The case of Alevis in Turkey: a challenge to liberal multiculturalism

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates how and why Alevis in Turkey have insisted that they are not a minority community and have been reluctant to formulate their religio-cultural demands in the framework of minority rights, thereby challenging what is often called liberal multiculturalism. Inquiring into the type of minority community Alevis form, alongside Turkey’s minority rights history, it explains why the case of Alevis necessitates a certain revaluation of liberal multiculturalism, as well as a reformulation of group-specific minority rights. We argue that the liberal multiculturalist understanding of minority rights may force minorities to lead a socially isolated and apolitical life, with no possibility to participate in a pluralistic reconstruction of the mainstream symbolic framework in society, which is contrary to the aims of Alevis in Turkey.

KEYWORDS:

• Minority rights
• Alevi Opening
• multiculturalism
• Turkey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aret Karademir

Aret Karademir is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Middle East Technical University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida. His publications include journal articles on multiculturalism, queer theory, and 20th century continental philosophy. He is the author of Queering Multiculturalism: Liberal Theory, Ethnic Pluralism, and the Problem of Minorities-within-Minorities.

Mustafa Şen

Mustafa Şen is Associate Professor of Sociology, Middle East Technical University. He earned his PhD in Sociology and wrote his dissertation on “Turkish Entrepreneurs in Central Asia: The Case of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan” (2001). His current research is concerned with the activities of Turkish Islamist organizations in Europe and Central Asia and the transformation of state-religion relations in Turkey. Among his publications are: “A Background for Understanding Gülen Community” (2007), “Transformation of Turkish-Islamism and the Rise of the Justice and Development Party” (2010), “Redefining the Minority: Alevis in Turkey” (2018), and “The AKP Rule and the Directorate of Religious Affairs” (2020).