Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

28 islamic political identity in turkeytable 1.1. A Typology of Islamic Social MovementsRepertoire of action (strategies and means)Goal Legitimate IllegitimateVerticalState-oriented; Reformist: Participation in the hope Revolutionary: Rejects theelite vanguard; of controlling the state or shaping system and uses violencesocial change policies through forming their own and intimidationfrom above Islamic party or in alliance withother partiesTarget: education, legal system, Target: the statesocial welfareOutcome: confrontationOutcome: accommodationHorizontalSociety-oriented; Societal (everyday life-based movements) Spiritual/Inward: Withdrawsassociational; Groups using the media and from political life toidentity- oriented; communications networks to develop promote self-purificationsocial change discursive spaces for the construction and self-consciousnessfrom below of Islamic identity; seeking to use themarket to create heaven on earth;viewing Islam as a cultural capital;use of associational networks toempower communityTarget: media, economy, (private) Target: religious consciousnessEducation Outcome: integration Outcome: withdrawalist, while at the other is a society-centric, gradual, and reformative pragmaticmovement. This classiWcation is diagramed in table 1.1.State-Oriented Islamic MovementsState-oriented vertical Islamic movements tend to be authoritarian and elitist interms of decision-making and believe that the ills of society are best correctedby the control of the state through its enforcement of a uniform and homogenizingreligious ideology. These movements are more likely to form when thestate is oppressive or is in the process of opening new opportunity spaces. StatecentricIslamic identity evolved in Turkey as society was encouraged to proceedalong a “civilizing” project to create a homogeneous nation-state. The Republicanstate broke down traditional ties and culture with the intention of forging ahomogeneous and obedient nation-state. Some individuals and groups, however,refused to submit to this new state-sponsored secular-rationalistic faith.Ernest Gellner has compared the secular ideologues to a type of rationalist ulema,who, instead of promoting Western-style tolerance and pluralism in Turkey,undermine it. 48 This nationalist project of constructing a new society has had a