Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TRANSIMAMS (Spreading Whose Word? Transnational Imams, Religion and Politics in Turkey’s Mosques Abroad (France, UK, USA))
Reporting period: 2020-11-01 to 2021-10-31
This research project investigates the religious policy of the Turkish state towards its diasporas and the global Muslim communities in the UK, France, and the USA. The ethnographic examination focuses on translational Turkish mosques and their imams sent by the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The project evaluates the modalities and limits of the Turkish religious policy by concentrating on the training, motivations, mobility, and achievements of transnational imams and their mosques, as well as the various ways they are perceived by the local Turkish and global Muslim communities who host them. The research provides a comprehensive picture of Turkish religious policies and its quest for global Muslim leadership in transnational settings. Ethnographically grounded examination of this Islamist transnational ideology and its reception on the ground helps us to better understand some of the pressing issues and debates around Islam and Muslims in the West, Islamophobia, and transnational religious ideologies and mobilisations. Therefore, the research findings and outputs will benefit the interested scientific community, the wider society, and policy making.
The overall objectives are;
1. critical evaluation of the so-called “Turkish soft power” and its religious dimension to question the limits of the Turkish state policy towards Muslim diasporas.
2. an innovative approach to the circulation of a Turkish version of political Islam through the mobility of its main vectors, the “transnational imams.”
3. a qualitative analysis of the reception of this religious policy in the Turkish diaspora and the global Muslim communities settled in France, the U.K and the U.S.
The main conclusions of the research are;
1. Turkish mosques are not just an apparatus of transnational governmentalities but important hubs for the social, cultural, and religious affairs of Turkish diasporas.
2. Although the Turkish state's religious policies aim to broaden the influence of Turkish Islam among the global Muslim communities, this influence is limited because
a. of the neo-Ottomanist and neo-imperial ideals of the Turkish state, circumventing its reach beyond ethnic Turkish communities.
b. of the human resources capacity of the Diyanet imams who are not equipped to fulfill the political goals of the state
c. of the ethnic, religious, political and cultural diversity of the global Muslim communities and their varying needs going beyond the capacity of the Turkish mosques to accommodate such needs.
3. Generational differences, gender, class, and ethnicity shape the reception of the Turkish religious policies, resulting in a plurality of perspectives.
The overall objectives are;
1. critical evaluation of the so-called “Turkish soft power” and its religious dimension to question the limits of the Turkish state policy towards Muslim diasporas.
2. an innovative approach to the circulation of a Turkish version of political Islam through the mobility of its main vectors, the “transnational imams.”
3. a qualitative analysis of the reception of this religious policy in the Turkish diaspora and the global Muslim communities settled in France, the U.K and the U.S.
The main conclusions of the research are;
1. Turkish mosques are not just an apparatus of transnational governmentalities but important hubs for the social, cultural, and religious affairs of Turkish diasporas.
2. Although the Turkish state's religious policies aim to broaden the influence of Turkish Islam among the global Muslim communities, this influence is limited because
a. of the neo-Ottomanist and neo-imperial ideals of the Turkish state, circumventing its reach beyond ethnic Turkish communities.
b. of the human resources capacity of the Diyanet imams who are not equipped to fulfill the political goals of the state
c. of the ethnic, religious, political and cultural diversity of the global Muslim communities and their varying needs going beyond the capacity of the Turkish mosques to accommodate such needs.
3. Generational differences, gender, class, and ethnicity shape the reception of the Turkish religious policies, resulting in a plurality of perspectives.
1. Literature review: Evaluation of existing literature focusing on transnational Islam and Muslim communities.
2. Fieldwork in France, the ,UK and the USA: 51 interviews and three focus group interviews are conducted with imams, religious personnel and attendees of the transnational Turkish mosques.
3. Training: The researcher completed several training programs and received training certificates at the LSE and Yale University.
4. Teaching: As an outcome of the PGCertHE training, the researcher developed two courses in his area of expertise (Transnational Islam and Muslim Communities; Decolonizing Kurdistan: People, History and Politics) and taught them at Yale University.
5. Publications: The researcher completed three research articles; two of them are already published in the HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (2022, Vol. 12/1) and Social Research: An International Quarterly (2021, 88/4) and a third article is forthcoming in the journal of Contemporary Islam. Furthermore, He is working on a major research article to be submitted to Comparative Studies in Society and History and working on an edited book proposal on Turkish Islam and its transnational reverberations.
