Society, Politics, and Economy in Modern Turkey: Sociology of Turkey - Maintained by Tugrul Keskin
We are at a point in our work when we can no longer ignore empires and the imperial context in our studies. (p. 5)
― Edward W. Said, Culture and Imperialism

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A New Book: 200 Years of Turkish Economic History - Sevket Pamuk (Turkish)

Türkiye'nin 200 Yıllık İktisadi Tarihi
Şevket Pamuk

İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları / İnceleme - Araştırma Dizisi
2014

Türkiye'nin 200 Yıllık İktisadi Tarihi hem kapsadığı dönem hem de içerik ve vurguları ile, iktisadi tarihimize farklı bir yaklaşımı hedefliyor. Osmanlı-Türkiye iktisat tarihçiliğinin önde gelen isimlerinden Prof. Dr. Şevket Pamuk'un bu son çalışmasının önemli bir özelliği son 200 yılı birlikte ele alması. Türkiye iktisadi tarihçiliğinde 19. yüzyıl ile 20. yüzyıl sık sık birbirlerinden kalın duvarlarla ayrıldı. Oysa Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet'e geçiş sürecinde önemli siyasal değişiklikler gerçekleşirken, iktisadi açıdan önemli süreklilikler de yaşanmıştı. Bu sürekliliklerin bir bölümü Osmanlı geçmişinden, bir bölümü de Sanayi Devrimi sonrasında dünya ölçeğinde ortaya çıkan gelişmelerden kaynaklanıyordu. Bu nedenle Pamuk, son 200 yılı bir bütün olarak ele alıyor ve bugünkü Türkiye ekonomisinin kimi özelliklerinin kökenlerini 19. yüzyıldaki dönüşümlerde arıyor.

Kitap ayrıca ekonomilerin uzun dönemli gelişmesini değerlendirirken temel ölçütler olarak, bir yandan kişi başına gelir artışlarını ya da iktisadi büyümeyi, öte yandan da sağlık ve eğitim boyutlarıyla insani gelişmeyi ve bölüşümü öne çıkarıyor. Yazar, önce ayrıntılı veriler kullanarak son 200 yılda Türkiye'de iktisadi büyümenin dünya ortalamalarına yakın ama onların biraz üzerinde, buna karşılık insani gelişmenin dünya ortalamalarının altında kaldığını ortaya koyuyor. Daha sonra da Türkiye'de uzun vadeli iktisadi gelişmenin niçin dünya ortalamalarının üzerine çıkamadığını sorguluyor. Bu soruların sadece iktisatla sınırlı bir çerçevede yanıtlanamayacağının altını çizen Pamuk, daha doyurucu yanıtlar için toplumsal ve siyasi yapıların da dikkate alınması gerektiğine işaret ediyor ve iktisadi gelişmenin nihai nedenleri olarak kabul edilen kurumların Türkiye'deki özelliklerini ve işleyişlerini inceliyor.

INTERVIEW WITH SEVKET PAMUK
HURRIYET - DECEMBER 1, 2014

READ MORE.....

Saturday, November 29, 2014

"Üsküdar" - Aziz İstanbul

ÜSKÜDAR’DAKİ KONAK

Semt, Üsküdar’ın yukarısı, Salacağın arkası,
Doğancıların üstü, Paşakapısı...
Arnavut kaldırımı, fakat tertemiz bir sokak;
Çember peşinde koşuşan, topaç çeviren çocuklar,
Birkaç kedi ve köpek,
Merkepli ’saka’sı, çıngıraklı ’yoğurtcu’su,
’Köşe bakkalı’ ve kubbesiz ’Cami’si
Ve başörtülü, aydınlık yüzlü hanımlarıyla
Tipik bir ’Müslüman Mahallesi’...
Akşam ezanının hüznüyle birlikte
Şirin bahçeler içindeki ahşap evleri
Ne kadar şiirsel aydınlatırdı
Titrek alevleriyle ’Havagazı Fenerleri’...
Gece, ’cumba’ların kafeslerinden
Soluk ışıklarla birlikte, hafiften sesler sızardı derinden
İhtiyar Üsküdar’ın yorgun evlerinden;
Ya ’Münir Nurettin’den bir gazel, ya bir genç kız kahkahası,
Ya da, evin yaşlı dede’sinden, henüz bitmiş bir ’hatm’in duası...
İşte, böyle bulunmaz bir ’güzellikler demeti’ydi o konaklar
Ve ömrümce içimde bir hicran olarak kalacak...
Şimdi, onun yerinde kare pencereli, beton bir bina duruyor
Konağın mezar taşı gibi;
Görkemli bir geçmişin gözyaşı gibi..
Ünal Beşkese (1992)

