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Post-Islamism or Veering Toward Political Modernity?

State, Ideology and Islam in Turkey

In: Sociology of Islam
Author:
Fabio Vicini Department of Political Science and International Relations, Istanbul 29 Mayis University, Altunizade Mh., İcadiye-Bağlarbaşı Cd. no: 40, tr-34662 Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey, fvicini@29mayis.edu.tr

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In this article I assess the suitability of exploring the entanglement of state and Islam in Turkey under the rubric of post-Islamism. This is achieved through an exploration of the composite intertwining of religious discourse, historical and teleological imaginaries, and ideals of civic engagement within the Gülen movement. In my view not only does the post-Islamist thesis appear to be limited in regard to analyzing this and similar cases, but it also dangerously echoes recurrent neo-orientalist narratives, which in essence circumscribe how Islam can be “inclusive” and open to ideals of “individual freedom,” “pluralism,” and to Western ideals of democracy. In this paper I argue that it is instead the ideologization of religious discourse – a specific product of political modernity – which hinders Islamic movements such as the Gülen and others from realizing the full potential of Islam as an alternative global civilizational discourse to that of liberal modernity.

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