Integrating the rural: Gellner and the study of Anatolia

Middle Eastern Studies

Volumn 35, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 132-149

  Shankland, David ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MIGRANTS EXPERIENCE; RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION; URBANIZATION;

ANATOLIA; TURKEY;

EID: 0032766126     PISSN: 00263206     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00263209908701270     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. This convenient size is sometimes held to explain the interesting propensity of British ambassadors to Turkey to remain closely associated with the country after their retirement. At least four have retained semi-formal links: two as successive chairmen of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, another as the president of the Anglo-Turkish friendship association based in London, and another as the chairman of a similar association based in Edinburgh.
2. Sirman makes a similar observation. N. Sirman 'From Economic Integration to Cultural Strategies of Power: The Study of Rural Change in Turkey', in New Perspectives on Turkey, Vol. 14 (1996), p.115.
3. Bernard Lewis's seminal work on modern Turkey traces the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent founding of the Republic without considering the internal dynamics of the Republic at all, outside the immediate political context in Ankara. B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1961). Geoffrey Lewis, whilst full of interesting comment, does not provide information on rural society unless it impinges on government. G. Lewis, Turkey (3rd edition. London: Ernest Benn, 1965). Later historians such as Shaw, Davison and Zürcher are equally deficient in this regard. The inescapable conclusion is that indeed these people have been drawn exclusively to Atatürk's great feats and the politics and economics of the urban scene, but then should not the claim to be writing history in general be tempered by making this more modest aim explicit? S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Vol 2, Reform, revolution and republic: the rise of modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). R. Davison, Turkey: a short history (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1981). E. Zürcher, Turkey, A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 1994).
4. Bernard Lewis's seminal work on modern Turkey traces the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent founding of the Republic without considering the internal dynamics of the Republic at all, outside the immediate political context in Ankara. B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1961). Geoffrey Lewis, whilst full of interesting comment, does not provide information on rural society unless it impinges on government. G. Lewis, Turkey (3rd edition. London: Ernest Benn, 1965). Later historians such as Shaw, Davison and Zürcher are equally deficient in this regard. The inescapable conclusion is that indeed these people have been drawn exclusively to Atatürk's great feats and the politics and economics of the urban scene, but then should not the claim to be writing history in general be tempered by making this more modest aim explicit? S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Vol 2, Reform, revolution and republic: the rise of modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). R. Davison, Turkey: a short history (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1981). E. Zürcher, Turkey, A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 1994).
5. Bernard Lewis's seminal work on modern Turkey traces the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent founding of the Republic without considering the internal dynamics of the Republic at all, outside the immediate political context in Ankara. B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1961). Geoffrey Lewis, whilst full of interesting comment, does not provide information on rural society unless it impinges on government. G. Lewis, Turkey (3rd edition. London: Ernest Benn, 1965). Later historians such as Shaw, Davison and Zürcher are equally deficient in this regard. The inescapable conclusion is that indeed these people have been drawn exclusively to Atatürk's great feats and the politics and economics of the urban scene, but then should not the claim to be writing history in general be tempered by making this more modest aim explicit? S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Vol 2, Reform, revolution and republic: the rise of modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). R. Davison, Turkey: a short history (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1981). E. Zürcher, Turkey, A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 1994).
6. Bernard Lewis's seminal work on modern Turkey traces the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent founding of the Republic without considering the internal dynamics of the Republic at all, outside the immediate political context in Ankara. B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1961). Geoffrey Lewis, whilst full of interesting comment, does not provide information on rural society unless it impinges on government. G. Lewis, Turkey (3rd edition. London: Ernest Benn, 1965). Later historians such as Shaw, Davison and Zürcher are equally deficient in this regard. The inescapable conclusion is that indeed these people have been drawn exclusively to Atatürk's great feats and the politics and economics of the urban scene, but then should not the claim to be writing history in general be tempered by making this more modest aim explicit? S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Vol 2, Reform, revolution and republic: the rise of modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). R. Davison, Turkey: a short history (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1981). E. Zürcher, Turkey, A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 1994).
