Brian Silverstein, Islam and Modernity in Turkey, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

TY - JOUR

T1 - Brian Silverstein, Islam and Modernity in Turkey, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

AU - Ustek Spilda, Funda

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The Turkish hybrid of Islam and Modernity has been widely acknowledged in the social sciences. In the past few decades, a considerable amount of historical, political, and sociological research has concentrated on why Turkey diverged from other majority-Muslim countries in adopting the most clearly-set rules of secularism and Western-style democracy and governance. What is more, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Arab Spring, Turkey has been held up as a potential role model for the rest of the Islamic world. Though these studies have often demonstrated how modern Turkey diverged from its Ottoman past and in fact did everything to separate itself from this past, less attention has been paid to the continuities between the Ottoman past and the modern Republic. As the Turkish Republic approaches its centennial year, what can be said about modernizing the country through the liberal values of democracy and capitalism? Might some continuities from Turkey’s Ottoman past also have enabled and legitimized this hybrid of modernity and Islam?

AB - The Turkish hybrid of Islam and Modernity has been widely acknowledged in the social sciences. In the past few decades, a considerable amount of historical, political, and sociological research has concentrated on why Turkey diverged from other majority-Muslim countries in adopting the most clearly-set rules of secularism and Western-style democracy and governance. What is more, in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Arab Spring, Turkey has been held up as a potential role model for the rest of the Islamic world. Though these studies have often demonstrated how modern Turkey diverged from its Ottoman past and in fact did everything to separate itself from this past, less attention has been paid to the continuities between the Ottoman past and the modern Republic. As the Turkish Republic approaches its centennial year, what can be said about modernizing the country through the liberal values of democracy and capitalism? Might some continuities from Turkey’s Ottoman past also have enabled and legitimized this hybrid of modernity and Islam?

M3 - Book/Film/Article review

VL - 3

SP - 92

EP - 95

JO - Tarih Journal

JF - Tarih Journal

ER -