- DCPS
Campus Luigi Einaudi
Lungo Dora Siena 100/A
10153 Torino
Italy
- Political Science, Modern Turkey, Social Problems, Turkish politics, Gender Studies, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), and 22 moreWomen and Gender Issues in Islam, Diyanet Işleri Başkanlığı, Islamic preachers, Turkish Studies, Türkiye, Female Islamic Religious Authority, Religion and Social Welfare, Street-Level Bureaucracy, Turkey, Islam in Turkey, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Critical Policy Studies, Interpretative Research, Interpretative Policy, Gender and Islam, Politics of the Family, Politics of Secularism, Secularization, Secularisms and Secularities, Anthropology of the State, Sociology of islam, and Religion & the Public Sphereedit
- Junior Assistant Professor (RTD-A) "Seal of Excellence" | Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of... moreJunior Assistant Professor (RTD-A) "Seal of Excellence" | Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin
Ph.D. Political Science and international Relations | University of Turin
MA Res. Sociologie Politique | Sciences Po Bordeaux
personal is political.edit
Research Interests:
Negli ultimi decenni il volto dell'Europa si è fatto sempre più plurale, non solo sul versante etnico ma anche su quello religioso. È tornato così in primo piano il tema della libertà, inclusa quella religiosa, intesa quale di-ritto... more
Negli ultimi decenni il volto dell'Europa si è fatto sempre più plurale, non solo sul versante etnico ma anche su quello religioso. È tornato così in primo piano il tema della libertà, inclusa quella religiosa, intesa quale di-ritto umano. Il volume analizza il complesso intreccio tra religioni e diritti umani nel contesto italiano, muovendo dal caso storico di due importanti minoranze come quella ebraica e quella valdese, fino agli attuali flussi migratori e, nello specifico, alla loro componente musulmana. Attraverso una prospettiva sociologica, che si avvale anche di competenze storico-politiche e storico-sociali, il testo mette in risalto come il concreto rico-noscimento della libertà religiosa possa essere un mezzo per costruire una convivenza pacifica e rispettosa dell'altro in un paese multiculturale. SARA LAGI insegna Storia del pensiero politico all'Università di Torino. CHIARA MARITATO è assegnista di ricerca all'Università di Torino. ROBERTA RICUCCI insegna Sociologia delle mobilità internazionali e Socio-logia dell'islam all'Università di Torino. Con il Mulino ha pubblicato, fra gli altri, «Diversi dall'Islam. Figli dell'immigrazione e altre fedi» (2017). D 15,00 Progetto grafico: Alberto Bernini Questa collana ospita qualificati lavori di studiosi che operano nel campo delle scienze della politica e della società. Tali lavori mirano a distinguersi per l'importanza e l'originalità dei temi trattati, per l'in-dividuazione di nuovi e promettenti campi di studio , per il contributo offerto al dibattito pubblico, per la capacità di comunicare la conoscenza e per la trattazione approfondita e critica dei processi che riguardano la vita individuale e collettiva. Luigi Bobbio e Franca Roncarolo (a cura di), I media e le politiche. Come i giornali raccontano le scelte pub-bliche che riguardano la vita dei cittadini Lia Tirabeni, Lunga vita all'impresa familiare. Cul-tura, leadership, passaggio generazionale Federica Morelli e Sofia Venturoli (a cura di), Geogra-fia, razza e territorio. Agostino Codazzi e la Commis-sione Corografica in Colombia Sara Lagi, Chiara Maritato e Roberta Ricucci, Reli-gione e diritti umani nell'Italia multiculturale Volumi pubblicati nella collana
Presentata come un “paradiso sicuro” seppur costantemente minacciato da forze esterne, la famiglia è uno dei leitmotiv del Partito della Giustizia e dello Sviluppo (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) al potere in Turchia dal 2002. Qual è il... more
Presentata come un “paradiso sicuro” seppur costantemente minacciato da forze esterne, la famiglia è uno dei leitmotiv del Partito della Giustizia e dello Sviluppo (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) al potere in Turchia dal 2002. Qual è il modello di famiglia che l’AKP si propone di difendere? Da quali minacce va protetto? Con quali mezzi e, soprattutto, per quali fini? Il libro pone in evidenza come la retorica della famiglia turca tradizionale richiami due importanti questioni: da una parte il rapporto tra famiglia e Stato, inteso come assistenza sociale e politiche per la famiglia, dall’altra quello tra famiglia e religione, inteso come supporto morale e guida spirituale.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Since the COVID-19 emergency broke out, Turkish state institutions have become crucial in governing diaspora communities facing lockdown measures and forced separation from their homeland. Being the first European country strongly... more
Since the COVID-19 emergency broke out, Turkish state institutions have become crucial in governing diaspora communities facing lockdown measures and forced separation from their homeland. Being the first European country strongly affected by COVID-19, where massive lockdown measures were put in place, Italy is a relevant case to analyze. Retracing the scope and scale of the online activities organized during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper investigates how the Turkish state supported the Turkey-originated population living in Italy. The analysis draws on interviews with Diyanet religious officers sent from Ankara to serve the Diyanet's branches (DITIB) in different Italian cities and with the religious attaché employed in the Turkish Consulate in Milan who supervises them. The interviews have been corroborated by a vast collection of visual materials including brochures, videos and posters published on the YouTube channel and the official Facebook pages of the DITIB cultural centers in Italy. Our data show that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, online seminars enabled Turkey's connection with the diaspora to be strengthened, using the emergency situation as a starting point for enhancing family programs and fostering Muslim-Turkish belonging in all aspects of life.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Relying on Foucault's concept of pastoral power, the article scrutinizes the role of religious officers who are employed by Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and serve Turkish Muslim communities in Europe. It... more
Relying on Foucault's concept of pastoral power, the article scrutinizes the role of religious officers who are employed by Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and serve Turkish Muslim communities in Europe. It investigates how state-led diaspora institutions operate at a micro-level and what they reveal about the state's governmentality outside its territory. In order to parse the pastoral actors' empirically visible agency, the work draws on ethnographic observations of the religious officers' activities in the Diyanet's mosques in Austria. It outlines (i) how Diyanet officers' pastoral practices go beyond the mosques and manifest in a wide range of socio-cultural religious services aimed at reaching diaspora communities, (ii) the relation between Diyanet officers' activities and the Turkish state's extraterritorial practices and discourse aimed to promoting obedience to the authorities and love for the motherland, and (iii) how t...
