Politicization Process of Alevism

“Even though the organization of Alevism in the form of identity politics in the 1990s was a direct result of the cultural transformation of politics, the course of the Alevi movement makes its struggle different from a classical identity politics. The Alevi movement followed a different course of politicization than political Islam, which advocates Muslims practicing their religion in a public space built on Islamic values, or the Kurdish movement, which aims for a socio-political platform where Kurds can freely live their Kurdish identity around concepts such as education in the mother tongue and self-governance.

The Alevi movement largely followed a political line advocating the participation of Alevis in social life on an equal basis with non-Alevis, instead of a political language that emphasizes the particular identities of Alevis and aims for them to live their differences freely.” What stages can we detect in the course of the politicization of Alevism in modern Turkish history, which can be started from the 1960s? Mehmet Ertan treats the period 1960-1980 as "covert politicization". He observes that as we moved from the 1980s to the '90s, identity politics became decisive and Alevism became the source of an independent social movement.

So, with what dynamics and what discussions did this politicization, also called the "Alevi awakening", progress? What is the impact of specific factors such as the religious culture of Alevism, long and short-term memory of victimization (massacres), ethno-cultural pluralism and geographical dispersion on this process? A detailed examination of the development of the Alevi social and political movement in the last twenty-thirty years, around such questions... Looking at the politics and debates shaped around the associations, as well as what the Peace Party experience shows...

(From the Promotional Bulletin)

Dough Type: 2nd Dough

Number of Pages: 296

Size: 13 x 19.5

First Print Year: 2017

Number of Printings: 1st Edition

Media Type: Paperback