7. Bernard Lewis's seminal work on modern Turkey traces the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent founding of the Republic without considering the internal dynamics of the Republic at all, outside the immediate political context in Ankara. B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1961). Geoffrey Lewis, whilst full of interesting comment, does not provide information on rural society unless it impinges on government. G. Lewis, Turkey (3rd edition. London: Ernest Benn, 1965). Later historians such as Shaw, Davison and Zürcher are equally deficient in this regard. The inescapable conclusion is that indeed these people have been drawn exclusively to Atatürk's great feats and the politics and economics of the urban scene, but then should not the claim to be writing history in general be tempered by making this more modest aim explicit? S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Vol 2, Reform, revolution and republic: the rise of modern Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). R. Davison, Turkey: a short history (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1981). E. Zürcher, Turkey, A Modern History (London: I.B. Tauris, 1994).
8. The question of why the Kemalist reforms seemed to be so little resisted is discussed in P. Stirling, 'Social Change and Social Control in Republican Turkey', in Papers and Discussions: Türkiye Is Bankast International Symposium on Atatürk (Ankara: Cultural Publications, Türkiye: Iş Bankasi, 1984), pp.565-600.
9. See P. Stirling (ed.), Culture and Society: Changes in Turkish Villages (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1993), editor's introduction. The collected essays in this volume make a sustained attempt to present ethnographic research in the light of Anatolia's development. See also C. Hann, Tea and the Domestication of the Turkish State (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1990).
10. See P. Stirling (ed.), Culture and Society: Changes in Turkish Villages (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1993), editor's introduction. The collected essays in this volume make a sustained attempt to present ethnographic research in the light of Anatolia's development. See also C. Hann, Tea and the Domestication of the Turkish State (Huntingdon: Eothen Press, 1990).
11. For an interesting study of the place of Kemalism in education in the early Republican era, see A. Kazamias, Education and the Quest for Modernity in Turkey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966).
12. See Stokes' account of the rise of Arabesk among the poor of Istanbul, in which he gives a vivid depiction of the way mass consumer music competes with the Kemalist conception of folk or 'traditional' music. M. Stokes, The Arabesk Debate: Music and Musicians (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).
13. See Mardin's rich study of the Nursi movement. S. Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (New York: State University of New York, 1989).
14. A. Gökalp, 'Espace Rural, Village, Ruralité: à la recherche du paysan Anatolien', in A. Gökalp (ed.), La Turquie en Transition, disparités, identités, pouvoirs (Paris: Maisonneuve Larose, 1986), pp.49-82.
15. Interestingly, a study by Suriya Faroqhi demonstrates that this progression up an official state settlement scale was a preoccupation even in Ottoman Anatolia. S. Faroqhi, Towns and townsmen of Ottoman Anatolia: trade, crafts and food production in an urban setting, 1520-1650 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).
16. D. Lerner, The Passing of Traditional Society (Glenco: Free Press, 1958).
17. The early Köy Envanter Etüdleri are thought-provoking but it is difficult to be sure of their reliability. Indeed, it is a great pity that this fascinating area has been so neglected. P. Benedict, E. Tümertekin and F. Mansur (eds.), Turkey: Geographic and Social Perspectives (Leiden: Brill, 1974) seems to be still the most ambitious such project attempted.
18. See P. Andrews (ed.), Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey (Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichart Verlag, 1989).
19. On the Laz cf. Hann (1990).
20. I should stress that these are assessments based in part on general observation and in part on extrapolation of my detailed fieldwork data. There is to my knowledge not one accurate census of the number of Alevi in modern Turkey. On the Kurds see M. Van Bruinessan, Agha, Shaikh, and State (London: Zed, 1992), p. 14.
