PSIR420 POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN TURKEY
Course Content
This course introduces five political and sociological themes in the study of Turkish society, which are discussed and analyzed from different perspectives. These themes and issues have both historical roots and incessant actuality. In view of this, these themes could function as vantage points for developing a coherent perspective to the historical transformation as well as to the current structure of Turkish society. These issues include a) State apparatus in Turkey, which will deal with the topics such as democratisation in Turkey, center-periphery paradigm, the role of military in Turkish political history. b) Nationalism in Turkey, which will cover the themes such as Kemalism, citizenship practices, ethnicity and race, ultra-nationalism in Turkish politics. c) Religion and Politics in Turkey, which will elaborate on secularization, laicism, the rise of Islamic conservatism in Turkish society.d) Gender and Society in Turkey, which willl focus on nationalism and women, Muslimhood and women, Kemalism and women and feminist movement in Turkey. e) Urban Life in Turkey, which will examine trajectory of urbanization, migration and urban poor.
