Civil Society in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter provides a contextual background on the development of civil society in Turkey, and in so doing acts as a hinge between the theoretical and policy debates of the previous chapters and the empirical discussion of the subsequent chapters. It endeavours to highlight the relevance of historical context in explaining how certain idiosyncrasies regarding the development of civil society have arisen in Turkey. In particular, the chapter explores the historical bifurcation of civil society into ‘official’ (secular, nationalist voices) and ‘informal’ (non-secular, minority voices) sectors, and its consequences on the development of civil society in Turkey. Although somewhat crude as a distinction, this division remains a useful heuristic device to describe the outcomes of the radical modernization and Westernization processes instigated in the early years of the Turkish republic. The last three decades have seen tremendous growth in the size and role of civil society in Turkey, as well as in the variety of organizational forms. Yet the attitudes underlying the earlier bifurcation still resonate in present-day relationships within civil society, particularly within the critical debates on issues such as the role of religion in Turkish politics and society.