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Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics (Studies in Modernity and National Identity)

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This is an important book for anyone interested in Turkey or the Islamist movement in general. Turkey is one of the most important nations in the world today as it stands with one foot in Europe and the other in the Middle East, and it also stands as a potential bellwether state for whether or not the Islamist movement can integrate successfully into a representative political system. Jenny White's research goes a long way in providing readers with a glimpse into how this country, as well as the various movements within it, operates.

This book discusses the political movements inside of Turkey using "vernacular politics" as a term to denote how these movements do not fit into what would be considered normal categories when speaking of politics or civil society. The term is used to emphasize that this Islamist movement crosses normal lines. Groups like the Welfare party and its successor the Virtue party are not strictly political parties, but instead they are a hybridization of politics, civic organizations, foundations and community associations and groups. This is why the author suggests the need for the new term to denote this brand of politics.

What the author does well is to show just how amorphous this Islamist movement is. It is not a top down political party like we see in the West. The organization springs from the grassroots community and then finds its expression in the leadership. This amorphous structure is its strength as well as a potential weakness. Its strength lies in its ability to endure. Since the movement is not simply political, but instead has its roots in the community as well, this makes the movement impossible to stamp out, which is why the movement has been able to survive the government's banning of the political parties. At the same time this type of organization has strength as long as it is able to be all things to all of its constituencies at the same time. This is easy to do through civic organizations that root themselves in individual communities and tend to those needs, but this gets much more difficult politically when that group gets into power. At that point each individual community will look to see that the political leadership is listening to its own voice.

Here in lies one problem with this book; its age is a hinderance. While this book shows the beginnings of this movement, ten years have passed which has seen enormous change in Turkey. The hope is for a new edition that considers the changes that have taken place, and incorporates those changes into a new chapters that shows how this edition was the wellspring for what is happening now.

This book is not simply about the Islamist movement though. The author does an excellent job discussing the secularist parties as well. What is interesting is seeing the author juxtapose the two vastly different political groups, and it is this juxtaposition which gives such great insights into why the Islamist groups do such a great job organizing compared to the secular parties. What becomes obvious is the top down approach by those parties who have support as moderate political groups does not cut it in poorer working class areas such as Umraniye. The Islamist groups are organic whereas the secular groups seem foriegn.

This book is very important for anyone trying to understand the Islamist movement. Of course one needs to be cautious when trying to generalize a local movement, but this book shows the great appeal that an organic Islamist movement can have, and how easily it can move through neighborhoods and through people's everyday lives. The question is will these movements become an integral and important part of the political systems in countries like Turkey, or will they attempt to dominate and subjugate the democratic system. These movements actually have an enormous potential to actually stabalize democratic institutions in countries like Turkey. This book will further your understanding of these movements as well as this important country. I highly recommend this book.