- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, European Studies, Faculty Memberadd
- Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Islamic movements (Anthropology Of Religion), Anthropology of Europe, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Multiculturalism (Sociology), and 8 moreIslam, Diaspora and transnationalism, Ethnic Identities, Identity politics, Sociology, Citizenship, Immigration Status & Nationality, and Anthropology of Religion(Islam, Diaspora and transnationalism, Ethnic Identities, Identity politics, Sociology, Citizenship, Immigration Status & Nationality, and Anthropology of Religion)edit
- Ahmet Yükleyen is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Commerce Universit... moreAhmet Yükleyen is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Commerce University. He received his BA from International Relations department at Bilkent University and completed his MA degree at the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. He received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University in 2007. His dissertation research in Germany and the Netherlands in 2003-4 was funded by grants from Wenner Gren Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, and Dutch Council of Higher Education. His book titled “Localizing Islam in Europe: Turkish Islamic Communities in Germany and the Netherlands” is published by Syracuse University Press in 2012. He has published articles in journals such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Contemporary Islam, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Immigrants and Minorities, Public Choice, Insight Turkey, and Turkish Studies. His research interests include foreign policy analysis, political economy, political anthropology, identity politics, Muslims in Europe, and Islamic movements. He has taught at Tufts University and joined the faculty of the Sociology and Anthropology department at the University of Mississippi in 2006 where he was also affiliated with the Croft Institute for International Studies. He joined the faculty of Political Science and International Relations department at Istanbul Commerce University in 2014.(Ahmet Yükleyen is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Commerce University. He received his BA from International Relations department at Bilkent University and completed his MA degree at the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver. He received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University in 2007. His dissertation research in Germany and the Netherlands in 2003-4 was funded by grants from Wenner Gren Foundation, United States Institute of Peace, and Dutch Council of Higher Education. His book titled “Localizing Islam in Europe: Turkish Islamic Communities in Germany and the Netherlands” is published by Syracuse University Press in 2012. He has published articles in journals such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Contemporary Islam, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Immigrants and Minorities, Public Choice, Insight Turkey, and Turkish Studies. His research interests include foreign policy analysis, political economy, political anthropology, identity politics, Muslims in Europe, and Islamic movements. He has taught at Tufts University and joined the faculty of the Sociology and Anthropology department at the University of Mississippi in 2006 where he was also affiliated with the Croft Institute for International Studies. He joined the faculty of Political Science and International Relations department at Istanbul Commerce University in 2014.)edit
In the twentieth century, Muslim minorities emerged in Europe seeking work, a refuge from conflict, and higher life standards. As a result, there are now more than 12 million Muslims in Western Europe. As these immigrants became permanent... more
In the twentieth century, Muslim minorities emerged in Europe seeking work, a refuge from conflict, and higher life standards. As a result, there are now more than 12 million Muslims in Western Europe. As these immigrants became permanent residents, the Islamic communities they developed had to respond to their European context, reinterpreting Islam in accordance with local conditions. In Localizing Islam in Europe, Yukleyen brings this adaptation to light, demonstrating how Islam and Europe have shaped one another and challenging the idea that Islamic beliefs are inherently antithetical to European secular, democratic, and pluralist values.
Yukleyen compares five different forms of religious communities among Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany that represent a spectrum from moderate to revolutionary Islamic opinions. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, he finds that, despite differences in goals and beliefs, these communities play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims and the socioeconomic, legal, and political context of Europe. Yukleyen s rich ethnography shows that there is no single form of assimilated and privatized;European Islam; but rather Islamic communities and their interpretations and practices that localize Islam in Europe.
Yukleyen compares five different forms of religious communities among Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany that represent a spectrum from moderate to revolutionary Islamic opinions. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, he finds that, despite differences in goals and beliefs, these communities play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims and the socioeconomic, legal, and political context of Europe. Yukleyen s rich ethnography shows that there is no single form of assimilated and privatized;European Islam; but rather Islamic communities and their interpretations and practices that localize Islam in Europe.
Page 1. Islamic Activism and Immigrant Integration: Turkish Organizations in Germany Ahmet Yu¨ kleyen* & Go¨ kçe Yurdakul Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Mississippi, USA; Berlin Graduate School ...
