https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5377-4718
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ABSTRACT
This article argues that class divisions within Islamist community are an emerging aspect of contemporary Turkish politics. Nearly two decades of rule by an Islamist party enabled the Islamic capital to become a distinct capital fraction without improving the living conditions of the devout masses substantially. This fault line appears in the increasingly discernible criticism of the everyday lifestyles of rich Muslim women from within. Controversy over the extravagance of veiled women appears as a proxy class struggle between the new Islamic middle class and the devout poor, as well as the continued polarization between the Islamists and the secularists.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Suna Nur Sarıhan Güneş, Zehra Mısırlı and Mehmet Raşit Güneş for our fruitful discussions on the issue and their help in getting together the focus groups. I am also obliged to the young women who participated in the focus group for their insight, brilliant analytical contributions, and warm sincerity. I am thankful to Görkem Altınörs, Cemil Boyraz, Gönenç Uysal, Sabri Sayarı and the editor and the anonymous referees of Turkish Studies for their insightful feedback. I thank İstanbul Bilgi University for proofreading and editing support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 “Yeni danışman Mariam Kavakçı hesaplarını kapattı: İşte o fotoğraflar,” Tele1, January 9, 2019.
2 I use ‘Islamist,’ ‘Islamic,’ ‘Muslim,’ ‘religious,’ and ‘devout’ throughout the text. I use the term Islamist and Islamic interchangeably when it is related to the economic, social or political capital and when there is an attributed or self-assigned identification or ideological element. I use Muslim, religious and devout when the issue involves aspects related more to the religion than the ideological context or when I am talking about larger and potentially heterogenous conservative collectivities.
3 The word Süslüman appears to have been in circulation since the AKP’s second term in power. Though it is unclear who coined the term, it has been used in both religious and secular critiques. Ruşen Çakır claims that he first came across the term in 2009 and concedes that it has been used by secularists and Islamists alike. For further information, see Çakır, “‘Süslüman’ Taşlamak,” Vatan, May 22, 2013.
4 Some twitter accounts such as @nasipetme provide a rich repository of posts in this vein.
5 For some Islamist reactions, see Çatak, “‘Ne Tesettür, Ne Türban,’” 8–9, and Eygi, “Müslüman ve Süslüman,” Milli Gazete, September 30, 2015.
6 Details about the focus groups are provided in the later sections.
7 For example, Clark, Islam, Charity, and Activism; Wickham, The Muslim Brotherhood, and Atia, “‘A Way to Paradise’.”
8 Asutay, “Conceptualising and Locating,” 95–6.
9 Karim, The Islamic Moral Economy, and Tripp, Islam and the Moral Economy.
10 Durmuş, Güney, and Koçdoğan, “Türkiye’de İslâm İktisadı,” 77.
11 Özdemir and Aslan, The Political Economy of the Transformation, 20.
12 Öztürk, “The Islamist Big Bourgeoisie,” 127.
13 Hoşgör, “Islamic Capital/Anatolian Tigers,” 345.
14 Özdemir and Aslan, The Political Economy of the Transformation, 52.
15 The Islamic financial and participatory banking sector has proliferated since then and continues to operate on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence. For example, see the website of a leading bank: https://www.turkiyefinans.com.tr:443/tr-tr/hakkimizda/katilim-bankaciligi-sistemi/sayfalar/finansman-yontemleri.aspx.
16 Kara, Gökçe, and Küçükkayalar, 27 Mart 1994 Yerel Seçimleri.
17 Tuğal, Passive Revolution, 44.
18 The term ‘inançlı, temiz kadrolar’ was used in the election manifesto as a guarantee of good governance. Refah Partisi, Refah Partisi Seçim Beyannamesi, 5.
19 Şencan, İş Hayatında İslam İnsanı.
20 Zaim, “Ekonomik Hayatta Müslüman İnsanın,” 104–17.
21 Kehf, “İslam Toplumunda Tüketici Davranışı,” 159.
22 Zaim, “Ekonomik Hayatta Müslüman İnsanın,” 108–9.
23 Tanyılmaz, “The Deep Fracture in the Big Bourgeoisie,” 99.
24 Ibid.
25 Öztürk, “The Islamist Big Bourgeoisie,” 127.
26 Tanyılmaz, “The Deep Fracture in the Big Bourgeoisie,” 99.
27 Doğan, “İslami Sermayenin Gelişme Dinamikleri,” 297.
28 Öztürk, “The Islamist Big Bourgeoisie,” 135.
