The Possibility of an Islamic Liberalization: Turkish Example

• In Event: 341 - Section on Sociology of Religion Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 08. Islam and Buddhism

Abstract

During the 20th century, Turkey has experienced several dramatic, in some instances catastrophic, changes which have defined the course of its history. In this article, I will examine economical aspects of these changes in terms of elite circulation in the country. This work has a comparative historical perspective but barely regards elite theories; rather to narrate the changing structure of economic elites in the country per se. In the Empire era, the economic elites were mostly non-Muslim minorities, and those minorities were highly dominating the cultural environment too. But towards to the end, due to the nationalistic policies, non-Muslim minorities were expelled from the scene. During the Turcification process, state embedded economic elites were created by the governing elites intentionally. Although these new economic elites were Muslim, they have also had a strict secular lifestyle. Democratization of the government after the World War II, have affected the economic elites because liberalization of the country and the economy, by its nature, have changed the structure of the organization of the competition, and opened the gates for common, conservative Muslim population who have never been favorite of the ruling elites. Moving from this historical outline, I will pose the critical question: Is an Islamic liberalism possible? Yet, at the final point, I have no certain answer to the question but it is worth to chase the story of the Turkish exceptionalism which is the most flexible interpretation of Islam. It is a promising story, yet we have not seen the closing scene.

Author

• Adem Ustun Catalbas, University of Cincinnati