Beyond tradition and resistance. Islamic politics and global relations of power: The case of Turkey, 1839-199

This study examines the interplay between the rise of a market principle in the economy and Islamic sources of nationhood in the specific case of Turkey between 1839 and 1990. The rise of Muslim politics in the context of contemporary globalization poses a theoretical challenge to theories of modernization and political economy. Many of the assumptions made in these theories are highly limiting in that they define locally experienced religious culture and community-based religious organizations as "traditional" or "pre-capitalist" vestigial elements which will disappear with the expansion of market forces in the economy. These theories have also been restrictive in their conclusions. They contend that "traditional" or "pre-capitalist" structures act as forces of resistance against the constitution of a capitalist market economy and liberal democracy, and that they represent a threat to the survival of the nation-state. I argue that Muslim politics cannot be dismissed as an expression of "tradition" which has survived a distant past, nor can it be expected to have an almost total "traditionalizing" effect on the restructuring of society.;The thesis is organized around three themes: (1) Global relations of power in the realm of production and trade, and the strategic-military relations that govern the organization of the global economy; (2) Domestic political and cultural responses to these relations; and (3) The opportunities and constraints presented by changes in the world economy and state system. These basic themes are derived from Karl Polanyi's "double movement" argument as formulated in the Great Transformation. (Essentially Polanyi states that the expansion of market forces is accompanied by a reaction to it in the form of demands for protection against capital's socially disruptive effects.) My study suggests that the link between global relations of power and the domestic political-cultural responses to it is mediated through various forms of multi-class populist alliance in the state structure. This is an active political process which involves constant negotiation, bargaining, compromise within the specific conjuncture of geo-political events.