Research Interests:
Page 1. Islamic Activism and Immigrant Integration: Turkish Organizations in Germany Ahmet Yu¨ kleyen* & Go¨ kçe Yurdakul Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Mississippi, USA; Berlin Graduate School ...
Research Interests:
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Research Interests: Anthropology, Ethnography, Nationalism, Gender, Masculinity, and 8 moreWomen, Turkey, Germany, Book Review, Minority, Anthropological, TURKISH, and Immigrant
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Abstract This article is a response to the article by Maloney et al., which adapts an eco-nomic model of Christian schism to Islam. We evaluate the basic assumptions, concepts, and approach of the article and then turn to factual... more
Abstract This article is a response to the article by Maloney et al., which adapts an eco-nomic model of Christian schism to Islam. We evaluate the basic assumptions, concepts, and approach of the article and then turn to factual questions to be considered. Their main contribution ...
Research Interests:
Abstract This article is a response to the article by Maloney et al., which adapts an eco-nomic model of Christian schism to Islam. We evaluate the basic assumptions, concepts, and approach of the article and then turn to factual... more
Abstract This article is a response to the article by Maloney et al., which adapts an eco-nomic model of Christian schism to Islam. We evaluate the basic assumptions, concepts, and approach of the article and then turn to factual questions to be considered. Their main contribution ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, is based on the pursuit of spiritual truth by transcending (not necessarily refuting) Islamic law through ascetic and esoteric practices. Sufi orders believe that the Qu'ran has two levels of... more
Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, is based on the pursuit of spiritual truth by transcending (not necessarily refuting) Islamic law through ascetic and esoteric practices. Sufi orders believe that the Qu'ran has two levels of meaning: an outer (zahir) and an inner (batin) level. The outer level is accessible to all, but is less valuable, while the inner level is accessible only to initiated disciples of the mystical orders.
Each sufi order (tarikat) formulates a distinctive way of seeking divine love and truth, based on the teachings of a spiritual master, or şeyh. The mürid, or initiated member of a sufi order, forms a personal relationship with the şeyh, who assigns disciplinary practices of asceticism, self-humiliation, and zikir (repeating the names of God) in order to purify his/her carnal desires. In the Ottoman period, sufi orders such as the Nakşibendi, Kadiri and Mevlevi respected Sunni orthodoxy, while favouring mystical experience over legalistic formalism. They perpetuated orthodox Sunni Islam through their large network of sufi lodges (tekke). There also were heterodox sufi orders such as the Bektaşi that combined Shiite beliefs with pre-Islamic folk beliefs.
There also are religious communities (cemaat) that originate in the sufi tradition, but have moved away from personal spirituality towards a more institutionalised social or political project intended to increase Islamic consciousness in society. These communities value social and religious activism more highly than individual spiritual advancement through mystical experience. Followers emphasise the religious teachings and activities of the collectivity rather than characteristics of the leader for spiritual guidance.
Each sufi order (tarikat) formulates a distinctive way of seeking divine love and truth, based on the teachings of a spiritual master, or şeyh. The mürid, or initiated member of a sufi order, forms a personal relationship with the şeyh, who assigns disciplinary practices of asceticism, self-humiliation, and zikir (repeating the names of God) in order to purify his/her carnal desires. In the Ottoman period, sufi orders such as the Nakşibendi, Kadiri and Mevlevi respected Sunni orthodoxy, while favouring mystical experience over legalistic formalism. They perpetuated orthodox Sunni Islam through their large network of sufi lodges (tekke). There also were heterodox sufi orders such as the Bektaşi that combined Shiite beliefs with pre-Islamic folk beliefs.
There also are religious communities (cemaat) that originate in the sufi tradition, but have moved away from personal spirituality towards a more institutionalised social or political project intended to increase Islamic consciousness in society. These communities value social and religious activism more highly than individual spiritual advancement through mystical experience. Followers emphasise the religious teachings and activities of the collectivity rather than characteristics of the leader for spiritual guidance.
