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There is a lack of knowledge along with perplexity about
conservatism as a political way or an ideology in political and
intellectual circles in Turkey. In general, the term
conservatism is being used to blame someone for being
backward-looking or to refer reactionary actions. Furthermore,
some Islamic persons have recently been using conservatism to
save themselves of being blamed as “Islamists”. The
Conservative Thought aims to shed light on the confusion
about conservatism, to expand the knowledge about conservatism,
to fulfill the needs of Turkish literature on conservatism, and
to encourage academic works about conservatism by publishing
novel views and critical articles about conservatism. For these
purposes, the original writings and the translations about
conservatism are published in this journal. Although this
publication intends to construct a body of theoretical works
about conservatism in Turkish, the articles that deal with the
current politics in the World are also covered in the
journal—given that they are related to conservatism. Moreover,
The Conservative Thought also aims to include studies on
the history and the present of conservative thought in Turkey
and to look for a conservative alternative in Turkish politics
by examining the key ideas of conservatism in the Western World.
The
Conservative Thought,
published by Kadim Press in Ankara, is an independent scientific
journal which does not have any direct or indirect association
with a political or governmental organization.
CIVILIZATION
Year: 6, Issue: 21-22,
Summer-Fall
2009
THE ABSTRACTS of LAST ISSUE
THE TRANSFORMATION OF WESTERN COSMOPOLITANISM FROM EVANGELIZING
TO CIVILIZING
Bedri Gencer
The
subject of this paper is the way in which cosmopolitanism was
transformed in the West in relation to intra-religious and extra-religious
identities in the process of secularization. Tracing the
transformation of Western cosmopolitanism is preceded by an
overview of the way of the rise of the cosmopolitan ideal.
Because of the protracted crisis of Christianity, religion as
the norm of identity eventually turned into civilization through
the process of secularization that started with the Renaissance
in the West. In parallel to this transformation, civilization
was also subjected to a distinction for identification through
otherization. The traditional distinction of “right/wrong
religions” was transformed into “Western/Eastern civilizations”
thanks to Orientalism as the discipline of civilizational
otherization. In parallel to this civilizationally-based,
external otherization by Orientalism, the traditional intra-Christian
otherization underwent subtle alteration as well. The
transformation of the traditional sectarian division between
Catholicism and Protestantism to that of civilization/culture in
the process of secularization critically influenced the ways of
European otherization and identification toward cosmopolis. In
the aftermath of the French Revolution, Napoleon, who championed
the cause of secularized Western cosmopolitanism, embarked on a
civilizing mission instead of a traditional Catholic
evangelizing mission toward cosmopolis. This erratic process
could be summarized with the concepts of city (the land of peace
through religion)®
civility (as decorum)®
civility (as mannerism)® civilization (as process)®
civilization (as norm)®
orientalizing (as Manichean otherization)®
civilizing (as secular evangelizing).
Keywords:
Cosmopolitanism, Religion, Transformation, Orientalism,
Civilizing
CIVILIZATION AND ŞİNASİ AS ACCULTURATION
Bedri Mermutlu
The Western world entered into a determined struggle of
existence beginning from the 16th century; it laid
down its cultural foundations during the 17th and 18th
centuries; and it started its own age virtually with the
industrial revolution. By the beginning of the 19th
century, the world had been divided into two worlds of
civilization, as the East and the West. A new troubled period
started for the non-western world. In that world, a major
dislocation of established institutions took place. Tanzimat
movement was also a civilization movement in the Ottoman Society.
It was a period of new formation in which the two civilizations
confronted each other directly. The principal issue that was
tackled by almost all of the intellectuals of that period,
primarily Şinasi, was the question what attitude and actions the
Ottomans should take against the Western civilization. Choosing
a civilization was not an abstract and extra-communal ideal but
an issue that interested the living values of the community. The
right of existence of the traditional culture against the new
civilization was the most critical problem confronting these
intellectuals. The thoughts of Şinasi, who was a radical western
civilizationist, casts light on the Orientalist front of the
East-West relationship.
