Sociology in Turkey

Sociology in Turkey has went through several stages of development beginning with proto-sociologies in the 16th and 17th century. In the mid 19th century, sociology was taught within philosophy departments, and it uncritically adopted Western social theories and neglected research. In reaction to the rise of Western liberalism among several intellectuals, the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II suspended the constitution and forced liberal thinkers into voluntary or involuntary exile. The resulting division between Western liberalism and Pan-Islamism ultimately resulted in the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, with the latter the victors.

Following the 1908 revolution, sociological thinkers attempted to discern the foundations of Europeanization so as to graft Western social organization onto Ottoman institutions and Turkish culture. The sociologists of the time were heavily influenced by European, mainly French, sociologists. During and after the events leading to the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923), the purported father of Turkish sociology, Ziya Gökalp, argued for a break from Ottoman and Western ideologies. Instead he contended that Pan-Turkism was the appropriate basis of the new nation-state, which influenced the Kemalist foundation of modern Turkey. This connection between sociology and the development of the nation-state continues to be a strong theme in contemporary sociological thought in Turkey. Sociology in Turkey was again influenced heavily by the influx of German thinkers during the Second World War and later by American sociology. Today, Turkish sociology is taught as the study of social problems using scientific research methods.

Although there have been six difference associations established to further social thought in Turkey, the current Turkish Sociological Association was established in 1990 in Ankara with 40 members, by 2010 the association had 600 members. The association began publishing one bi-annual, peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Social Research (Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi) in 1998.

Mustafa Reşid Pasha (1779–1858) was an Ottoman statesman and diplomat, known best as the chief architect behind the Ottoman government reforms known as Tanzimat. He was the ambassador to France and the United Kingdom where he came into contact with Western social thought. He specifically communicated with Silvestre de Sacy and Auguste Comte. "His communication with Comte concerning methods of improving Ottoman government and society may very well represent the first direct contact of an Ottoman leader with Western sociological thought."

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Wikipedia