Islam and Modernity in Turkey [Hardcover]

In contrast to much of the Muslim world, a majority of Turks consider Islam to be primarily a matter of personal choice and private belief. How did such an arrangement come about? Moreover, most observant Muslims in Turkey do not see such a conception and practice of Islam as illegitimate. Why not? Islam and Modernity in Turkey addresses these questions through an ethnographic study of Islamic discourses and practices and their articulation with mass media in Turkey, against the background of late Ottoman and early Republican precedents. This ground-breaking book sheds new light on issues of commensurability and difference in culture, religion, and history, and reformulates our understanding of Islam, secularism, and public life in Turkey, the Muslim world, and Europe.Introduction: Islam and Modernity in Turkey PART I: GENEALOGIES OF THE TURKISH PRESENT Ottoman Reform, Islamic Tradition and Historical Difference Sufism and Modernity from the Empire to Republic PART II: DISCIPLINES OF PRESENCE Everyday Ethics and Disciplinary Practice Discourse, Companionship and Spiritual Exercise PART III: ISLAM AND LIBERAL PUBLICS Muslim Sociality and Mass Mediation Liberal Islamic Religiosity

'Silverstein makes important connections between the contemporary activities of a religious community and deeper notions of political liberalism in the Turkish republic today. His work makes profound claims about political philosophy and intellectual life among contemporary Turkish Muslim scholars ... This original research shatters the typical conceptual divide between Islam and secularism, so common in research on the subject. Instead, we learn of the profound historical foundations of these domains and how intellectuals in Turkey have managed these constructions from the late Ottoman period onward.' - New Perspectives on Turkey

The book presents an immense array of information about religious structures, practices, and experiences in Turkish society, and as suchlÃ>