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014

Conference: “Hizmet: Toward an Understanding of the Gülen Movement” December 13, 2014 Indiana University


Indiana University, Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Chair Presents a Conference on

“Hizmet: Toward an Understanding of the Gülen Movement”

Free and Open to the Public

Saturday, December 13, 2014
Indiana University, Bloomington
Conference: IMU, State Room East
Film Screening: TV251

9:00 a.m.— 9:15 a.m.     Opening Remarks by Kemal Silay

9:15 a.m.—10:00 a.m.     “Hizmet as a Contemporary Muslim Spiritual Renewal and Social Reform Movement” by Scott Alexander

10:00 a.m.—10:45 a.m.    “The Challenge of Over-Politicization and Strategies of De-Politicization for Hizmet: An Insider’s View” by Kerim Balcı

10:45 a.m.—11:15 a.m.    Break

11:15 a.m.—12:00 p.m.     “Peace-building as Spiritual Practice: ‘Deep Peace’ in the Life of Fethullah Gülen” by Jon Paul

12:00 p.m.—12:45 p.m.  Hizmet: Healing through Value-Based Technocratic Service in a Polarized World” by Ahmed Rehab

12:45 p.m.—1:45 p.m.    Break

1:45 p.m.—2:30 p.m.      “How Hizmet Contributes to the Local and Global Peace” by Ori Soltes

2:30 p.m.—3:15 p.m.      “Current and Future Challenges of Hizmet” by Alp Aslandoğan

3:15 p.m.—3:45 p.m.      Break

3:45 p.m.—4:45 p.m.     Round Table: “Current Hizmet-Related Issues in Turkey”                                         Discussant: Scott Alexander

4:45 p.m.—5:00 p.m.     Closing Remarks

7:30 p.m.—9:30 p.m.     Film Screening: Love is a Verb

Hotel Information:

Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) Biddle Hotel and Conference Center
900 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405
1-800-209-8145

If you would like to stay in this hotel, please call the number above for reservations.

Checking in 12/12/14
Checking out 12/14/14
Standard Room with 1 bed at $112.50 per night plus tax
Standard Room with 2 beds at $161.10 per night plus tax
You need to make your reservations no later than Sunday, November 30.
Block Code: GHULAM

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Book Review: ‘Migration and Turkey: Changing Human Geography

‘Migration and Turkey: Changing Human Geography,’ By Deniz Şenol Sert and Deniz Karcı Korfalı (eds.) and ‘Migration To And From Turkey: Changing Patterns And Shifting Policies,’ 
By Ayşem Biriz Karaçay and Ayşen Üstübici 

Turkish Review - 01 September 2014

SEDEF ERDOĞAN GIOVANELLI, ÖZYEĞIN UNIVERSITY, İSTANBUL

Literature on migration continues to grow in relevance as global social, political and economic developments keep the topic high on the international agenda. The volumes “Migration and Turkey: Changing Human Geography” and “Migration To And From Turkey: Changing Patterns And Shifting Policies” look at migration with a particular focus on internal and international migration to Turkey. These edited, multi-author volumes offer significant potential for integration of the study of internal and international migration as a cohesive and combined system, rather than studied in isolation. While the editors of the first book expresses the aim of the volume as being “to examine the diverse aspects of human mobility of Turkey and beyond with the aim of locating various types of migration within a single framework of migration,” the second book deals more with the politics of migration in and beyond Turkey.
The first book, “Migration and Turkey: Changing Human Geography,” is introduced under the two subheadings of internal and international migration, and compiles seven research reports by scholars from various disciplines. In the first chapter of the book’s first section, “Rural-to-Urban Migration in Turkey during the Past Thirty-Five Years: 1965-2000,” Ayşe Gedik reviews shifts in Turkey’s human geography, as the population migrates from villages to cities, noting urban population growth and urbanization. Detailed and descriptive analyses, supported by spatial statistics and mapping, are utilized to describe the past 35 years of internal migration in Turkey. In other chapters, Utku Balaban’s research focuses on migrants’ contemporary industrial relations as a result of internal migration, while Ayşe Seda Yüksel looks at how different trajectories of cities under neo-liberal policies account for the variation in the modes of incorporation of migrant settlement. As seen with other authors of the book, Yüksel also tries to raise the possibility of whether the same analyses could apply to Turkish migrant entrepreneurs working abroad.

