Ph.D. Theses
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Item Collective desert in distributive justice(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Yapıcıoğlu, James Cem.; Çıdam, Volkan.The literature of desert in distributive justice almost strictly focuses on personal desert claims. This is inadequate. Distributive justice involves distribution at a massive scale, which can only take place through collective acts. At the same time, there is nothing that inherently limits a group of people deserving together. This thesis argues that collective agents can be desert subjects by relying on the everbuilding consensus within social ontology regarding the agency of collectives and in parallel to the recent use of collective agents in the field of state culpabilities. It reconsiders prominent desert claims by introducing a collective desert subject or a collective perspective. The thesis specifically explores the collective alternatives to desert of compensation and merit-based hiring, and adapts Feldman’s community essential needs based desert approach to a collective perspective. Not only is it possible to formulate collective desert claims that function in a similar way to the individual ones, but this helps to better explain existing claims and handle some of their shortcomings. The results of these discussions suggest new areas of desert that can be pursued and new approaches to strengthen the case of desert against its naysayers.Item A comparative analysis of financial regulation reforms in Turkey and Poland : evidence from the 2000s(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Çetinkaya, Murat.; Kadirbeyoğlu, Zeynep.This thesis focuses on identifying the determinants of financial regulation reforms. It investigates the reasons behind the introduction of or changes to financial regulations by governments and other regulators, with specific reference to the financial regulations undertaken by Turkey and Poland in the 2000s. The research question is explored from a comparative political economy perspective, and the answer is arrived at by employing the most similar systems design method using two cases. This limited number facilitated an in-depth comparative analysis. The determinants that I hypothesized would have an effect on financial regulations were domestic learning, policy diffusion, global shocks, local shocks, financial development, and trade development. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate the effects of these factors. The results are largely compatible with each other. The findings in this thesis provide evidence that these variables are effective in financial regulation reforms, but there are significant differences in the direction of their effects. One significant difference is observed in the learning factor. Both exogenous (policy diffusion) and endogenous (domestic learning) types of learning turned out to have a negative effect on the pace of financial liberalization reforms in Turkey and Poland. The thesis finds that this difference is primarily the result of the rise in state intervention in response to financial crises that triggered concerns about financial stability. The findings further suggest that the effects of these factors vary across critical junctures and spatial and temporal dimensions.Item Turkish foreign policy strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa after 15 July 2016(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Anda, Danzouma Alima.; Yağcı, Alper.The failed coup of 15 July 2016, marked the definitive split in the political relationship that linked the ruling AKP and the Gülen Movement (GM), both in Turkish domestic and foreign policy. Indeed, the GM through its transnational networks of schools and businesses had long played a role in Turkish diplomacy, in its non-traditional areas, especially in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, the events of 15 July 2016 induced a necessary transformation of Turkish foreign policy strategy in SSA, where the Turkish state should take over control of its foreign policy in that region, where it is now competing with one of its former transnational actors. To this effect, this research tries to address the issue of the change that affects the Turkish foreign policy strategy in SSA, following the events of 15 July 2016. It also intends to tackle issues such as the relationship between the Turkish state and its civil society in foreign policy, as well as the theoretical issue of the success of a strategy of soft power with the state as the main agent. In this regard, Turkey's relationship with two SSA countries since 15 July 2016 onwards are analyzed as a case study of the reaction of SSA countries to the Turkish foreign policy strategy in SSA after the failed coup of July 2016, namely: Turkey-Senegal relationship and Turkey-Nigeria relationship. In doing this, this study relies on IR theories such as neo-classical realism, neo-realism, and soft power. It also uses the qualitative approach, with content analysis as a data analysis strategy. NOTE Keywords : Turkish foreign policy, Soft Power, Turkish foreign policy in SSA, AKP GM political alliance, GM networks in Africa, GM schools in Africa.Item The "Ethnic Conflict" factor in democratic consolidation(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2003., 2003.) İlter, R. Ebru.; Yılmaz, Hakan.This study aims to explore the potential linkage between ethnic conflict and democratic consolidation through scrutinizing the experiences of two consolidated and two unstable democracies. Four different variables assist this endeavor. Such an analysis reveals that there are a number of