Classificatory struggles and alliance formation in Alevi politics

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2586138_(Table of contents)

The state creates classification systems and draws the boundaries of political, legal, bureaucratic, religious, and social fields. The criteria of classification are translated into laws and lays the ground for state and government policies. Social groups who are adversely classified tend to challenge the boundaries, definitions, categories, and status forced on them by the state. However, the amount of power that the state holds allows it not only to decide what is legal or legitimate but also to influence the redistribution of economic, cultural, social, and symbolic capitals which are much needed by the dissidents. Thus, the classification struggle between the state and social groups is also class struggle for resources. This thesis investigates the classification struggle in the political and religious field between the Alevi community and the Turkish state. Alevis have been categorized as a heterodox religious group, but they are not legally recognized by the state, which limits their access to resources. The analysis draws attention to the state’s symbolic violence and ethnocidal policies and Alevis’ strategies of resistance. Following Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology, this thesis employs a dynamic and relational perspective while examining the religious and political field and the Alevi – state relations.