The Self-Determinations of Alevilik through Popular Periodicals of Alevis in Contemporary Turkey

This article explains how the Alevi revival movement has occurred since 1990s, and the process of the Alevi identity problems in contemporary Turkey. The Alevis, a heterodox religious minority, have in recent years organized Alevi associations throughout the country, as well as among migrant communities in Europe. At the same time, Alevi intellectuals and community leaders have set out to define the Alevi identity, tradition and history. I researched the emergence of an Alevi presence on mass media and what this emergence says about the expanding public discourse in contemporary Turkey.The term ‘Alevi’ is complex and various meanings. The present discourse about Alevilik first emerged in 1980s. This emergence of Alevi discourse points up the complexities and difficulties in the emergence of various other discourses in Turkey. Questions such as ‘what is the Alevi’ are unavoidable in contemporary Turkish society.The assertion of identity among Turkey's diverse religious and ethnic groups since the 1980's has taken on new dimensions through development of new communication channels, the expansion of the higher education system, and political and economic liberalization. New communication networks have aided the Alevi and Kurdish groups in their struggle for public recognition. With the help of new communication technologies, for example, the Alevis frame their local views in terms of universal concepts of human rights, democracy, and self-determination.In this respect, I analyzed the Alevilik in popular periodicals published and available in Turkey. As a result, I defined three formations of Alevilik. The first one is the original Kurdish ethnicity or culture. The second one is a kind of mezhep. The third one is the original Turkish religion

Aesthetics · Assertion · Democracy · Ethnic group · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Turkish · Anthropology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Law · Philosophy · Turkey's Politics and Society