The Political Incorporation of Anti-System Religious Parties: the Case of Turkish Political Islam (1994–2011)

When and how do anti-system religious parties become incorporated into the political system of their countries? In recent decades, social scientists have sought answers to this question within the framework of the moderation literature. While moderation theory identifies key factors that influence party leaders’ willingness to seek political incorporation, it is less successful in explaining the contingent outcome of the incorporation process. This article develops an alternative analytical framework for the study of political incorporation grounded in social performance theory. Through a case study of Islamic parties in Turkey between 1994 and 2011, the author demonstrates that political incorporation is as much a function of successful cultural performances on the public stage as the right alignment of institutional incentives and sanctions. As a result of the Justice and Development Party leaders’ successful projection of a mainstream political identity between 2002 and 2011, secularist state elites in Turkey failed to establish legitimate grounds for a political intervention, which in turn provided the party with the time and opportunity to remove the institutional barriers to its incorporation.     

Transnational Turkish–German community in limbo. Consequences of political tensions between migrant receiving and sending countries

A profound political tension between Turkey and Germany has gained an overall dimension on the political agenda of the intra-European migration discussion since 2016. As close trade partners, Turkey and Germany became gradually political adversaries on different issues. 2016 and the following years marked a turnover in the already worsened mutual relations. A series of political issues such as recognising the Armenian genocide in 1915, open allegations and critical views against the Turkish President and prohibition of election campaigns for Turkish government politicians in Germany had driven political relations between the two countries to nadir. This obscure situation led the Turks of Germany (The phrases “Turks of Germany” or “Turkish migrants” are persons with migration background from Turkey who still bear Turkish citizenship or formerly were Turkish citizens. This group's ethnic or confessional identity is not recognised; their legal status and country of origin are preponderant.), who have close ties to their ancestors’ homeland and consider Germany as the centre of their lives, nolens volens into a limbo situation. Within the “guest-worker program” framework in the second part of the 20th century, highly industrialised countries of Western Europe recruited migrant workers from different countries. This workforce should perform mostly blue-collar labour in the receiving countries. After six decades of Turkish presence in Germany, the grandsons and granddaughters of the former guest workers are well-represented in almost every sector of the society. However, their loyalty and integrability to the receiving country are challenged by German politics, especially by the governments of conservative chancellor Angela Merkel (2005–2021). If Turks of Germany feel closely connected to Turkey and Turkish culture (Workers from Turkey brought with them to the country of immigration their own “cultural assets”. Those are, language, religious and customary beliefs, social habits, dress, music, literature, social codes and manners, shared history, food, etc. However, migrants in the receiving country undergo a process of hybridity under the influence of the new cultural environment. (Please see: Bhabha [The location of culture, New York, NY: Routledge, 1994]) Culture within the framework of post-colonialism has also been discussed in Edward W. Said's book “Culture and Imperialism” (Said [Kültür ve Emperyalizm. Kapsamlı Bir Düşünsel ve Siyasal Sorgulama Çalışması. Hil Yayın: İstanbul, 1998]). If Turks of Germany feel closely connected to Turkey and Turkish culture, they are not recognised as integrable members of the society. Identity-based and culture-oriented policies inexorably influence the willingness of migrants to feel like equal members in the host society, and it applies even to the new generations with migration backgrounds. The question of migrant integration is the most emotionally debated issue in Germany and seems to be the greatest challenge in the political agenda. Beyond the bilateral Turkish–German issues, the growing xenophobic sentiments, islamophobia and Europe-wide political populism may cause a persistent bilateral tension in the medium term between the countries and among the transnational and native communities. Anti-Turkish rhetoric in the media alienates the Turkish community and has a value to jeopardise integration efforts more and more.     

The selfie and the transformation of the public–private distinction

The selfie is a contemporary form of self-portraiture, representing a photographic image of the human face. The selfie is created for the purpose of reproduction and to communicate images visually with others from a distance. The proliferation of web 2.0 technologies and mobile smart phones enables users to generate and disseminate images at an unprecedented scale. Coupled with the increasing popularity of social media platforms, these technologies allow the selfie to be distributed to a wide audience in close to real time. Drawing upon Erving Goffman’s approach to the study of face-to-face social interaction, this article presents a discussion of the production and consumption of the selfie. We draw upon Goffman’s dramaturgical approach, to explore how the ‘presentation of self’ occurs in the context of a selfie. Next, we consider how the selfie as a form of visual communication holds critical implications for mediated life online as individuals go about doing privacy. We conclude by reflecting on the role of the selfie and its impact on the boundaries between public and private domains in contemporary social life.     

