Islamic Social and Political Movements in Turkey

Abstract

In recent decades, political Islam has increasingly become a focus of political science. Numerous branches of scholarship that analyze its dynamics within seemingly divergent theoretical frameworks have emerged. Some scholars have concentrated on international security threats stemming from political Islam (what can be called the outcomes of this phenomenon), whereas others have focused on the causes of religious resurgence in an attempt to identify what has led to political Islam’s revival. This review essay will evaluate the second branch of scholarship, which, I believe, explores the core of the overarching issue and helps identify the causes, the “how” and “why” of the matter, rather then providing a descriptive analysis of “what” is happening. How and why Islamic social/political movements (ISPMs) have emerged, as well as what sociopolitical circumstances determine where they are headed, is essential to studying political Islam effectively. To this end, I will narrowly focus on the literature of ISPMs in Turkey,1 whose “secular” identity makes it an intriguing and unique case in comparison to other predominantly Muslim countries, presumably with the exception of Tunisia. Thus, the emergence of strong Islamic movements in Turkey, how the interplay between the state and these groups have unfolded, and the future prospects have broader implications for social movements, civil society, and democratization in numerous countries. Moreover, the academic work on Islamic movements is highly dynamic, since current social and political events continuously shape these movements, which affect the country’s sociopolitical context ...