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This paper is on the role of civil society in socio-economic development of developing countries. I analyze the role of socio-religious movements in Turkey’s development. In Turkey, Islam and modernization (westernization) is generally... more
This paper is on the role of civil society in socio-economic development of developing countries. I analyze the role of socio-religious movements in Turkey’s development. In Turkey, Islam and modernization (westernization) is generally treated as necessarily incompatible. However, my case study on the moderate Islamic movement around the charismatic leader Fethullah Gulen indicates that Islamic movements can contribute to development while maintaining Islamic belief and practice. This is possible if religious movements circumscribe themselves in civil society and bridge societal divides based on religion and ethnicity. This produces social capital and trust that are crucial in mobilizing indigenous resources for social and economic development.
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Research Interests: Salafism()
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Turkish immigrants in Western Europe construct a glorious Ottoman legacy in their collective memory. They read historical and popular texts, discover monuments, visit museum exhibitions, and travel to formerly Ottoman ruled parts of... more
Turkish immigrants in Western Europe construct a glorious Ottoman legacy in their collective memory. They read historical and popular texts, discover monuments, visit museum exhibitions, and travel to formerly Ottoman ruled parts of Europe. The revival of the Ottoman past in Europe works as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it creates a European identity that promotes a sense of local and indigenous belonging among Turkish immigrants. On the other hand, the bitter parts of historical conflict promote claims of essentialist differences in cultures. Nevertheless, the glory of Ottoman past in Turkish immigrant collective memory promotes self-confidence and compensates against their low-class status and social discrimination.
Turkey’s membership in the European Union (EU) is contingent on economic, political, and cultural factors. Rather than a geographic area with a particular cultural and religious history, the EU defines “Europe” as a political project that... more
Turkey’s membership in the European Union (EU) is contingent on economic, political, and cultural factors. Rather than a
geographic area with a particular cultural and religious history, the EU defines “Europe” as a political project that espouses values such as human rights, pluralist democracy,and a liberal economy. However,Turkey’s EU accession process highlights the cultural and religious dimension through which “Islam”and “Europe” may be mutually redefined. Th is article examines how Turkish Muslim immigrants in Europe have become an example of the compatibility of “Islam”and “Europe.”It is concluded that opposing Turkey’s EU membership based on essentializing arguments of cultural and religious difference is misleading and counterproductive, as it fails to address the shifting boundaries of Europe and of Islam.
geographic area with a particular cultural and religious history, the EU defines “Europe” as a political project that espouses values such as human rights, pluralist democracy,and a liberal economy. However,Turkey’s EU accession process highlights the cultural and religious dimension through which “Islam”and “Europe” may be mutually redefined. Th is article examines how Turkish Muslim immigrants in Europe have become an example of the compatibility of “Islam”and “Europe.”It is concluded that opposing Turkey’s EU membership based on essentializing arguments of cultural and religious difference is misleading and counterproductive, as it fails to address the shifting boundaries of Europe and of Islam.
A comparison of the two largest Turkish Islamic organizations in Germany, Diyanet Isleri Turk Islam Birliği and Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Gorus, challenges the dichotomous categorization of Muslim organizations as “good” or “bad.” On... more
A comparison of the two largest Turkish Islamic organizations in Germany, Diyanet Isleri Turk Islam Birliği and Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Gorus, challenges the dichotomous categorization of Muslim organizations as “good” or “bad.” On the one hand, the Turkish state supports Diyanet Isleri Turk Islam Birliği, which promotes Islam in private life as a source of individual piety and loyalty to the Turkish state. On the other hand, Milli Gorus, which originally supported political Islam in Turkey, is now working to gain public recognition of Islam in Germany. Relying on extensive fieldwork data and interviews with the executive members of these two organizations, this essay concludes that a comparative approach to their views on immigrant integration in general and the headscarf debate in particular shows that they both have ambivalent approaches to Muslim incorporation in Europe.