Research Interests:
This article investigates how a pioneering group of feminist theologians and activists—who had offered women-centred interpretations of sacred texts, criticized misogynous practices for being at odds with the original spirit of Islam and... more
This article investigates how a pioneering group of feminist theologians and activists—who had offered women-centred interpretations of sacred texts, criticized misogynous practices for being at odds with the original spirit of Islam and launched projects to combat violence against women—came to be included in the bureaucracy of Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, Diyanet. Drawing on interviews with women who were personally involved and an analysis of the Diyanet’s reports and publications (2003–2016) regarding women, the work shows that bureaucratization per se is not necessarily synonymous with the silencing of collective claims or innovative stances. It outlines i) that the first phase of the transition from the pious women’s activism to them occupying positions in the bureaucracy was shaped by cooperation between state institutions and civil society organizations that included feminist activists and ii) how, since 2013, the AKP’s drift towards authoritarianism, the change in power structures within the Diyanet and the redefinition of the relationship between the state and non-governmental civil society organizations have quashed and marginalized progressive and feminist approaches that had initially been included in the bureaucracy.
Research Interests:
With the inclusion of women among the religious officers of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) who are serving abroad, the “ideal Turkish family” has become the main program underlying projects and activities oriented towards... more
With the inclusion of women among the religious officers of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) who are serving abroad, the “ideal Turkish family” has become the main program underlying projects and activities oriented towards women, families, and young people. This international mission has led to an expansion of religious services and moral support in order to reinforce a religion–nation–family nexus within the diaspora. This article examines how the Diyanet officers reproduce the Islam–nation–family intersection as a discourse to be propagated to the diaspora, and whether this narrative reinforces Turkey’s attempts to create loyalty to Turkey within the diaspora. Based on ethnographic observations, an analysis of Diyanet official publications, and interviews with Diyanet officers at mosques in Vienna and Stockholm, this article shows the extent to which the Diyanet’s international mission is a catalyst for the dissemination of nationalist, moral, and religious values within the diaspora, how Diyanet officers are actively involved in fostering a religious-national discourse within diaspora communities and how they specifically reinforce the connection between Islam, the Turkish nation, and the traditional Turkish family.
Research Interests:
Ceren Lord, in her Religious Politics in Turkey: From the Birth of the Republic to the AKP, challenges the conventional wisdom that sees Islamism as a mass movement that contested the secularist to...
Research Interests:
The article investigates the revitalization of the EU-Turkey migration diplomacy in the light of the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. The Statement, which was aimed at stemming irregular migrations directed to the EU, contributed to strengthen... more
The article investigates the revitalization of the EU-Turkey migration diplomacy in the light of the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. The Statement, which was aimed at stemming irregular migrations directed to the EU, contributed to strengthen the image of Turkey as a champion in hosting Syrian refugees and a trusted gatekeeper tasked with the control of the EU external borders. How has the management of a humanitarian crisis and massive migration flows affected post 2016 Turkey-EU migration diplomacy? The article contends that Turkey’s claim for moral superiority on the management of refugees despite the material weakness vis-à-vis the West has been employed to galvanize a coercive migration diplomacy and redefine Turkish approach to the EU migration regime.
