THE SECULARIZATION AND DESECULARIZATION NEXUS IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT: WHAT IS BEHIND?

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1302199s

Keywords:

Turkey, secularization-desecularization nexus, Turkish islamism, Turkish democracy, Jemaats, Civil society

Abstract

The history of Turkey provides multiple examples of intricate combination of secularization (in the Turkish tradition – laicism) and desecularizaion (understood as a revival of Islam and its expansion into social life) while its contemporary dynamics provides a background for a non-conventional view on the correlation between the state and religion in the Muslim societies. The desecularization of Turkey has been a continuous process since the late 1940s, making it increasingly convenient for Islamists to become more visible in the political and the socioeconomic spheres. This paper analyzes the inclusion and accommodation of the “Turkish Islamism” into the sociopolitical life of Turkey focusing on such important phenomena as the constantly expanding religious sphere, the emergence of economic liberal conservatism, the rising resurgence of Islamism in education and media sphere together with the “jemaatization” of the Turkish society. The analysis of desecularization dynamics in Turkey let one reassess the way religion and politics interconnect in the Muslim societies. The manifold manifestations of descularization in social, political and economic life, its profound impact on the Turkish party system, banking sector, education and mass media indicates the dialectic nature of secularization and desecularization nexus and reveals the flexibility of the border between religious and political spheres.

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2022-12-03

How to Cite

Shlykov, P. (2022). THE SECULARIZATION AND DESECULARIZATION NEXUS IN THE TURKISH CONTEXT: WHAT IS BEHIND?. Politics and Religion Journal, 13(2), 199–235. https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1302199s