Conceptualizing Difference During the Second Constitutional Period:

Abstract

This chapter analyses how the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the central ruling organization of the Ottoman Empire, conceptualized difference in terms of race, religion, and nationality. Rather than portraying CUP as Turkish nationalist organization, the chapter argues that the CUP's conception of identity more closely matched that of the empire's population; that is, one of immense flexibility, alternating inclusive and exclusivist tendencies, and diversity. At the heart of this debate are the very methodologies and sources used to write the history of the CUP and the Second Constitutional Period. The chapter demonstrates the insights gained from an investigation of such governing practices, particularly the CUP's conceptions of difference through an analysis of the categories of identity contained within the Ottoman Prison Administration's annual prison population surveys. These categories of identity, particularly millet identity, effectively demonstrate the fluid, inclusive, and convoluted nature of CUP conceptions of difference. Keywords:Committee of Union and Progress (CUP); conceptualized difference; millet identity; Ottoman Empire; Ottoman Prison Administration; second constitutional period; Turkish nationalist organization