The rise (and fall?) of a state land bank

Land markets in most poor cities do not work very effectively and contribute to making social housing unaffordable. One once popular response was to set up a public land bank. In truth, few such banks were terribly successful and, with the onset of neo-liberalism, the approach fell out of fashion. However, one government recently established a state land bank in an attempt to slow the growth of illegal settlement and to improve housing conditions for the poor. Bogotá's efforts have had some measure of success although the agency could never achieve the ambitious goals set for it. The paper describes the different approaches of the agency over the last decade, the problems that it has faced and what it has managed to achieve. Today, the agency no longer buys land and prefers to work in association with private landowners; in effect, Bogotá no longer has a state land bank. However, what it does have is an interesting set of tools with which to confront land speculation and to discourage owners from holding on to serviced land. Whether this set of tools will be able to confront the perennial problem of providing land for affordable social housing remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Bogotá provides many lessons for governments in poorer cities about how and why they should take measures to improve the working of the land market.     

Covert social movement networks and the secrecy-efficiency trade off: The case of the UK suffragettes (1906–1914)

This paper formulates and empirically tests a number of hypotheses regarding the impact of covertness upon network structure. Specifically, hypotheses are deduced from theoretical arguments regarding a ‘secrecy-efficiency trade off’ which is said to shape covert networks. The paper draws upon data concerning the UK suffragettes. It is taken from a publicly archived UK Home Office document listing 1992 court appearances (for suffrage related activities), involving 1214 individuals and 394 court sessions, between 1906 and 1914. Network structure at earlier phases of suffragette activism, when the movement was less covert, is compared with that during the final phase, when it was more covert and meets the definitional criteria of what we call a ‘covert social movement network’ (CSMN). Support for the various hypotheses tested is variable but the key claims derived from the idea of the secrecy-efficiency trade off are supported. Specifically, the suffragettes’ network becomes less dense and less degree centralised as it becomes more covert.     

The Statistical and Methodological Acuity of Scholarship Appearing in the International Journal of Listening (1987–2011)

This article investigates the quality of social scientific listening research that reports numerical data to substantiate claims appearing in the International Journal of Listening between 1987 and 2011. Of the 225 published articles, 100 included one or more studies reporting numerical data. We frame our results in terms of eight recommendations to improve future listening scholarship. In particular, the results suggest needed variation in demographics and added attention to psychometric properties of scores. Standards for reporting and inspecting data should also be followed with more regularity, and tests of statistical assumptions along with information about missing data are urged. Effect sizes are rarely included in results, and no studies reported confidence intervals, suggesting overreliance on null hypothesis statistical testing when drawing implications for practice. Lastly, there were some noteworthy misappropriations of statistical techniques that are discussed.     

A transnational practice between fractured homes: Second-generation Turkish–German migrants’ experiences of visiting and being visited

The paper explores the multiple ways in which visits affect the understanding of home for the Turkish–German second generation who have relocated to Turkey. Based on thematic–narrative analysis of 116 life-story interviews with second-generation ‘returnees’ in five regions of Turkey, three types of visits are identified: (i) family visits to Turkey whilst growing up in Germany; (ii) visits to Germany after the second generation has ‘returned’ to Turkey; (iii) visits to Turkey by the second generation's Germany-residing relatives and friends. Each type has different meanings for the visitors and the visited, creating fluid reflections on the meaning of home, which, especially for the second-generation ‘returnees’, tends to become fractured. Constantly comparing their two home(-land)s since childhood, they often simultaneously feel both ‘here’ and ‘there’ as a result of changing attachments and a mix of positive and negative experiences in both locales with their families, friends and the dominant others.     

From myth to counter‐myth: The romanticization of the Eastern Jew (1880–1914)

The East European Jews (Ostjuden) played an integral role in German Jewish self‐definition. As ‘ghetto Jews’ they were living embodiments of the general pre‐modern Jewish condition and perfect foils for the creation of Jewish myths and counter‐myths, stereotypical negations and affirmations. This paper attempts to delineate the outlines of these myths and counter‐myths and to analyse the major symbolic functions which the Eastern Jews performed in the ideological world of liberal, Zionist and ‘post‐Zionist’ German Jews.     

The perfect storm? How to explain the rise of intergovernmental conflicts in Spain? (1984–2014)

As in other federal-like countries, intergovernmental relations in Spain are characterised by a series of conflicts between central and regional governments. But, which factors explain this dynamic of contention? This investigation operationalises intergovernmental conflicts through a specific dataset constituted by the volume of contestations between regional and central executives (and vice versa) in Spain before the Constitutional Court. This research demonstrates that from 1984 to 2014 the periods of absolute majority at the Congress and the victory of peripheral nationalist parties at the head of autonomous communities increased the level of intergovernmental contestations.     

‘The Sunshine of Manly Sports and Pastimes’: Sport and the Integration of Jewish Refugees in Britain, 1895–1914

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Jewish refugees arriving in Great Britain were exposed to an ‘anglicisation’ campaign designed to aid their integration into British society and their assimilation of British character traits and cultural values. Within this campaign, especially the element focusing on the children of the migrants, interest and participation in sport was consciously ‘transferred’ through the medium of youth and sporting organisations in order to help in their ‘anglicisation’. This essaywill show how physical recreation was promoted by the English Jewish establishment and how participation in sport amongst young Jews grew.     

