Title: Living Islam: Women, Religion and the Politicization of Culture in Turkey
Abstract: Living Islam: Women, Religion and Politicization of Culture in by Ayse Saktanber. London, UK and New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2002. xxxii + 239 pages. Appends, to p.248. Bibl. to p. 266. Index to p. 277. $59.50. Reviewed by Emelie A. Olson This book is a welcome addition to a very small corpus of studies on women in Turkey. Together with Jenny White's Islamist Mobilization in Turkey,1 also published in 2002, this greatly expands information available in English on this important subject. Saktanber also represents a relatively new interest among social scientists in scholarly study more generally of contemporary Islam in Turkey. In a criticism of Turkish polity and society, Saktanber herself notes that Islamic revival in Turkey has been seen primarily as an incomprehensible problem which needs to be eradicated because it represents a resurgence of backwardness, ignorance and bigotry (p. xviii), rather than a process from which something can be learned. It is latter project of understanding which is one of primary aims of this book. This study explicitly addresses two issues: 1) claims of some Sunni Islamic activists about what Islam actually and 2) the efforts of these groups to create an Islamic way of in a secular order, but main emphasis is on latter (p. xv). In her field study, Saktanber focuses on a self-defined, residential community of conscious Muslims in Ankara, capital city of Turkey. Most of her interactions were with women, which is congruent with central concern of book: why women are target of Islamic revivalism and how they came to be chief actors in effort to build an Islamic way of life (p. xxv). In contrast to questions usually asked, which reflect a perception of Islamism as a negative phenomenon, author attempts to determine kind of questions asked by those who want to make Islam their essential guide to legal, political, cultural and social in Turkey, that is, Islamists themselves (p. xx). The description and analysis of this community are embedded in a complex discussion of theory related to Islam, modernization, and secularization. Accordingly, longest chapter in book is devoted to Saktanber's interpretation of history of republican secular politics from before founding of republic to present. These discussions provide a rich context for another long chapter titled, Inventing Islamic Way of Life. It uses long excerpts from women's interview narratives to illustrate some of main themes and variations in their lives, which are among most valuable contributions of this book to understanding of living Islam. …
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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