MİLEL VE NİHAL
journal for studies of belief, culture and mythology

Volume: 4 number:1
 Junuary - April 2007

Some  Remarks on Socio-cultural
and Political Aspects of Alevism

Yasin AKTAY

Abstract: In this article the validity of some claims concerning the history and essence of Alevitism is examined. Alevitism as an identity and culture in Turkey is discovered and the claims about what its essence is are trying to base themselves by reference to history. The applications to history create some different and contradicting frames and forms of Alevitism. All this forms, however, claims to exclusively represent the essence of Alevitism. This article tries to show that all these claims are defected by the same shortcomings of all kind of essentialisms. The cultures are being composed within the course of history by way of several social synthesis and encounters. These encounters make such attribution of an essence to any cultural phenomenon impossible. Alevitism has some dimensions belonging to a rural kind of religiosity. By this aspect it is mentioned that it is very close to the folk religiosity of rural Sunnism. The Alevis have never made any demand of a religious kind from the state during the history of the Republic, but they always have maintained their political alliances and demands outside of religious domains. Therefore it is indicated that it is above all the Alevis as such who neglected themselves in religious sphere. Therefore today the religious demands of the Alevis contain the difficulties and ambiguities resulted by a kind of historical retardation.

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