Keywords:
Civilization, Tanzimat, Şinasi, Acculturation, Orientalism
THE PLACE OF BLUE ANATOLİANİSM MOVEMENT İN CİVİLİZATİON DEBATE
Mahmut ŞENOL
One
of the projects of nationalism which was launched in the early
days of the Turkish Republic is Blue Anatolialism. Blue
Anatolianism has its roots in the mythological stories of the
Ancient Greek era on Anatolia. It strives for nation-building
based on the notion of citizenship/compatriotism found in those
ancient civilizations that existed in the Aegean and
Mediterranean coasts of Anatolia. This citizenship is considered
to be a part of a long historical and cultural process of
humanism, and the Blue Anatolianism movement proposes connecting
this citizenship with Anatolian Turkishness. The movement
required a high level of intellectual awareness and scholarship
about the depths of history, and never became widely popular at
the popular level. Nonetheless, it succeeded to make a
contribution to the Turkish Renaissance.
The
main goal of this article is to introduce Blue Anatolianism
under a different light. The movement started as a pastoral and
naturist ideology but idolization of Mother Nature was halted
abruptly for some political reasons. This can be explained by
the new social dynamics in Turkey in the 1960s and the death of
its founders. The “Blue” fraction doesn’t have any followers
today because it was inherently an inner circle movement. My
thesis for Blue Anatolianism is that this was a kind of a
Batini/Esoteric cult and that it is still important in the
politic literature.
Keywords: Blue
Anatolianism, Cultural Kemalism, Halikarnas Balıkçısı, Mythology,
Nationalism, Elitism.
SOME REFLECTIONS ON EŞREF EDIB FERGAN and HIS ARTICLE “TURKEY
AND EUROPE”
Adem EFE
Eşref
Edib Fergan (1882-1971) is one of the leading publisher and
producers in Turkish intellectual history. Eşref Edib was a
member of the Islamist movement which developed during the era
of Second Constitution. He devetod his intellectual life to the
publications that fight against the ideas of the Westernization
movement. In the article that is being reviewed in this study,
Eşref Edib argues that the late-Ottoman Empire was declining and
there was an urge to stop it by the help of scholars, scientists
and bureaucrats. He criticized the periods of Tanzimat and
Islahat during which Westernization policies sought to eliminate
the religion and religious ideas from society, which were
assumed to be the cause of the Ottoman decline. Throughout the
article, he tirelessly seeks to explain the misleading
ideological underpinnings of these Westernization movements.
Keywords:
Eşref Edib Fergan, Westernization, Islamism, Turkey and Europe.
CIVILIZATION AND MODERNIZATION IN TURKEY
Yılmaz ÇOLAK
This study seeks to examine the relationship between Ottoman-Turkish
modernization and civilization. Ottoman-Turkish modernization
experience is analyzed within the frame of the development of
the conceptions of civilization in the West. Nowadays there are
two dominant notions of civilization; first, competing and
clashing civilizations: second, single and universal
civilization representing the most developed category.
Discussions turning around these notions of civilization have
great impact on Turkish political and intellectual life. The
reason is that both notions, competing civilizations and single
universal civilization, have played a decisive role in Turkish
modernization.
Keywords: Civilization, Ottoman Modernization, Turkish
Modernization
AN ANALYSIS FOR THESIS OF CONFLICT OF CIVILIZATIONS AND TURKEY’S
CONTRIBUTION TO CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUE
Mevlüt UYANİK
This study discusses the perceptions on East-West divide and the
widespread thesis on cross-cultural war and the end of history.
It also looks at the project of alliance of civilizations,
developed to avoid this ‘inevitable clash.’ The study will
highlight the need for engaging in a process of mutual
understanding and dialogue in order to solve the problems posed
by the clash of civilizations thesis, as well as highlighting
the wrong assumptions, interpretations and prejudices the thesis
of clash of civilizations is based on. After that, the study
will discuss whether Turkey and Spain as the initiators of the
UN Project of Alliance of Civilizations may successfully promote
this initiative. Turkey’s geopolitical
and cultural status as an actor of harmony and agreement of
civilizations will be emphasized, with reference to how Turkey
could use its historical heritage as an advantage to promote
this project. Finally, the study will emphasize the need for
peaceful co-existence for civilizations and cultures as the most
effective tool to minimize the risks of a conflict between
civilizations.
Key Words:
Alliance of Civilizations, Turkey, Political and Economic Actor,
Conflict, Inter-civilizational dialogue
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