Social Practice and Political Culture in the Turkish Republic

This volume collects the work of Michael E. Meeker on Turkish society. Meeker’s research is based on field work he conducted in rural Turkey in the 1960s and then in Istanbul in the 1980s. Meeker’s interest is in how Turkish social conventions imply structures of political authority. In Turkey, formal institutions and interpersonal association have a close relationship, something which dates back to Ottoman times. The first two sections are devoted to the Black Sea Turks in general and then the Black Sea district of Of. The third part is devoted to Meeker’s writings on an Islamic resurgence in Turkey. The fourth and final part contains articles on political authority and interpersonal relationships in Turkey, past and present.