Prizes for Turkey, Islam, Nationalism, and Modernity: A History, 1789-2007 (Book)

2010 Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies
Date: 4/12/2011 12:00:00 AM
Organization: Association for the Study of Nationalities [link]
Abstract: Carter Vaughn Findley has written an important book on the Ottoman and Turkish past that provides insights for the future of the Turkish Republic. Findley beautifully illustrates the simultaneous colonial and anti-colonial challenges that the Ottoman elites faced in the 19th century. Distancing himself from the voluminous literature that views Modern Turkish history as a linear progression and triumph of secularism over Islam, Findley highlights the dialectic between radical/secularizing and conservative/Islamic currents and reminds us that both are consistent with Gokalp's classic definition of Turkishness from the turn of the 20th century. Turkey, Islam. Nationalism, and Modernity accurately reconstructs the various intellectual currents and brings to life a wide range of literary products. This is a work of a historian that provides insight for developments both in electoral politics and the politics of identity in contemporary Turkey.

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