6. Dissemination: The researcher shared his research findings in several international conferences, universities and virtual platforms such as the Middle East Studies Association conference in 2019, Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) annual conference in 2021, and the European Association for Social anthropologists (EASA) Biennial Conference (2022). He has also presented his work at invited talks and public lectures at Stanford University’s Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, LSE Middle East Centre, Madison Committee on Foreign Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, New School for Social Research, and Yale and Brown Universities' Middle East Centers. Furthermore, he participated in Yale University’s MacMillan Report program on YouTube to discuss his book on Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey. He organised the Yale Turkey Webinar Series and brought together several sociologists and anthropologists to explore current research on Turkish Islam and its transnational reverberations in Europe, the USA, Africa and the Balkans. Finally, he organized a workshop at the LSE, bringing together scholars and experts, and stakeholders to discuss the religious policies of Turkey and the integration of Muslim communities in Europe and beyond.
7. Participating in Workshops and networking events: The researcher participated in and presented his research findings in several workshops and study groups and attended numerous talks, panels and conferences organized at the Council on Middle East Studies at Yale University, the LSE Middle East Centre and European Institute.
2. Fieldwork in France, the ,UK and the USA: 51 interviews and three focus group interviews are conducted with imams, religious personnel and attendees of the transnational Turkish mosques.
3. Training: The researcher completed several training programs and received training certificates at the LSE and Yale University.
4. Teaching: As an outcome of the PGCertHE training, the researcher developed two courses in his area of expertise (Transnational Islam and Muslim Communities; Decolonizing Kurdistan: People, History and Politics) and taught them at Yale University.
5. Publications: The researcher completed three research articles; two of them are already published in the HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (2022, Vol. 12/1) and Social Research: An International Quarterly (2021, 88/4) and a third article is forthcoming in the journal of Contemporary Islam. Furthermore, He is working on a major research article to be submitted to Comparative Studies in Society and History and working on an edited book proposal on Turkish Islam and its transnational reverberations.
6. Dissemination: The researcher shared his research findings in several international conferences, universities and virtual platforms such as the Middle East Studies Association conference in 2019, Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) annual conference in 2021, and the European Association for Social anthropologists (EASA) Biennial Conference (2022). He has also presented his work at invited talks and public lectures at Stanford University’s Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, LSE Middle East Centre, Madison Committee on Foreign Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, New School for Social Research, and Yale and Brown Universities' Middle East Centers. Furthermore, he participated in Yale University’s MacMillan Report program on YouTube to discuss his book on Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey. He organised the Yale Turkey Webinar Series and brought together several sociologists and anthropologists to explore current research on Turkish Islam and its transnational reverberations in Europe, the USA, Africa and the Balkans. Finally, he organized a workshop at the LSE, bringing together scholars and experts, and stakeholders to discuss the religious policies of Turkey and the integration of Muslim communities in Europe and beyond.
7. Participating in Workshops and networking events: The researcher participated in and presented his research findings in several workshops and study groups and attended numerous talks, panels and conferences organized at the Council on Middle East Studies at Yale University, the LSE Middle East Centre and European Institute.
The research adopts an ethnographic and sociological approach that places the “transnational mosques and imams” at the core of the research as the main vectors of Turkish religious policies in transnational settings. By concentrating on the lived experience of Turkish and global Muslim communities around the Turkish mosques, the research, therefore, contributes to a critical approach to soft power, arguing that subaltern agents and interactions on the ground are as decisive as policymakers in promoting national and religious ideologies abroad.
The project achieved all of these objectives via ethnographically grounded research that brings the voice and perspectives of these subaltern agents. Their perspectives bring an original contribution to the existing literature by challenging most of the assumptions made and enabling the scientific community and the policymakers to better understand how religious institutions operate in transnational settings and to what extent the influence of national policies determines the social and political lives of its diasporas. The most important impact of the research project on society has been its ethnography-based findings in understanding the modalities and limits of the Turkish religious policies as well as its reception by the diverse transnational Muslim communities living in the UK, USA, and France. The comparative aspect of the research also enables policymakers to understand the extent of parallels and divergences in the Muslim affairs of Turkish and Kurdish communities originating from Turkey. Furthermore, it allows policymakers to make more informed decisions and develop better strategies to integrate their Muslim communities and prevent nationalist fanatism triggered by the neo-imperial policies of Turkey under an Islamist regime.
The project achieved all of these objectives via ethnographically grounded research that brings the voice and perspectives of these subaltern agents. Their perspectives bring an original contribution to the existing literature by challenging most of the assumptions made and enabling the scientific community and the policymakers to better understand how religious institutions operate in transnational settings and to what extent the influence of national policies determines the social and political lives of its diasporas. The most important impact of the research project on society has been its ethnography-based findings in understanding the modalities and limits of the Turkish religious policies as well as its reception by the diverse transnational Muslim communities living in the UK, USA, and France. The comparative aspect of the research also enables policymakers to understand the extent of parallels and divergences in the Muslim affairs of Turkish and Kurdish communities originating from Turkey. Furthermore, it allows policymakers to make more informed decisions and develop better strategies to integrate their Muslim communities and prevent nationalist fanatism triggered by the neo-imperial policies of Turkey under an Islamist regime.