Browsing by Author "Ertan, Mehmet."

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    Alevism in politics: Possibilities and limits of Alevi identity politics
    (Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, 2016., 2016.) Ertan, Mehmet.; Buğra, Ayşe,
    This dissertation scrutinizes the politicization of Alevism in the 1990s. The politicization of Alevi identity as the basis of a socio-political movement is shaped by culturel turn of politics stemming from debates on postmodernism, multiculturalism and globalization,,but the Alevi movement has never been a classical identity movement. Its ambivalent characteristics, which derive from a heterodox cosmology, ethnic pluralism, and geographical distribution, makes Alevism’s availability as a defining component of identity movement difficult. Despite this ambivalence, historical massacres provide Alevi identity with a stable foundation. The ambivalence of Alevi identity and fear of new massacres shape the dynamism of its politicization. In this regard, the Alevi movement, which politicizes without direct reference to Alevi identity, focuses on universal ideologies that provide for equal coexistence of Alevis and non-Alevis. Citizenship and secularism have thus become key concepts of the Alevi movement. Aer analysis of the structural framework of Alevi politicization, this dis-sertation examines its dynamism of Alevism through the main agents of the movement in the 1990s: Alevi associations and the Peace Party. Various defi-nitions and historiographies of Alevism developed by these associations as well as their differentiated positions toward political parties and state struc-tures demonstrate the contested associational domain of Alevi politics. At an-other level, discussions during the formation of the Peace Party and its subse-quent failure demonstrate the difficulty of using Alevism as an ideological source for a party. us, this dissertation underscores the multidimensional relation between culture and politics.
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    The circuitous politicization of Alevism: the affiliaton between the Alevis and the left politics (1960-1980)
    (Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, 2008., 2008.) Ertan, Mehmet.; Karaömerlioğlu, M. Asım.
    This study scrutinizes the affiliation between the Alevis and the left-wing political movements within the context of the 1960s and 1970s. These years witnessed the dissolution of traditional Alevism, which had been based on rural/isolated life, as a result of urbanization. Turkey also experienced a rapid social and physical mobilization in these years. The social dynamics of Turkey in the 1960s and 1970s associated the dissolution of the archaic Alevism with the social mobilization of Turkey within the context of urbanization; therefore, the Alevis, who became more visible in the newly urbanizing environment, mainly remained a part of left-wing politics in that period. The left politics enabled Alevis to be integrated into the modern life and the centralized state apparatus during the dissolution process of traditional Alevism. In this regard, this thesis examines why Alevis politically moved towards the left movements politically during this time period. The affiliation between the Alevis and left wing movements is investigated in two dimensions. On the one hand, the Alevis’ relation with the Republican People’s Party on the basis of Alevis’ satisfaction with the secularist policies of the early Republican governments and the populist discourse of Bülent Ecevit are discussed. On the other hand, the affiliation between the Alevis and the radical socialist movements within the framework of the overlaps between the implications of nomadic characteristic of the archaic Alevism and the actual needs of the socialist movements of the era are examined. Moreover, the Unity Party of Turkey which addressed the Alevis indirectly and the Alevis’ indifference to the UPT are investigated while inspected the affiliation between the Alevis and left politics..