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The Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics includes in-depth analyses of a wide range of issues in conversation with the broader scholarly literature on authoritarianism and democratization, political economy, electoral politics, politics of identity, social movements, foreign policy, and the politics of art. With contributions by leading experts, the
Handbook is an authoritative source offering state-of-the-art reviews of the scholarship on Turkish politics. The volume is an analytical, comprehensive, and comparative overview of contemporary politics in a country that literally and figuratively epitomizes "being at the crossroads."
List of contents
- Foreword
- Daron Acemoglu
- 1. The Study of Politics in Turkey: New Horizons and Perennial Pitfalls
- Günes Murat Tezcür
- Part I: Political Regime
- 2. Democratization Theories and Turkey
- Ekrem Karakoç
- 3. Ruling Ideologies in Modern Turkey
- Kerem Öktem
- 4. Constitutionalism in Turkey
- Asli Ü. Bâli
- 5. Civil-Military Relations and the Demise of Turkish Democracy
- Nil S. Satana and Burak Bilgehan Özpek
- 6. Capturing Secularism in Turkey: The Ease of Comparison
- Murat Akan
- Part II: Political Economy
- 7. The Political Economy of Turkey since the End of World War II
- Sevket Pamuk
- 8. Neoliberal Politics in Turkey
- Sinan Erensü and Yahya M. Madra
- 9. The Politics of Welfare in Turkey
- Erdem Yörük
- 10. The Political Economy of Environmental Policymaking in Turkey: A Vicious Cycle
- Fikret Adaman, Bengi Akbulut, and Murat Arsel
- 11. The Politics of Energy in Turkey: Running Engines on Geopolitical, Discursive, and Coercive Power
- Begüm Özkaynak, Ethemcan Turhan, and Cem Iskender Aydin
- 12. The Contemporary Politics of Health in Turkey: Diverse Actors, Competing Frames, and Uneven Policies
- Volkan Yilmaz
- Part III: Leaders, Parties, and Voters
- 13. Populism in Turkey: Historical and Contemporary Patterns
- Yüksel Taskin
- 14. Old and New Polarizations and Failed Democratizations in Turkey
- Murat Somer
- 15. Economic Voting during the AKP Era in Turkey
- S. Erdem Aytaç
- 16. Party Organizations in Turkey and Their Consequences for Democracy
- Melis G. Laebens
- 17. The Evolution of Conventional Political Participation in Turkey
- Ersin Kalaycioglu
- Part IV: Politics of Identity
- 18. Symbolic Politics and Contention in the Turkish Republic
- Senem Aslan
- 19. Islamist Activism in Turkey
- Menderes Çinar
- 20. The Kurdish Movement in Turkey: Understanding Everyday Perceptions and Experiences
- Dilan Okcuoglu
- 21. The Transnational Mobilization of the Alevis of Turkey: From Invisibility to the Struggle for Equality
- Ceren Lord
- 22. Politics of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Turkey: Limits and Prospects of Populism
- Fatih Resul Kilinç and Sule Toktas
- Part V: Turkey and the World
- 23. A Theoretical Account of Turkish Foreign Policy under the AKP
- Tarik Oguzlu
- 24. US-Turkey Relations since WWII: From Alliance to Transactionalism
- Serhat Güvenç and Soli Özel
- 25. Turkey and Europe: Historical Asynchronicities and Perceptual Asymmetries
- Hakan Yilmaz
- 26. Turkey's Foreign Policy in the Middle East: An Identity Perspective
- Lisel Hintz
- 27. Turkey and Russia: Historical Patterns and Contemporary Trends in Bilateral Relations
- Evren Balta and Mitat Çelikpala
- Part VI: Civil Society and Activism
- 28. Citizenship and Protest Behavior in Turkey
- Ayhan Kaya
- 29. Gender Politics and the Struggle for Equality in Turkey
- Zehra F. Kabasakal Arat
- 30. Human Rights Organizations in Turkey
- Basak Çali
- 31. Truth, Justice, and Commemoration Initiatives in Turkey
- Onur Bakiner
- 32. The Politics of Media in Turkey: Chronicle of a Stillborn Media System
- Sarphan Uzunoglu
- Part VII: Politics of Art
- 33. The AKP's Rhetoric of Rule in Turkey: Political Melodramas of Conspiracy from "Ergenekon" to "Mastermind"
- Erdag Göknar
- 34. The Transformation of Political Cinema in Turkey since the 1960s: A Change of Discourse
- Zeynep Çetin-Erus and M. Elif Demoglu
- 35. Political Music in Turkey: The Birth and Diversification of Dissident and Conformist Music (1920-2000)
- Mustafa Avci
About the author
Günes Murat Tezcür is the Jalal Talabani Chair and Professor at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida. He is also the founder of UCF's Kurdish Political Studies Program, the first and only program of its kind in North America. He is a social scientist studying political violence, religious politics, democratization, and human security with a focus on Iranian, Kurdish, and Turkish human geography.
Summary
Turkey is a country with a history of multiparty electoral competition going back to 1950, longer than many other nations in the world. Until recently, it was often perceived as a model country that showed the feasibility of democratic governance in a Muslim-majority society. However, the rise of religious-nationalist populism and sociopolitical polarization has resulted in an authoritarian turn that has stifled political liberalization. Turkish foreign policy has had strong linkages with the West, but now exhibits a more independent and assertive position. Turkish national identity remains exclusionary, as citizens not belonging to the dominant ethnic and religious groups face various levels of discrimination. Political violence persists in the forms of state repression, insurgent attacks, and terrorism; nevertheless, Turkish civil society continues to be resilient. The economy has exhibited sustained levels of growth, though it remains vulnerable to crises.
The Oxford Handbook of Turkish Politics includes in-depth analyses of all these issues in conversation with the broader scholarly literature on authoritarianism and democratization, political economy, electoral politics, politics of identity, social movements, foreign policy, and the politics of art. With contributions by leading experts, the Handbook is an authoritative source offering state-of-the-art reviews of the scholarship on Turkish politics. The volume is an analytical, comprehensive, and comparative overview of contemporary politics in a country that literally and figuratively epitomizes "being at the crossroads."
