Social Change among the Alevi People in Turkey : An Anthropological Analysis of Religious Authority and Social Category

<p>How have researchers treated social change in the religious arena, providing analytical concepts that can essentialize a religion into anthropological studies? Most anthropologists have criticized the use of terms that essentialize a religion due to the set of indigenousness before social change and the level of social change. How do people identify themselves concerning religion amidst social change? In this article, I deal with the "Sunnitization" of the Alevi community in the Republic of Turkey as a case study. Numerically, the approx. 15 million Alevis in Turkey constitute a large heterodox religious community. The Alevis are predominantly Turkish-speaking, but also include a great number of the Kurdish and Zaza speakers [VAN BRUINESSEN 1997]. During the Ottoman period, Alevism emerged from the numerous heterodox groups of Anatolia that had close religious and military links to the Safavids in Iran. Due to the relationship with the Safavids, the Alevis have been persecuted by Sunnis for a long time. The persecutions caused many to withdraw to remote areas to escape repression. From such social and geographical marginality, and after the decline of the political violence of the movement, Alevism appears to have emerged as a distinct socio-religious community [KEHL-BODROGI 1997]. The manifold radical social and political changes following the proclamation of the Republic divested the outside world of its hostile character, and led to the gradual opening of the community. Alevis welcomed the Republic, considering the basic principles of laicism and nationalism as the best guarantors for putting an end to their religious discrimination. The majority of them used to identify with Kemalists or secularists. However, a radical change occurred in the course of general political developments, triggered by the military coup in Turkey in 1980. Especially, the revival of the Islamist movement (Cemaat), along with a governmental Islamization policy, deeply influenced Alevism. Many Alevi people were forced to redefine themselves as Muslims against the Sunni majority. There is even the self-assertion that it is the Alevi people who are the real Turkish Muslims, rather than the Sunnis, and that it is the Alevis who practice the original Islam. Generally speaking, it is said that Alevis do not practice the five pillars of Islam. For example, it is said that Alevis do not go to the mosque to pray five times a day, and they do not fast during Ramadan. The social changes influenced by the Islamic revival have brought Islamic religious practices into the Alevi community. Some Alevis have begun to practice the five Islamic pillars. The previous studies concerning social changes of the Alevi community have regarded such phenomena as "Sunnitized Alevism." However, that point of view does not reflect the self-assertion of the Alevi people correctly. The purpose of this article is to reconsider the Sunnitization of the Alevi community in Turkey, to examine the reasons why previous studies often use the term Sunnitization incorrectly,and to suggest some ways to dissect the analytical problem of social change. The article first mentions that research about Alevi villages, in which people practice the five Sunni-Islamic pillars, consider themselves to be the "Sunnitized Alevi community," observing the superficial change of religious practices. I then show that reservations are needed to define it from the viewpoint of correct ethnographical understanding (Chapter II). In that respect, I refer to SASHIMA [2002] and SHANKLAND [1999; 2003a; 2003b] as objects of study. Secondly, I reveal that the most important thing for a person to identify himself or herself as an Alevi is to belong to an ocak structure. no matter whether they practice Alevi (Sunni) rituals or not. The term ocak literally means "household." In the Alevi community, ocak stands for the Holy</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>