21. This is argued more fully in Shankland (1994) in a comparison of an Alevi village and the two villages studied by Stirling (1965, 1974), and, from a wider perspective, in Shankland (1997). My earlier material is written up in my doctoral dissertation (1992). D. Shankland, 'Diverse paths of change: Alevi and Sunni in rural Turkey' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 1992). D. Shankland, 'Social Change and Culture: Responses to Modernisation in an Alevi Village in Anatolia', in C. Hann (ed.), When History Accelerates: essays on Rapid Social Change, Complexity and Creativity (London: Athlone Press, 1994), pp.238-54. D. Shankland, 'Nationality, Ethnicity and Religion in the Republic of Turkey' in F. Tsiberodou (ed.), The Transition to Modernity (Komotini: Universite Democrite de Thrace, 1997), pp.91-104. P. Stirling Turkish Village (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1965). P. Stirling, 'Cause, knowledge and change: Turkish village revisited', in J. Davis (ed.), Choice and Change: Essays in Honour of Lucy Mair (London: Athlone, 1974), pp.191-229.
22. This is argued more fully in Shankland (1994) in a comparison of an Alevi village and the two villages studied by Stirling (1965, 1974), and, from a wider perspective, in Shankland (1997). My earlier material is written up in my doctoral dissertation (1992). D. Shankland, 'Diverse paths of change: Alevi and Sunni in rural Turkey' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 1992). D. Shankland, 'Social Change and Culture: Responses to Modernisation in an Alevi Village in Anatolia', in C. Hann (ed.), When History Accelerates: essays on Rapid Social Change, Complexity and Creativity (London: Athlone Press, 1994), pp.238-54. D. Shankland, 'Nationality, Ethnicity and Religion in the Republic of Turkey' in F. Tsiberodou (ed.), The Transition to Modernity (Komotini: Universite Democrite de Thrace, 1997), pp.91-104. P. Stirling Turkish Village (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1965). P. Stirling, 'Cause, knowledge and change: Turkish village revisited', in J. Davis (ed.), Choice and Change: Essays in Honour of Lucy Mair (London: Athlone, 1974), pp.191-229.
23. This is argued more fully in Shankland (1994) in a comparison of an Alevi village and the two villages studied by Stirling (1965, 1974), and, from a wider perspective, in Shankland (1997). My earlier material is written up in my doctoral dissertation (1992). D. Shankland, 'Diverse paths of change: Alevi and Sunni in rural Turkey' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 1992). D. Shankland, 'Social Change and Culture: Responses to Modernisation in an Alevi Village in Anatolia', in C. Hann (ed.), When History Accelerates: essays on Rapid Social Change, Complexity and Creativity (London: Athlone Press, 1994), pp.238-54. D. Shankland, 'Nationality, Ethnicity and Religion in the Republic of Turkey' in F. Tsiberodou (ed.), The Transition to Modernity (Komotini: Universite Democrite de Thrace, 1997), pp.91-104. P. Stirling Turkish Village (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1965). P. Stirling, 'Cause, knowledge and change: Turkish village revisited', in J. Davis (ed.), Choice and Change: Essays in Honour of Lucy Mair (London: Athlone, 1974), pp.191-229.
24. This is argued more fully in Shankland (1994) in a comparison of an Alevi village and the two villages studied by Stirling (1965, 1974), and, from a wider perspective, in Shankland (1997). My earlier material is written up in my doctoral dissertation (1992). D. Shankland, 'Diverse paths of change: Alevi and Sunni in rural Turkey' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 1992). D. Shankland, 'Social Change and Culture: Responses to Modernisation in an Alevi Village in Anatolia', in C. Hann (ed.), When History Accelerates: essays on Rapid Social Change, Complexity and Creativity (London: Athlone Press, 1994), pp.238-54. D. Shankland, 'Nationality, Ethnicity and Religion in the Republic of Turkey' in F. Tsiberodou (ed.), The Transition to Modernity (Komotini: Universite Democrite de Thrace, 1997), pp.91-104. P. Stirling Turkish Village (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1965). P. Stirling, 'Cause, knowledge and change: Turkish village revisited', in J. Davis (ed.), Choice and Change: Essays in Honour of Lucy Mair (London: Athlone, 1974), pp.191-229.