29 Başkan, “The Rising Islamic Business Elite,” 408.
30 Gümüşçü and Sert, “The Power of the Devout Bourgeoisie,” 964.
31 Başkan, “The Rising Islamic Business Elite,” 412.
32 Gümüşçü, “Class, Status, and Party”.
33 Atasoy, “The Islamic Ethic,” 124.
34 Angın and Bedirhanoğlu, “Privatization Processes.”
35 Bozkurt-Güngen, “Labour and Authoritarian Neoliberalism.”
36 Tanyılmaz, “The Deep Fracture in the Big Bourgeoisie,” 111.
37 Doğan and Durak, “The Rise of the Islamic Bourgeoisie.”
38 Dönmez, 25 Yılın Hikayesi.
39 Ibid., 68.
40 “Erdoğan: ‘Bu Fakir Hiçbir Zaman Sultan Olmanın Gayretinde Olmadı’,” CNN Türk, May 21, 2015.
41 Tuğal, The Fall of the Turkish Model.
42 Karaman, “Urban Neoliberalism”; Kaya, “Islamisation of Turkey”; Zencirci, “Markets of Islam”, and Işık, “Engineering Self and Civil Society.”
43 Uysal, “Charity State,” 21.
44 Dönmez, 25 Yılın Hikayesi, 103.
45 Arat, “Religion, Politics and Gender Equality,” 876.
46 Echchaibi, “Hyper-Islamism? Mediating Islam.”
47 Arat, “Religion, Politics and Gender Equality,” 876.
48 These journals are publicly accessible at the website of İslamci Dergiler Projesi. https://katalog.idp.org.tr/.
49 I have come across only one article in this regard. Kadın ve Aile, June–July 1992.
50 Şentürk, Tüketim ve Değerler, 109.
51 Quoted in footnote 3, Sandıkcı and Ger, “Constructing and Representing,” 207.
52 Gökarıksel and Secor, “Islam on the Catwalk.”
53 İlyasoğlu, Örtülü Kimlik.
54 Göle, The Forbidden Modern.
55 White, “The Islamist Paradox,” 206.
56 Navaro-Yashin, “The Market for Identities,” 241.
57 Saktanber, Living Islam.
58 Tuğal, Passive Revolution.
59 Özet, Fatih-Başakşehir.
60 Öncü and Balkan, “Nouveaux Riches of the City.”
61 Alimen, Faith and Fashion in Turkey; Gökarıksel and Secor, “Islam on the Catwalk”; Gökarıksel and Secor, “Between Fashion and Tesettür Marketing,” and Gökarıksel and McLarney, “Introduction.”
62 Akçaoğlu, Zarif ve Dinen Makbûl.
63 Akçaoğlu, Zarif ve Dinen Makbûl, 114, and Özet, Fatih-Başakşehir, 267.
64 The participants here are referred with the fictional names I assigned during the analysis to maintain anonymity.
65 A type of Islamic clothing dating back to the Ottoman period, refashioned for contemporary outfit.
66 Nesrin, 2. Group.
67 Asuman, 2. Group.
68 Short prayer of blessing the prophet and his descendants.
69 Melis, 1. Group.
70 Esin, 1. Group.
71 Esin, 1. Group.
72 Sevgi, 1. Group.
73 Nesrin, 2. Group.
74 Esin, 1. Group.
75 Sevgi, 1. Group.
76 Zerrin, 2. Group.
77 Selin, 2. Group.
78 Gaye, 2. Group.
79 Zerrin, 2. Group.
80 Esin, 1. Group.
81 Nesrin, 2. Group.
82 Nesrin and Gaye, 2. Group.
83 Zerrin, 2. Group.
84 Esin, 1. Group.
85 Esin, 1. Group.
86 Nesrin, 2. Group.
87 Esin, 1. Group.
88 Esin, 1. Group.
89 Esin, 1. Group.
90 Zerrin, 2. Group.
91 Asuman, 2. Group.
92 Gaye, 2. Group.
93 Esin, 1. Group.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hasret Dikici Bilgin
Dr Hasret Dikici Bilgin is an associate professor of political science in the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University. She studied international relations and sociology at the Middle East Technical University and received her Ph.D. from the Political Science Program at Sabancı University in 2011. She is currently working on the class dynamics of Islamist politics and radicalization. She has published extensively on political Islam, party politics, the political elite in the Middle East and Turkish politics. In addition to several book chapters, her work has appeared in Third World Quarterly, Review of Middle East Studies, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, International Political Science Review, Parliamentary Affairs, and Turkish Studies. She is conducting research in Turkey and Tunisia.