conditions which facilitate democratic consolidation in spite of an ongoing conflict. It is a central argument that rather than the conflict management strategy adopted by political systems, other peculiar variables are critical in accounting for democratic consolidation. The level of violence, political party role, and popular stance in relation to the conflict surface as factors central to the determination of the extent to which democratic consolidation is possible under circumstances posed by the conflict. Unlike various accounts which stress the centrality of the conflict management strategy, this study underlines the fact that it is other supporting conditions that distinguish the performance of consolidated democracies from unstable democracies. While the identification of the combinations of conditions that enable democratic consolidation even under circumstances created by ethnic conflict is attempted, a final effort entails the analysis of the Turkish case with an emphasis on the extent to which the reigning conditions allow for democratic consolidation. Hence, the extent to which an integrated strategy of conflict management is accompanied by other supporting conditions in the case of Turkey is utilized as a benchmark in evaluating the prospects for democratic consolidation.Item The policing of social discontent and the construction of the social body: mapping the expansion and militerization of the police organization in Turkey in the post-1980 period(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Berksoy, Biriz Gonca.; Gambetti, Zeynep Ç.The police organization in Turkey has gone through a major transformation process after the 1980 coup d’état. Within this period its personnel and budget were significantly enlarged, para-militaristic units were established, police powers were extended etc. The thesis examines the expansion and militarization of the police organization in Turkey in the post-1980 period. As the thesis puts forward, this process can neither be evaluated as a “modernization” move to advance the public “services”; nor as an isolated case caused by the particular “anti-democratic” methods of the state in Turkey. The grounds of this transformation, whose equivalents had been experienced previously in the bedrocks of neo-liberalism (United States and Britain), must be sought within the legacy of social relations in the country and in the path-dependent neoliberalization process, through which this legacy have been re-constructed since the beginning of 1980s. This is accomplished in the thesis by taking into account four clusters of social relations and their re-configuration since 1945, for it is claimed that they constitute the minimum core relations that comprise the capitalist state and their modifications leave a major impact upon its institutions, especially if it is a police organization. These are the relations constituting the accumulation regime, hegemonic discursive relations, relations between state institutions affecting the iv political regime and international relations leading to international norm/policy transfers.Item Islamism and islamic literature in contemporary Turkey: From epic to novel understandings of Islam(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2004., 2004.) Çayır, Kenan.; Arat, Yeşim,This study explores Islamism and Islamic identities through literary representations of Islamism in Turkey in the last two decades, a period in which Islamism came on the public agenda through novels, films, music and other artistic productions. My focus will be in particular on the Islamic novels of the 1980s and 1990s in order to elucidate Islamist actors' perceptions of 'self' and 'other' and of the social milieu in which they lived. I will note a change in emphasis in Islamic representations and discourse between the 1980s and 1990s. I will argue that with their didactic and pedagogical narratives detailing 'how Muslims should live in the modern world,' Islamic novels of 1980s provided Islamists with a means to disseminate ideas in popularized form and to develop life strategies that paved the way for assertive collective Islamic subjectivity. By contrast, in the 1990s more self-reflexive/self-exposing novels have emerged in Islamic circles that mirror the questioning of radical conceptions of the previous decade in Islamic circles. The new Islamic novels, with their self-reflexive forms and their narratives exploring the inner conflicts of Islamic actors in the face of changing social relations challenge the collective definitions of Islamic identity and signify novel practices and interpretations of Islam.Item Militarism, capitalism and the State: putting the military in its place in Turkey(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2006., 2006.) Akça, İsmet.; Parla, Taha,This dissertation̕s overriding objectives are to theoretically come to terms with and toempirically expose the complex forms of articulation between militarism and capitalismin Turkey. Following a critical evaluation of theoretical approaches to the complex relationship among militarism, capitalism, and the state, it first lays out a nonreductionisttheory to analyze state-class relations, which is indispensable for theanalysis of the militarization of state forms. Drawing on Gramsci, Poulantzas, andJessop, I propose a Marxist theoretical framework which conceptualizes the state as a social relation, recognizes its constitutive impact on the formation of class relations, andwhich analyzes the class struggles through the concepts of hegemonic projects andaccumulation strategies. Secondly, I critically evaluate the prevailing state-centric modesof analysis of