This article compares organized religious life of Turkish Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands to examine the trajectory of Islamic diversity in Europe. Transnational Islamic organizations do not simply transplant religious extremism from... more
This article compares organized religious life of Turkish Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands to examine the trajectory of Islamic diversity in Europe. Transnational Islamic organizations do not simply transplant religious extremism from their
countries of origin, nor do they necessarily conform to all of the European liberal values. Rather they play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims, on the one hand; and the socio-economic, legal, and political context of Europe, on the other. The institutionalization of diverse forms of religiosity among the major Turkish-Islamic organizations provides a comparative analysis of this intermediary role. The Diyanet represents the secular and privatized “official Islam”; Milli Gorus¸ originates from political Islamism; Suleymanlı is a branch of the Naqshibandiyya Sufi order; and the Gu¨len community leads a faith-oriented revitalization movement. These organizations adjust their religious discourse according to their primary spheres of activism and respond to the emergence of young Muslim generations. This results in the localization of Islam, which requires a reinterpretation of Islamic texts and practice in accordance with the concerns and needs of Muslims and adherence to European state laws.
countries of origin, nor do they necessarily conform to all of the European liberal values. Rather they play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims, on the one hand; and the socio-economic, legal, and political context of Europe, on the other. The institutionalization of diverse forms of religiosity among the major Turkish-Islamic organizations provides a comparative analysis of this intermediary role. The Diyanet represents the secular and privatized “official Islam”; Milli Gorus¸ originates from political Islamism; Suleymanlı is a branch of the Naqshibandiyya Sufi order; and the Gu¨len community leads a faith-oriented revitalization movement. These organizations adjust their religious discourse according to their primary spheres of activism and respond to the emergence of young Muslim generations. This results in the localization of Islam, which requires a reinterpretation of Islamic texts and practice in accordance with the concerns and needs of Muslims and adherence to European state laws.
This article examines how European state authorities are taking part in the shaping of Islam in Europe by comparing the impact of German and Dutch state policies on Islamic organisations such as Milli Görüş, a Turkish-origin political... more
This article examines how European state authorities are taking part in the shaping of Islam in Europe by comparing the impact of German and Dutch state policies on Islamic organisations such as Milli Görüş, a Turkish-origin political Islamic organisation. Milli Görüş in the Netherlands has cooperated with Dutch authorities and developed liberal Islamic interpretations, while German authorities list Milli Görüş among the top threats to the constitution. The difference between German and Dutch Milli Görüş has been created through the partially-exclusivist policies of Germany and the multicultural policies of the Netherlands. I suggest that, on the one hand, the Dutch socio-political system and multicultural policies actively promote public recognition of the Muslim community, provide for a transparent relationship between the state and Islamic organisations and make cooperation a more rewarding strategy for Islamic organisations to attain their goals. On the other hand, the German socio-political system and partially-exclusivist policies provide limited venues for participation and recognition, promote distrust between political authority and Islamic organisations, and make court cases a more rewarding strategy for public recognition. This comparison may provide insights for European states on how to develop policies conducive to Muslim incorporation.
This article examines the production of religious authority among the Süleymanlı, a branch of the Naqshibandiyya order, which is the largest Sufi community active among Turkish-origin Muslims in Europe. Like other Islamic organizations,... more
This article examines the production of religious authority among the Süleymanlı, a branch of the Naqshibandiyya order, which is the largest Sufi community active among Turkish-origin Muslims in Europe. Like other Islamic organizations, the Süleymanlı claims to represent “true Islam,” which they construct during their central communal ritual, hatim, in which religious knowledge is produced and disseminated. The interaction of a religious corpus of assertions, media of representation, and social organization during this ritual produces its “criteria of Islamic validity and priority” which authorizes mystical Islam. European adaptations of the Islamic tradition require an analysis of how Islam is authorized rather than simply what “European Islam” is or who speaks on behalf of it, individually or communally.
This article compares the four largest Turkish Islamic organisations – Diyanet, Milli Görüş, the Süleymanlı and the Gülen communities – in Germany in order to facilitate a clearer understanding of the role of Islamic organisations in... more
This article compares the four largest Turkish Islamic organisations – Diyanet, Milli Görüş, the Süleymanlı and the Gülen communities – in Germany in order to facilitate a clearer understanding of the role of Islamic organisations in Muslim immigrant integration. In Germany, where integration policies fall between the multiculturalist and assimilationist paradigms, Turkish Muslims constitute the largest ethnic community originating in Muslim majority countries. This study argues that it is not helpful to group all Islamic organisations together because they each have different fields of activity upon which they concentrate their resources. Each Islamic organisation should be analysed separately as this permits the categorisation of the activities and characteristics of Islamic organisations into those that promote or hinder integration.