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Islamic Civil Society, the State, and the Politics of the Family in Turkey
Abstract
In the literature on Islamic civil society in Turkey, the relationship between the state and civil society has mostly been evaluated through the lens of struggle, opposition, and contestation, and civil society has been viewed as the domain where Islamic political actors pose a challenge to the authoritarian character of the secular Turkish state (Göle 2001; Kadıoğlu 2005; Kalaycıoglu 2004; Seçkinelgin 2006; White 2002). This paper argues, however, that the dominant “civil society vs. state” binary framework should be reconsidered in the context of family-related Islamic civil society organizations (CSOs) which have recently become one of the major partners of the state in the conceptualization, production, and implementation of family-related social policies and projects. Since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, there has been a proliferation of discourses on “family crisis” and the “decline of family values” as well as social programs and projects aimed at “strengthening the Turkish family.” What is novel about the configuration of the politics of the family under the AKP government is the extension of family governance beyond the formal institutions of the state and the deployment of religiously-inspired actors, institutions, and organizations. Within the past decade, there has been an explosion of family-related social projects designed and implemented by not only formal political institutions such as the Ministry of the Family and AKP-governed municipalities but also various Islamic CSOs. Based on twelve months of fieldwork, this paper will explore the particular domains of engagement between the state and Islamic civil society actors in shaping the politics of the family in contemporary Turkey. It will examine the ways in which Islamic CSOs have been instrumental in influencing politician’s discourses as well as state policies and projects on the family. It will primarily focus on how Islamic CSOs’ involvement in diverse spheres of knowledge production (such as conferences, workshops, symposia, and research activities) have helped to reinforce the notion of “family crisis” as the source of problems and risks that threaten the society. Such an emphasis on the crisis of the family has, in turn, served to legitimize the pedagogical projects and other forms of intervention into the family by the state, civil society organizations, and a variety of experts for the sake of developing and improving the capacities of families so that they can govern their own conduct more efficiently and effectively.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
None