READ MORE..... 

No laughing matter: Women and the new populism in Turkey

Deniz Kandiyoti

Open Democracy - 1 September 2014

Stirring up moral anxieties over women's conduct and propriety is key to a populist discourse that pits a virtuous “us”- the people- against an immoral “them”. But despite its potential for authoritarian control of gender relations, this new populism holds many attractions for women.
When Turkey's deputy PM,  Bülent Arinc, declared during a public address marking the Bayram festivities at the end of Ramadan  that women should refrain from laughing in public and must remain chaste (iffetli) at all times he created a furore in both the local and international media. Some women protested by posting  pictures of themselves laughing out loud, using a combination of ridicule and non-compliance as a form of resistance. The deputy PM proceeded to compound matters when he added , in reaction to the media storm he stirred up, that those he deplored were “women who go on holiday without their husbands” and  those “who cannot resist climbing a pole when they see one”. This oblique reference to pole dancing, a decidedly marginal phenomenon in Turkey, must have proved irresistible in terms of its potential for sexual innuendo and the opportunity to project immorality and dissolute living onto certain sections of the citizenry.

READ MORE.....

A New Turkish Movie: Unutursam Fısılda (If I forget, Whisper) 2014 - Trailer


Monday, November 17, 2014

Understanding the Turkish press

Adam McConnel

Serbestiyet - 27 Ekim 2014
What is a newspaper reporter? In the first place he is the representative of the periodical press; and as a representative of the press (the sixth continent of the world) he receives five kopecks per line, or seven, or ten, sometimes fifteen or twenty, as he conveys in his lines everything that has happened and much that has not. If you were to put together the newspaper lines of any representative of the press, then the single line compiled from all the lines would encircle the entire globe with what has happened and what has happened and what has not. Such are the venerable qualities of the majority of contributors to extreme right-wing, right-wing, centre, moderate liberal, and finally revolutionary newspapers, together with the calculation of their quantity and quality…”
Petersburg, Ch. 2, “The Chronicle of Events,” Andrei Bely

Hand-wringing over the dire oppression that the Turkish press is subject to has been a constant feature of international press coverage of Turkey for seven or eight years now. After the recent kerfuffles that some international publications have gotten caught up in over their Turkish coverage, one might have experienced heightened curiosity about exactly what the Turkish Fourth Estate’s condition is. Unfortunately for those of you experiencing angst over Turkish journalism’s plight, the reality is that an objective, professional, and trustable Turkish press does not exist. That’s right; the idea of an objective Turkish press is a myth, a fantasy, and in the realm of unicorns and leprechauns.
Sorry to disappoint you though:  the absence of an objective Turkish press has little to do with any “oppression” coming from the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government. True enough, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has apparently put pressure on some newspapers or journalists, and gotten some people fired, which was obviously not the right thing to do. But how does that justify claims of “creeping dictatorship”?
In fact, the Turkish press is not under threat from the government, and is not censored. Just the opposite: the Turkish press is a daily anarchic knock-down, drag-out free-for-all. Literally. There are dozens of Turkish dailies, both national and local, and more than 200 TV channels. There are no apparent ethical or professional standards. Stories are created to suit the political tastes of the backers for any particular press outlet. If no sufficient rumors or stories exist, they are created, and in order to damage whoever the perceived enemies are. Nearly everyone owes allegiance (and their jobs) to someone. The journalistic unions are a joke, compromised by either ties to the state/military or to rigid leftist ideology. One prominent Turkish journalists’ group, the Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfı (the Journalists’ and Writers’ Foundation, sponsors of the Abant Platform) is directly linked to Fethullah Gülen. For decades, the “secular” newspapers have featured scantily clad women on their back page. And every newspaper, TV channel, and (almost all – there are a few exceptions) media figure can be neatly identified as either pro- or anti-AKP.

READ MORE....

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Call for papers: Turkey and Turkish Studies Conference Athens Greece

The Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), a world association of academics and researchers, organizes its  2nd International Conference on Turkey and Turkish Studies, 29-30 June & 1-2 July 2015, Athens, Greece. Please submit a 300-word abstract before 1 December 2014, by email (atiner (at) atiner.com), addressed to Dr. Mert Uydaci, Director, Human Development Research Division, ATINER & Professor, Marmara University, Turkey.  Please include: Title of Paper, Full Name (s), Current Position, Institutional Affiliation, an email address and at least 3 keywords that best describe the subject of your submission. Decisions will be reached within four weeks of your submission.

