and with a series of management strategies such as transferring it to written culture under the auspices of the Diyanet., The Diyanet has long been considered as an exceptional institution of Turkish secularism and evidence showing that secularism in Turkey is indeed flawed. However, recently, the scholars of the anthropology of secularism have criticized this approach, which understands religion and secularism as oppositional, and segregated with clear boundaries. The critics have argued that secularism as a practice of the nation-state has built itself in relation to the field of religion (Asad, 2003). Looking from this perspective, we observe that for various examples, the secular state does not withdraw from the religious domain; Rather, it manages the field of religion (Turner, 2013) and constructs it in a modern sense (Asad, 2003). Previously, in reference to Bryan S. Turner's concept of ‘management of religion,’ we had argued that throughout the history of Republic the Diyanet has been one of the major institutions that shaped and managed the field of religion and secularism in Turkey (Turner and Zengin Arslan, 2013). In this article, I analyze the state's approach to Alevism in reference to the concept of ‘management of religion.’ This article suggests that the Republican regime recognized Alevism by dissolving it into a secular identity. In this sense it did not indeed recognize Alevis with their religious identities. During the Justice and Development Party period, the 'Alevi The opening' process was initiated as a part of the EU integration process. However, the article argues, in this process the government had an approach of defining Alevism from its own perspective, rather than recognizing them in their own terms. the state wanted to define Alevism through and in reference to Sunni Islam, and by utilizing a series of strategies of governmentality, such as producing a written Alevi culture with the leadership of the Diyanet.
Cilt	39

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Özyeğin University

Defining Alevism: Management of religion, secularism and religious affairs in Turkey

Author Arslan, Berna Zengin

Publication Date 2015

Publication Place - Civilians' Association

Subject Diyanet, Alevism, Islam, Management of religion, Secularism, The diyanet, Alevism, Islam, Management of religion, Secularism

Type Periodical

Language Turkish

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Library Özyeğin University

Library Asset ID 1305-9971

Record ID a2ab44f5-de80-4029-9e9d-e2eeb9846cbe

Library Location Humanities and Social Sciences

Date 2015

Sample Text For a long time, Diyanet was seen by academic and political circles as an exceptional institution of secularism in Turkey and as an indicator of our inability to become sufficiently secular. However, today, especially within the discipline of anthropology, criticism is made against this approach, which understands religion and secularism as opposed to each other and separated by clear boundaries, and it is emphasized that secularism, as a nation-state practice, establishes itself in relationship with the field of religion (Asad, 2003). When we look at it from this perspective, we see that for different examples, the secular state does not withdraw from the field of religion, on the contrary, it manages the field of religion (Turner, 2013) and plays a founding role in the field of religion (in the modern sense) (Asad, 2003). Previously, with reference to Bryan Turner's concept of 'management of religion', we emphasized that Diyanet was one of the fundamental institutions in the shaping and management of the religious sphere and secularism throughout the history of the Republic (Turner and Zengin Arslan, 2013). This article aims to analyze the state's approach to the issue of Alevism with the help of the concept of 'management of religion'. The Republican regime recognized Alevism by dissolving it within secular identity, and in this sense ignored Alevism; During the AKP government, with the EU process, the state turned towards the 'Alevi initiative'; However, he emphasizes that in this process, the government did not seek to recognize Alevism, but to define it from its own perspective, despite the Alevis. It shows that this definition is realized through the understanding of religion of Sunni Islam, with reference to Sunni Islam and with a series of management strategies such as transferring it to written culture under the auspices of the Diyanet., The Diyanet has long been considered as an exceptional institution of Turkish secularism and evidence showing that secularism in Turkey is indeed flawed. However, recently, the scholars of the anthropology of secularism have criticized this approach, which understands religion and secularism as oppositional, and segregated with clear boundaries. The critics have argued that secularism as a practice of the nation-state has built itself in relation to the field of religion (Asad, 2003). Looking from this perspective, we observe that for various examples, the secular state does not withdraw from the religious domain; Rather, it manages the field of religion (Turner, 2013) and constructs it in a modern sense (Asad, 2003). Previously, in reference to Bryan S. Turner's concept of ‘management of religion,’ we had argued that throughout the history of Republic the Diyanet has been one of the major institutions that shaped and managed the field of religion and secularism in Turkey (Turner and Zengin Arslan, 2013). In this article, I analyze the state's approach to Alevism in reference to the concept of ‘management of religion.’ This article suggests that the Republican regime recognized Alevism by dissolving it into a secular identity. In this sense it did not indeed recognize Alevis with their religious identities. During the Justice and Development Party period, the 'Alevi The opening' process was initiated as a part of the EU integration process. However, the article argues, in this process the government had an approach of defining Alevism from its own perspective, rather than recognizing them in their own terms. the state wanted to define Alevism through and in reference to Sunni Islam, and by utilizing a series of strategies of governmentality, such as producing a written Alevi culture with the leadership of the Diyanet.

Cilt 39