the state and the military in Turkey. Then, I focus on two phenomenal forms of articulation between militarism and capitalism. I analyze the militarization ofstate form through the case study of the May 27 Coup. I argue that the militarizationprocess was organically embedded in capitalist power relations. The militaryintervention was both constrained by and constitutive of capitalist class relations and capitalist hegemonic projects. Lastly, I analyze the militarization of the capitalisteconomy through a specific form of military-industrial complex whereby the militarybecomes an economic actor. Through the study of military capital (OYAK), I exposehow the military has historically become embedded in class power relations and accumulation strategies. I also underline the high military expenditures and war industryas a factor further accelerating the militarization of the economy.Item Turkish-US security relations 1945-2003: a game-theoretical analysis of the institutional effect(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Tuğtan, Mehmet Ali.; Eder, Mine,This study aims to test the relevance of the neo-institutionalist theory in Turkish-US security relations by using a game-theoretical model. If successful, such an undertaking would provide one with tested theoretical generalizations about the place of institutions (in our case, NATO) in Turkish-US security relations, imply policy-making alternatives to remedy the power asymmetry between the two actors, and help pinpoint problematic issues in the bilateral relationship. This study has looked at the salient issues in Turkish-US security relations from 1945 to 2003. Its key findings suggest that NATO as an institution moderates relative gains made by the parties, and this effect is independent from domestic or international structural changes. The power asymmetry between Turkey and US results in an uneven distribution of relative gains that is particularly evident in problematic issues like the Middle East, US military aid to Turkey, and the presence and activities of US forces in Turkey. The findings of this study suggest that further institutionalization would moderate the distribution of relative gains in both issues.Item Alevis, the state and the Sivas incident :|problems of democratization(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Önen, Levent.; Arat, Yeşim,The Sivas Incident is one of the most tragic and controversial events of the Republican history. It is a multidimensional event involving many critical issues that pertain to democratization of Turkey: the inadequate protection of basic civil rights, the issue of relationship between state and religion, freedom of religion and Alevi Question and the political Islamist challenge. This study aims to understand how political actors in the Parliament, judicial institutions and Alevi organizations politicized the Incident and formed competing narratives around it. I use the political contestation of the Incident between 1993 and 2015 as a novel lens to look at the problematic working of democratic institutions in Turkey and the challenge that Alevi civil society presented to it for further democratization. The methodology of this dissertation rests on the content analysis of the parliamentary records, court documents and the publications of Alevi organizations. I’ve also made use of interviews with the representatives of Alevi organizations. I benefited from a review of secondary resources including the newspaper records in my research. I show how certain violent incidents are politicized in the Turkish context because of structural vulnerabilities that have been there since the foundation of the nation state. The examination of competing narratives establishes that the dismissal of existence of sectarian motives and tensions has characterized the responses of political and judicial actors. I demonstrate the difficulty of Turkish political system to meet the demands of a marginalized community for recognition and justice.Item Germany's commitment to and impact on European integration: |continuity or change?(Thesis (Ph.D.)- Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 1998., 1998.) Kaiser, Bianca.; Avcı, Gamze.This study examines whether, and to what extent, united Germany's commitment to and impact on European integration has changed. A cO)llparative analysis over time is undertaken by contrasting West Germany's European policy with that of united Germany. Special importance is attributed to political parties and public opinion. Both influence the shaping of European policy, that occupies a position in-between foreign policy and domestic policy, because the European Union is not only an arrangement between nation-states, but affects individual citizens directly. The process of German unification, Germany's new foreign policy and Germany's impact on European integration are studied for indications of Germany's alleged new "assertiveness". Our main finding is that the commitment of German political parties to European integration has not decreased, but even increased. However, Germany's foreign policy has shifted towards "benign" realism, and its European policy has become more . pragmatic due to new challenges in the international environment. United Germany's influence in the European Union has increased, and is, at the same time, decreasing as Germany is pushing for more supranational decision-making. The "permissive consensus" of the German public is eroding due to the changed nature of the European Union that has started to confer more rights and duties on individual citizens since the Maastricht Treaty. Notwithstanding certain changes, Germany's basic consensus on European integration continues to exist. As a trading state, the country can best ensure its interests in a peaceful and cooperative environment and considers European integration as the best tool to prevent history from repeating itself.