Should you wish to participate in the Conference without presenting a paper, for example, to chair a session, to evaluate papers which are to be included in the conference proceedings or books, to contribute to the editing of a book, or any other contribution, please send an email to Dr. Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER & Honorary Professor, University of Stirling, UK (gregory.papanikos (at) stir.ac.uk).

Two views on…Education: With Neşe Özgen and M. Alper Dinçer

Turkish Review - 01 September 2014, Monday 
YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, STAFF WRITER

Sociologist Neşe Özgen, a member of the International Work Group’s (GIT), the  International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies (IHRNASS), and Sociologists Without Borders (SSF), and Dr. M. Alper Dinçer, research coordinator at the Education Reform Initiative (ERG) in İstanbul, speak to Yonca Poyraz Doğan about the different problems faced in Turkey’s education system, from academic freedom to the quality of education itself   

Turkish Review: In June, the ruling party submitted a draft bill to Parliament regarding reforms to the Higher Education Board (YÖK). The draft bill has been highly criticized by academics. What are the main points of contention? And when YÖK reform was on the agenda a few years ago, there was talk about dissolving the board. Now, the reforms seek to strengthen it. How would you explain this contradiction? 

Neşe Özgen: Each government that promised to remove YÖK -- as one of the constitutional institutions of the Sept. 12 [1980] coup d’état -- did the opposite and strengthened that institution. This situation would be better explained if we realize that this is due to the new middle class’s fears of academia and science, rather than the government’s wish to control education and academia. This new middle class, which has had a long adventure that started with the [Islamic scholar Fethullah] Gülen community’s efforts to bring Anatolian capital and business capital together around the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), doesn’t really owe its rise to the power of science and academia. On the contrary, this new, emerging conservative middle class does not want universities, which will always be critical of it or the new face of the government. The government, meanwhile, wants to shape universities and academia in its desired direction though orders and commands. Here is the issue: YÖK has been useful for every government since the military coup d’état. It [YÖK] has ended up under the control of the government every time. Now, both the Gülen movement and the AK Party would like to seize this lever, because they think that education and academia are still important tools in shaping the next generation. 

TR: Do you expect the new YÖK Law to damage academic freedom? 

NÖ: The law’s biggest problem is that the administration of the universities will be based on free market principles. On the one hand, the YÖK system reinforces itself, and on the other, it legitimizes the university as a commercial institution. For example, entities like corporations, foundations, etc. will be able to establish institutions within universities, but it will be essential that they generate money and provide the universities with income. If you ask me why this is bad, my explanation is this: Universities are public institutions; they don’t belong to the state. Their institutional capacities are improved and supported by public funds. In other words: Education and science are public services; they cannot be evaluated based on their earning capacity, let alone based on their profitability.

READ MORE.....

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Imperialism

Anti-Imperialistic Ideas in Mustafa Kemal's Writing and Their Importance for Asia 
Turkkaya Ataov
Siyasal Bilgiler Fakultesi 
Ankara Universitesi 
Turkish Yearbook, Vol. 15
The Russian version of this talk was read by Turkkaya Atatov at the UNESCO international conference at Ashkabad, Turkmenistan, S.S.R. in September 1972. 

Ataturk and Imperialism (in Turkish)
T.C. Basbakanlik
Ataturk Kultur, Dil ve Tarih Yuksek Kurumu
Ataturk Arastirma Merkezi
Sayi: 57