25. This is argued more fully in Shankland (1994) in a comparison of an Alevi village and the two villages studied by Stirling (1965, 1974), and, from a wider perspective, in Shankland (1997). My earlier material is written up in my doctoral dissertation (1992). D. Shankland, 'Diverse paths of change: Alevi and Sunni in rural Turkey' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Cambridge, 1992). D. Shankland, 'Social Change and Culture: Responses to Modernisation in an Alevi Village in Anatolia', in C. Hann (ed.), When History Accelerates: essays on Rapid Social Change, Complexity and Creativity (London: Athlone Press, 1994), pp.238-54. D. Shankland, 'Nationality, Ethnicity and Religion in the Republic of Turkey' in F. Tsiberodou (ed.), The Transition to Modernity (Komotini: Universite Democrite de Thrace, 1997), pp.91-104. P. Stirling Turkish Village (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1965). P. Stirling, 'Cause, knowledge and change: Turkish village revisited', in J. Davis (ed.), Choice and Change: Essays in Honour of Lucy Mair (London: Athlone, 1974), pp.191-229.
26. See Stirling (1964) p.26. Referring to Kayseri, he writes, 'All the villages in the area ... are self-contained clusters of buildings separated from one another by stretches of unfenced land.' See also Sirman, 'Rural Turkey is a mixture of nucleated villages and small towns...', N. Sirman, 'Peasants and Family Farms: the Position of Households in Cotton Production in a village of Western Turkey' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1988), p.36.
27. See Stirling (1964) p.26. Referring to Kayseri, he writes, 'All the villages in the area ... are self-contained clusters of buildings separated from one another by stretches of unfenced land.' See also Sirman, 'Rural Turkey is a mixture of nucleated villages and small towns...', N. Sirman, 'Peasants and Family Farms: the Position of Households in Cotton Production in a village of Western Turkey' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1988), p.36.
28. See Stirling (1964) p.26. Referring to Kayseri, he writes, 'All the villages in the area ... are self-contained clusters of buildings separated from one another by stretches of unfenced land.' See also Sirman, 'Rural Turkey is a mixture of nucleated villages and small towns...', N. Sirman, 'Peasants and Family Farms: the Position of Households in Cotton Production in a village of Western Turkey' (PhD thesis, University of London, 1988), p.36.
29. In discussion, the late Paul Stirling once told me that the seven villages around the village of Sakaltutan, where he conducted his first research, have all developed in slightly different ways, and that he could trace each one to distinct historical events effecting their communities. Sadly, I do not think he wrote on this question before his all-too-premature parting.
30. I should note that Professor Chris Hann has kindly commented on this point (personal communication) with reference to Shankland (1994), remarking that Stirling (1974) has attempted to show the disrupting evidence of modernization. It is true that all transformation is potentially damaging, but I believe that the Sunni Turkish communities by and large have survived this experience better than might be expected. See also Sirman (1988): 'transition to commodity production in the Söke region has been rather smooth, and had not destroyed the fabric of social relations within the community', p.384.
31. P. Stirling 'Labour Migration and Changes in Anatolia, 'Edited version of paper delivered to the Conference on Mediterranean Migrations held at Al Hacaima...11th-14th July 1988'.
32. See: Sirman (1988); idem, 'State, Village and Gender in Western Turkey', in Finkel and Sirman (eds.), Turkish State, Turkish Society (London: Routledge, 1990);
33. C. Delaney, The Seed and the Soil (California, California University Press, 1991).
34. J. Starr, Law as Metaphor (New York: State University of New York Press, 1992).
35. Van Bruinessan (1992).
36. Shankland (1993, 1994).
37. P. Bumke, 'The Kurdish Alevis: boundaries and perceptions', in Andrews (1989), pp.510-19.
38. E. Gellner Muslim Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).
39. H. Munson, 'Rethinking Gellner's segmentary analysis of Morocco's Ait "Atta'", in Man, Vol.28, No.2 (1993), pp.267-80. A. Hammoudi, 'Ségmentarité, stratification sociale, pouvoir politique et sainteté: réflexions sur les thèses de Gellner', Hesperis, Vol.15 (1974), pp. 147-80.