|Keyword: Germany - European Integration - German Unification - Political Parties - Public Opinion.Item The status of Palestine in the United Nations and its implications for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict(Thesis (Ph.D.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Gümüş, Abdurrahman.; Eder, Mine,The Palestinian application for UN membership in 2011 started the debates over the nature of statehood and reactivated the initiatives in different bodies of the UN. This dissertation focuses on the role of the UN in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and highlights the legal and political aspects of statehood by applying the theoretical discussions to the Palestinian case. The political process of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is based on the developments at different levels, namely the ground level, the UN level, and interactions between these levels including the negotiations so this mechanism can be defined as a complex two-level game for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whereas the unilateral actions of Israel and the power imbalance in favor of Israel create an important advantage for the Israeli actors at the ground level, the legitimizing role of the anti-Israeli resolutions for the Palestinian claims and the high amount of support for the Palestinians in the international arena provide some assets for the Palestinian actors. The ground level witnessed a struggle over sovereignty while the UN level created a struggle over international legitimacy. Five General Assembly votes and three Security Council votes in terms of the policies and voting behaviors of the prominent actors and representative cases were analyzed in this dissertation. As a result, the UN process strengthened the hands of the Palestinians and contributed to the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, it should be accomplished with the support of the external actors and favorable regional context for a comprehensive solution.Item Turkey’s Israel policy in the post-Cold War period :|the struggle of identity over realpolitik(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Nasi, Selin.; Kut, Gün.This study offers a neoclassical realist analysis of Turkey’s post-Cold War Israel policy. By looking at both foreign and domestic developments, this study analyzes the course of Turkish-Israeli relations from a historical perspective, with the aim of identifying elements of continuity and change, while it also sheds light onto the contradictory forces at play in shaping Turkey’s Israel policy, at the systemic and unit levels. As such, it argues that the institutional foundations along with common threat perceptions that facilitated a strategic partnership between Turkey and Israel in the 1990s, began to erode, in part due to changes in the structure of the international system as well as domestic political developments in the 2000s. Against a backdrop in which Ankara has perceivably shifted its strategic orientation away from the West, this study asserts that Turkey’s Israel policy has been marked by a struggle between realpolitik and identity, in which, the former encourages cooperation between the countries while the latter drives them further apart.Item Constitutional courts during political upheavals :|the case of the Turkish Constitutional Court(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2022., 2022.) Demirtaş, Abdullah Erdem.; Eder, Mine,Constitutional courts operate at the intersection of law and politics. Their task is to defend the normative superiority of the constitution by reviewing the constitutionality of laws. In doing so, they engage with other political institutions such as political parties, legislatures and executives. In times of political upheaval, the nature of the relationship between constitutional courts and other governmental organs is contested. This provides an ideal situation to observe the political dynamics of constitutional judicial review. This study aims to understand how constitutional courts fare during political upheavals by examining the Turkish Constitutional Court over an extended period of time. The Turkish Constitutional Court is a crucial case because Turkey has undergone episodic political upheavals where constitutional norms have been contested by different governmental institutions. The methodology of this study can be described as constitutional ethnography, which involves a close examination of the socio-political context that underlies legal institutions and relations. To this end, I examined politically salient court cases, interviewed judges, reviewed newspaper articles; I also used various secondary sources. My research has determined that the Turkish Constitutional Court has adopted one of three strategies during episodes of political crises: judicial activism, deference and avoidance. Furthermore, I contend that the court strategy depends on the degree of fragmentation of political power, the profiles of sitting justices, and extra-judicial alliances that the court can leverage against challengers.Item Encounters with neoliberal globalization :|South Korea and Turkey in comparative perspective(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2021., 2021.) Kim, Thergill.; Eder, Mine,Despite being on different development paths, South Korea and Turkey faced economic crises triggered by external shocks and unsustainable