Nationalist Conservative Intelligentsia

It is an extremely common tendency to read Turkey's modernization process by highlighting the "differences" of social segments with conflicting projects. The main axis of this conflict appears as "modernity", which is based on a vague emphasis on modernity, and "unchanging tradition", which is positioned against it. The intersection and coexistence of conservatism and nationalism with other political ideologies are neglected in these analyses. Yüksel Taşkın proposes to read the nationalist conservative "intelligentsia", which stands out as the main carrier of modernization in the Nationalist Conservative Intelligentsia, represents the cultural elite, and appears to be positioned against the "intellectuals" who control the cultural transformation, through their similarities with the "primary" culture makers of the republic. It deals with the social roles, political positions, and unique culture(ing) projects of the conservative nationalist intelligentsia, who feel excluded from the modernization project of the republic and who think that they cannot benefit from the political and social power determined by this framework. It investigates the historical tendencies of this social layer, which is clustered within the centre-right tradition, derives its political power from here, and turns towards the reconstruction and revival of "national culture" with this power. It examines the reactions of the nationalist conservative intelligentsia to the new-right transformations that gained momentum with Turgut Özal, the processes of articulation with capitalism, and the drifts in the cultural field. Considering that this period was a serious breaking point in terms of nationalist conservatism, Taşkın focuses on the changes of the Turkish right in the following period and the consequences that are still being experienced. Erol Güngör, Mehmet Kaplan, Ahmet Kabaklı, Taha Akyol and Türkiye Günlüğü magazine are the focal points of this study. Yüksel Taşkın traces a political project that equips its own versions of modernization with various colors of statism.



Number of Pages: 392

Year of Printing: 2007


Language: Turkish
Publisher: İletişim Publishing

First Print Year: 2007

Language Turkish