40. H. Munson, 'Rethinking Gellner's segmentary analysis of Morocco's Ait "Atta'", in Man, Vol.28, No.2 (1993), pp.267-80. A. Hammoudi, 'Ségmentarité, stratification sociale, pouvoir politique et sainteté: réflexions sur les thèses de Gellner', Hesperis, Vol.15 (1974), pp. 147-80.
41. W. Kraus, Die Ayt Hdiddi: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im zentralen Hohen Atlas: ein Beitrag zur Diskussion segmentarer Systeme in Marokko. Wien: Verlag der Ostrreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1991). W. Kraus, 'Contestable Identities: tribal structures in the Moroccan High Atlas' in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol.4, No.1 (1998), pp.1-22.
42. W. Kraus, Die Ayt Hdiddi: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im zentralen Hohen Atlas: ein Beitrag zur Diskussion segmentarer Systeme in Marokko. Wien: Verlag der Ostrreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1991). W. Kraus, 'Contestable Identities: tribal structures in the Moroccan High Atlas' in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol.4, No.1 (1998), pp.1-22.
43. 'Another objection to the theory ... arises from the very existence of the Ottoman Empire...', Gellner (1981), p.73.
44. M. Fortes and E. Evans-Pritchard (eds.), African Political Systems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940), p.5. Gellner's theories of mediation and sanctity are explored further in E. Gellner, Saints of the Atlas (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969).
45. M. Fortes and E. Evans-Pritchard (eds.), African Political Systems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1940), p.5. Gellner's theories of mediation and sanctity are explored further in E. Gellner, Saints of the Atlas (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969).
46. One of the most consistent critics has been Kuper. See, for example, his account of the theory in A. Kuper, Anthropology and Anthropologists (3rd ed. London: Routledge, 1996).
47. See Zürcher (1994), p. 178: 'That a sheikh, a religious leader, exerted great political influence was not at all extra-ordinary ... The leaders of these dervish orders were often called in to decide quarrels between different tribes, and this gave them prestige, connections, and often considerable wealth ... Sheikh Sait himself was an influential member of the Nakshibendi order.'
48. On contemporary Islam in Turkey see M. Wagstaff (ed.) Aspects of Islam in Secular Turkey (Durham: Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, 1990) and R. Tapper (ed.) Islam in Modern Turkey (London: I.B. Tauris, 1991). On the Nursi, see Mardin (1989) or in Turkish, a good introduction is M. Beki, Türkiye'de Nurculuk (Ankara: Yeni Yüzyil Kitapliǧi, 1995).
49. On contemporary Islam in Turkey see M. Wagstaff (ed.) Aspects of Islam in Secular Turkey (Durham: Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, 1990) and R. Tapper (ed.) Islam in Modern Turkey (London: I.B. Tauris, 1991). On the Nursi, see Mardin (1989) or in Turkish, a good introduction is M. Beki, Türkiye'de Nurculuk (Ankara: Yeni Yüzyil Kitapliǧi, 1995).
50. On contemporary Islam in Turkey see M. Wagstaff (ed.) Aspects of Islam in Secular Turkey (Durham: Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, 1990) and R. Tapper (ed.) Islam in Modern Turkey (London: I.B. Tauris, 1991). On the Nursi, see Mardin (1989) or in Turkish, a good introduction is M. Beki, Türkiye'de Nurculuk (Ankara: Yeni Yüzyil Kitapliǧi, 1995).
51. On the Welfare Party see D. Shankland, 'The Demise of Republican Turkey's Social Contract'?, in Government and Opposition, Vol.31, No.3 (1996), pp.304-31.
52. The revival of Alevi-ism as a cultural phenomenon is discussed in more detail in D. Shankland, 'Anthropology and Ethnicity: the place of ethnography in the new Alevi movement', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Transactions, Vol.8 (distributed by Curzon Press, London), 1998, pp. 15-22.