industrial policies in the late 1970s. The economic policies of both countries started to converge into neoliberalism around 1980, under international financial institutions and military regimes; however, neoliberal transformation varied in the two countries over time. This thesis investigates why such divergence occurred, even though both countries launched similar neoliberal programs at the same time. This thesis aims to examine economic policymaking and to compare the interaction among political leaders, economic policymakers, and business circles of the two countries in the 1980s and early 1990s. Through comparative historical analysis, it draws from the development state literature and reframes the discussion by focusing on how pre-crisis conditions were worse for Turkey than for South Korea and how South Korea’s state capacity was different from Turkey’s during its neoliberal transformation. The neoliberal reforms continued in both countries after a full-scale democratization in 1987. Nevertheless, more than a decade of neoliberalization remained incomplete by the early 1990s, and South Korea and Turkey tended to regress to pre-reform development paths, handing these heavy tasks over to the next governments. In conclusion, this thesis asserts the importance of state capacity in neoliberal reforms and finds the changeability of the developmental state and its internal political-institutional dynamics through Korea’s case. Additionally, it examines the domestic and international factors that influenced state capacity and defines the limitations in the analysis of neoliberalization based on the developmental state theory.Item The political economy of Kurdish voting behavior :|the case of Istanbul's Bağcılar district(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2020., 2020.) Kuran, İbrahim.; Kadirbeyoğlu, Zeynep.This dissertation examines Kurdish voting behavior and shifts the focus from identity politics to class-based cleavage. It analyzes the reasons behind the Kurdish political preferences between the HDP and AKP in Bağcılar and Istanbul. With its multiresearch methodology both employing statistical methods and political ethnography, this dissertation argues that class divisions and socioeconomic differentiation among the Kurdish electorate significantly influence their voting behavior. The statistical analysis shows that as the income and education levels increase, Kurdish voters are more likely to support the HDP and less likely to support the AKP. The Kurdish poor and the most disadvantageous and precarious segments of Kurdish working-class support the AKP, whereas the relatively better-off Kurdish working class and/or upwardly-mobile Kurdish segments support the HDP. The fieldwork in Bağcılar shows that the AKP and the HDP use different types of linkages and articulations in mobilizing different Kurdish classes and class segments. Departing from the fieldwork, I argue that the AKP is a clientelistic machine-party addressing both redistribution and recognition matters for the Kurdish poor, whereas HDP is a contentious movement-party addressing grievances and relative deprivation of upwardly-mobile Kurdish segments.Item The legitimacy of secularism :|a conceptual analysis(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Usturalı, Adil.; Çıdam, Volkan.The purpose of this study is to provide a conceptual analysis of secularism as a constitutional principle specifically in the context of constitutional democracies. For these purposes, the critique of the concept is reviewed and various conceptions of the concept that are widely accepted in the literature are scrutinized. As an alternative to the existing conceptions, this study proposes secularism as autonomy as a new conception of secularism which better reflects the constitutional legitimacy and purpose of the concept. Based on this conception, it is argued that secularism in constitutional democracies is a constitutional principle that is adopted directly as a consequence of the legitimacy claim of a constitutional democracy: the claim to recognize and ensure individual autonomy of its citizens. The constitutional state, therefore, by nature a secular state that is legitimated through secular procedures. After this conception is proposed, the argument is deepened by an analysis of the relationship between secularism, autonomy, and legitimacy. It is demonstrated that autonomy plays a central role in constitutional democracies both historically and conceptually and secularism as a constitutional principle is adopted in order to reflect this relationship. Finally, secularism as autonomy is analyzed in three levels of analysis it exists and/or affects: the constitutional level, the legal/political level, and the informal public sphere.Item Immanuel Kant's philosophical-anthropological approach to international relations: |freedom, equality and human rights within constitutional and international legality(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute of Social Sciences, 1996., 1996.) Sinirlioğlu, Feridun Hadi.; Parla, Taha,This dissertation attempts to challenge the axiomatic separation and isolation of the international from the domestic politics through the. medium of Kant. In this context, the "republican constitutionalism with a cosmopolitan intent" appears as the underlying concept. In a critical dialogue with Kant, this study tries to show why his position with respect to the "international relations" is directly locked into his critical philosophy as a whole. Thus, it demonstrates that Kant's approach to "international relations" provides us with a theoretical framework which considers "domestic" as well as "international" as interdependent parts of a cosmopolitan whole. The praxis-oriented, forward-looking conception of history together with a theoretical humanism lays down the foundations for a novel approach to the international relations theory, which combines morality with legality through politics.Item In search of sustainable peace :|conflict transformation in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Vila, Jubjana.; Kut, Gün.The struggle for the establishment of the sustainable peace continues in some Western Balkan countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. This comparative case study explores the role of intervention process on post-conflict structural transformation and progress toward sustainable peace in Kosovo and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The main objective is to show that the way a conflict is handled might have an important impact on post-conflict environment and progress towards the establishment of sustainable peace. This exploratory research is based on a secondary analysis of existing qualitative data. The findings of this research reveal that there is stable but not sustainable peace in Kosovo and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The main structural problems remain institutionalization of ethnicities in Bosnia-Herzegovina; a limited sovereignty in Kosovo; and lack of a state building culture for both cases. This study suggests the revision of power sharing structure in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the clarification of Kosovo’s status as first steps toward positive peace. The importance of this research rests on its criticism to the orientation in conflict resolution towards negative peace and on understanding the long-term (post-conflict) effects of interventions. Overall, it contributes to the literature of conflict studies by trying to uncover the relation between intervention and conflict transformation.Item Identifty, informal institutions and collective action in Istanbul’s Rum community in the twenty-first century(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2019., 2019.) Theodorelis-Rigas, Charalampos.; Yılmaz, Hakan.This thesis explores the contemporary Istanbul Rum community from a series of new and provocative perspectives. It focuses on Rum identity, institutions, space and collective action through the prism of recent challenges and developments. Drawing on theoretical traditions such as constructivism, communitarianism, new institutionalism and Subaltern Studies, and on an interdisciplinary methodological approach (archival research, participatory observation, in-depth interviews), it examines communal institutions as the basis of Rum political life. It offers a detailed historical analysis of Rum identity, its different trajectories in Turkey, Greece and Syria, and its profound relationship with the urban space of Istanbul, focusing –for the first time in the relevant literature– on secular, rather than linguistic or confessional aspects. Its findings suggest that due to historical pressures and legal grey areas pertaining to its corporate status, the community has developed a set of informal but robust institutions that revolve around philanthropic activity and the vakıf system. Combined with Rum education and healthcare, this peculiar type of philanthropic activity constitutes a uniquely Rum institutional architecture that may be seen as the community’s social capital par excellence and an alternative, micro-wellfare ‘state’ that defines the community, forms its elites and shapes the political behaviour of its members. Together with suggestions for further research the thesis provides a series of policy recommendations for the community’s sustainability and survival in the twenty-first century.Item The presidency of religious affairs, women, and politics in Turkey: 1968 – 2014(Thesis (Ph.D.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2018., 2018.) Genç Yıldız, Ece Han.; Arat, Yeşim,This study aims to provide an understanding of the evolving role of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA) or Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı and its implications for women. Due to democratization, over the years PRA’s primary role shifted from controlling religion to expanding the realm of religion. I hypothesized there is a relation between shifting sociopolitical context and Diyanet’s discourse on women. A qualitative analysis of the texts published by the PRA between 1968 and 2014 was conducted. The thesis examined the two periodicals Diyanet Aylık and Diyanet Aile, the book of İlmihal, the pronouncements publicized through the PRA’s official website, as well as the statements of the PRA notables. My cross-time comparative analysis found that the PRA has been dominated by a patriarchal discourse that reproduced gender stereotypes, hierarchy between sexes, and gendered division of labor. However, after the 1990s the PRA shifted toward a more gender - sensitive and egalitarian discourse. Dedicated efforts of the feminist movement, as well as the pursuit of EU membership were influential in transforming the state’s agenda, which in turn moderated Diyanet’s interpretation of religious norms concerning gender relations. Yet, within the last decade the PRA has been radically politicized and tilted toward a new and contradictory type of patriarchy. A critical and gender - focused study of the PRA not only makes a unique contribution to the literature on the relations between state, society and religion; but also deconstructs official religious discourse, which eventually affects the prospects of advancing gender equality in Turkey.