Turkish Historical Review - Issue 2 - Volume 5, Issue 2, 2014

Monday, November 10, 2014

Duke/UNC Position in Turkish


The Slavic & Eurasian Studies Department at Duke University (Durham, NC) and the Asian Studies Department at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) invite applications for a three-year renewable lecturer position (non-tenure track) in Turkish Language and Culture to begin in July 2015. The teaching load is 3/3 and primary duties include teaching first-year Turkish at both campuses as well as a second-year course that is shared between campuses (connected by a shuttle bus). Additionally, the candidate will assist in program building that includes community outreach and campus organization of Turkish activities. The requirements are a Ph.D. (those who are A.B.D. will be considered) related to the field of Turkish Studies. The ideal candidate will have native or near-native proficiency in Turkish and facility with approaches to teaching language in context. With approval, the candidate will also have the opportunity to teach content courses in his/her field of specialization and to participate in the summer Duke in Turkey study abroad program at Boaziçi University. Pending funding, the possibility exists for renewal and/or regularization of the position.
The applications should include a cover letter, CV, article-length writing sample, three letters of recommendation, and a teaching portfolio that includes sample syllabi, a statement of teaching philosophy/language pedagogy and representative student evaluations. Facility with and interest in developing online and distance learning materials is desired. Submit complete file and recommendations electronically to: duke-turkish (at) duke.edu. Completed applications received by January 5, 2015 will be guaranteed consideration.
Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

An Opportunity for Students of Turkish

The Arizona State University Critical Languages Institute is accepting applications for its 2015 summer language programs in the U.S. and abroad. CLI offers intensive courses in Russian and in East European, Mediterranean, and Central Asian languages, either in the U.S., overseas, or in integrated "combination" courses that include both U.S. and overseas components.

Students selected for CLI pay a flat fee of $960 for up to 13 semester credits, plus study-abroad fees if they opt to join an overseas program.

Scholarships are available for undergraduate students, graduate students, and non-students. ROTC Project GO funding is available for selected languages.

Funding and priority admission deadline is January 30, 2015.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY CRITICAL LANGUAGES INSTITUTE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMBINATION COURSES: STUDY AT ASU, THEN ABROAD: 

2 months intensive study at ASU with optional 1 month study in country, for 8-13 academic credits.

-   Albanian (ASU + Tirana)
-   Armenian (ASU + Yerevan)
-   Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (ASU + Sarajevo)
-   Modern Hebrew (ASU only)
-   Macedonian (ASU only)
-   Persian (ASU + Samarqand)
-   Polish (ASU + Poznan)
-   Russian (ASU + Kazan, Bishkek, or St. Petersburg)
-   Turkish (ASU + Izmir)
-   Uzbek (ASU + Samarqand)

Sessions at ASU include daily co-curricular programming, grant mentoring and career planning opportunities.

Sessions abroad feature academically challenging study, extensive co-curricular programming, integrated into academic coursework and conducted in 1-on-1 or small-group format by local language coaches.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERSEAS PROGRAMS: SPEND THE SUMMER ABROAD

2-month intensive programs providing 8-10 academic credits
-  Armenian (Yerevan) 3rd-year and up
-  Russian (Kazan, Bishkek) 2nd-4th-year
-  Russian (St. Petersburg) 5th-6th-year
-  Tatar (Kazan) 1st-2nd-year

Programs feature homestays, extensive co-curricular programming, integrated into academic coursework and conducted in 1-on-1 or small-group format by local language coaches, and internships at the 5th-year level and up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPLICATION DEADLINE: JANUARY 30, 2015
APPLICATION AND FULL DETAILS:  (http://cli.asu.edu)

Emily Hopkins
Arizona State University
Critical Languages Institute
http://cli.asu.edu
(480) 965-4188

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Biography of Ataturk (english)


A New Book: Gaining Freedoms Claiming Space in Istanbul and Berlin

Gaining Freedoms Claiming Space in Istanbul and Berlin

Berna Turam

Stanford University PressMarch 2015

Gaining Freedoms reveals a new locus for global political change: everyday urban contestation. Cities are often assumed hotbeds of socio-economic division, but this assessment overlooks the importance of urban space and the everyday activities of urban life for empowerment, emancipation, and democratization. Through proximity, neighborhoods, streets, and squares can create unconventional power contestations over lifestyle and consumption. And through struggle, negotiation, and cooperation, competing claims across groups can become platforms to defend freedom and rights from government encroachments.
Drawing on more than seven years of fieldwork in three contested urban sites—a downtown neighborhood and a university campus in Istanbul, and a Turkish neighborhood in Berlin—Berna Turam shows how democratic contestation echoes through urban space. Countering common assumptions that Turkey is strongly polarized between Islamists and secularists, she illustrates how contested urban space encourages creative politics, the kind of politics that advance rights, expression, and representation shared between pious and secular groups. Exceptional moments of protest, like the recent Gezi protests which bookend this study, offer clear external signs of upheaval and disruption, but it is the everyday contestation and interaction that forge alliances and inspire change. Ultimately, Turam argues that the process of democratization is not the reduction of conflict, but rather the capacity to form new alliances out of conflict.