The “Turkish Model” of Sociology: East–West Science, State Formation, and the Post-Secular

The field of sociology in Turkey has a history that is perhaps unique to Europe (and the “West”) in its co-founding with a modern nation-state, and yet its story is more central to the discipline’s general development than that of a marginal “outlier.” Positioned at an East–west crossroads, Turkey, and its sociological tradition, have been in an ongoing conversation between the two cultural poles. Drawing on Edward Said’s Orientalism, this article traces the discipline’s history through the lens of an East–west gaze. Touching on the lived public social questions that this story invokes, regarding ethnic relations, gender, migration, democracy-building, religion, and international relations, this article surveys the growth and present state of the discipline, including methodological trends and current issues.     

The pedagogical political participation model (the 3P-M) for exploring,explaining and affecting young people’s political participation

In young people’s political participation in public decision-making, research and youth policy may benefit from a participation model that is pedagogical and sensitive to context. Due to the limitations of established participation models, the pedagogical political participation model (referred to here as the 3P-M) is suggested. The 3P-M is a theoretical and methodologically embedded model that builds on three observations: (1) that young people (as a category) are always presented as dependent on and subordinate to adults (decision-makers) in public decision-making, (2) that participation cannot be quantitatively measured without being normative and insensitive to context and (3) that different types of pedagogical leadership determine what kind of political participation is possible. The 3P-M offers an analytical framework for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to identify, explain and affect public pedagogical settings and situations in which young people politically participate.     

The religious field and the path-dependent transformation of popular politics in the Anglo-American world, 1770–1840

This article examines the formative influence of the organizational field of religion on emerging modern forms of popular political mobilization in Britain and the United States in the early nineteenth century when a transition towards enduring campaigns of extended geographical scale occurred. The temporal ordering of mobilization activities reveals the strong presence of religious constituencies and religious organizational models in the mobilizatory sequences that first instituted a mass-produced popular politics. Two related yet analytically distinct generative effects of the religious field can be discerned. First, in both cases the transition toward modern forms of popular mobilization was driven by the religious institutionalization of organizational forms of centralized voluntarism that facilitated extensive collective action. Second, the adoption of different varieties of the same organizational forms led to important divergences. The spread in the United States of societies for moral reformation—in contrast to their non-survival in Britain—steered popular politics there towards a more moralistic framing of public issues. These findings indicate the importance of the organizational field of religion for the configuration of modern forms of popular collective action and confirm the analytical importance of religion’s organizational aspects for the study of collective action.     

The New Toll on Higher Education and the UK Student Revolts of 2010–2011

This profile gives an overview of the student protests and university occupations of the winter of 2010–2011 against the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government's higher education bill. In particular, the lifting of the cap on annual higher education tuition fees to £9000 pa was widely perceived by students (and lecturers) as unjust, unfair and a very real barrier to higher education. In order to understand the political dynamics of these student mobilisations, I argue both that we need to consider the network structure that exists on university campuses and how it facilitates political mobilisations, and to see the protests as a moral economy directed against a new toll on higher education.     

‘The Girl About Town’: discussions of modernity and female youth in Drum magazine, 1951–1970

This article examines the trope of the ‘modern miss’ in Drum magazine 1951–1970 as a locus for debate over South African urban modernity. At the centre of Drum’s African urbanity was a debate between a progressive, positively ‘modern’ existence and an attendant fear of moral and social ‘breakdown’ in the apartheid city. The trope of the ‘modern miss’ drew upon both discourses. Drum’s fascination with the ‘modern miss’ reached a peak in the years 1957–1963, during which time she appeared prominently in the magazine as a symbolic pioneer of changing gender and generational relationships. However, this portrayal continued to coexist alongside the image of young women as the victims of moral degeneration. The ‘modern miss’ was increasingly differentiated from adult women within Drum’s pages, which distanced her from the new space won by political activists. By examining constructions of young womanhood, this article points to the gendering of ‘youth’ at the intersection of commercial print culture and shifting social relations in mid‐twentieth‐century South Africa. It is also suggested that understanding the social configurations of Drum’s modernity illuminates the gendered and generational responses of formal political movements as they conducted their own concurrent debates.     

Turkish dilemma after Operation Desert Storm (1990–1991): an analysis of “negative consequences”

This article analyzes the internal criticism of the political and economic consequences of Turkish support for the UN international coalition against Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990. Was this criticism warranted and justifiable or not? To answer the research question, certain issues like the Kurdish problem, relations with other countries in the region, and economic issues will be examined in light of Operation Provide Comfort I and II regimes and the criticism they caused within Turkish politics. The paper will also examine the debate on the establishment of no-fly zones over northern Iraq, as well as the debate on the rise in “violence”.