Relying on Foucault's concept of pastoral power, the article scrutinizes the role of religious officers who are employed by Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and serve Turkish Muslim communities in Europe. It investigates... more
Relying on Foucault's concept of pastoral power, the article scrutinizes the role of religious officers who are employed by Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and serve Turkish Muslim communities in Europe. It investigates how state-led diaspora institutions operate at a micro-level and what they reveal about the state's governmentality outside its territory. In order to parse the pastoral actors' empirically visible agency, the work draws on ethnographic observations of the religious officers' activities in the Diyanet's mosques in Austria. It outlines (i) how Diyanet officers' pastoral practices go beyond the mosques and manifest in a wide range of socio-cultural religious services aimed at reaching diaspora communities, (ii) the relation between Diyanet officers' activities and the Turkish state's extraterritorial practices and discourse aimed to promoting obedience to the authorities and love for the motherland, and (iii) how the interaction between Diyanet officers and the flock shape people's perception of themselves as a community while remapping the boundaries of a Turkish and Muslim belonging in essentialist terms.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Despite scholars’ tremendous interest in the dynamics of Turkish laicism, little to no attention has been paid to the actors and the practices through which Islamic morality is propagated among society every day. This article investigates... more
Despite scholars’ tremendous interest in the dynamics of Turkish laicism, little to no attention has been paid to the actors and the practices through which Islamic morality is propagated among society every day. This article investigates the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet)’s policy that has been increasing the number of women working as preachers since 2003. To what extent and how does the employment of the Diyanet’s women preachers affect the way in which religion and Islamic public morality grow and are spread in Turkey today? What specifically is women’s contribution in this respect? Drawing on an ethnographic observation of the Diyanet’s women preachers’ activities in Istanbul mosques, the article outlines how they contribute to reshaping Turkish laicism while diffusing Islamic morality in the public space.
Research Interests:
Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of female religious officers have been employed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and regularly sent to European countries. Tasked with providing religious knowledge and moral... more
Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of female religious officers have been employed by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and regularly sent to European countries. Tasked with providing religious knowledge and moral support to women, their engagement epitomises Diyanet’s contribution to the AKP government’s wide-ranging international mission aimed at reaching Turkish citizens living abroad. To assess the significance of the activities organised for Turkish women migrated to Europe, the paper aims to answer the following questions: How does the ‘export’ of Diyanet female religious officers fit into Diyanet’s grip on international affairs? What is women’s contribution in this respect? And how do the activities of Diyanet women preachers in Europe reflect Turkey’s current diaspora policies? Drawing on ethnographic observation and interviews with the Diyanet female officers in Vienna and Stockholm mosques, this contribution concludes that Diyanet officers’ role and agency abroad is the result of a combination of two concomitant and interconnected factors The paper argues that female religious officers’ activities abroad should be included in a multifaceted reconfiguration of: i) the Diyanet’s long lasting international mission; ii) the role women play in the diffusion of religious knowledge and morality; iii) the boundaries between Turkey’s religious and diaspora policies.
Research Interests:
For centuries, Rome and Istanbul have been representing and epitomizing two empires and two entities with both significant spiritual and temporal power: the Papacy and the Caliphate. During the 19th and the 20th centuries, these... more
For centuries, Rome and Istanbul have been representing and epitomizing two empires and two entities with both significant spiritual and temporal power: the Papacy and the Caliphate. During the 19th and the 20th centuries, these institutions underwent significant changes in a context of state secularization: in the case of the Papacy, there was a loss of temporal power and its “reduction” to a mainly moral authority; the Caliphate, on the other hand, was abolished after World War I, succeeded by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), a bureaucratic body under state control, founded in the era of Kemalist secularism. Despite these changes, today both institutions still play a significant role in the public life and public policies of the Italian and the Turkish republics. While the Vatican is able to influence the Italian public sphere and public discourse through both its influence on common people and its lobbying activities in relation to political decision-makers, in Turkey the Diyanet has become the main tool in the reshaping of Turkish society (both by the Kemalists and, later, by Erdoğan's AKP). This paper will analyze their influence on the two countries’ public policies in relation to religious pluralism and to family-related issues, to show how different ideas of secularism, institutional arrangements, and historical paths have led to a very different role of the two institutions in the Italian and Turkish political systems.
Research Interests:
This article addresses the religious activities of the female preachers (vaizeler) employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). It investigates the extent to which, and how, the activities carried out by the... more
This article addresses the religious activities of the female preachers (vaizeler) employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). It investigates the extent to which, and how, the activities carried out by the Diyanet’s vaizeler are in compliance with a state attempt to standardise and control female religious engagement. As religious officers, the vaizeler both spread and embody an organised religion. However, far from any dichotomous perspective, to assert their religious authority the Diyanet’s preachers navigate daily between compliance with the institution’s dogmas and negotiation with a plurality of interpretations labelled as unofficial, popular and traditional. To fully assess this issue, this article refers to ethnographic observations of everyday vaizeler’s preaching activities in Istanbul’s mosques. Conducted between 2013 and 2014, these observations are crucial for contextualising the evolution of the Turkish state monopoly over religious affairs, particularly in the aftermath of the July 2016 attempted coup.
Research Interests:
Since 2003 the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has increased the number of female preachers (vaizeler). These state appointed professional female preachers are engaged in illuminating women and providing them with an... more
Since 2003 the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has increased the number of female preachers (vaizeler). These state appointed professional female preachers are engaged in illuminating women and providing them with an appropriate religious education. Within the frame of Turkish state’s regulation of religious affairs, this phenomenon is important since it calls into question both the state’s monopoly over religious officers and women’s access to the religious public realm. The article casts light on these issues by addressing the following questions: what does the Diyanet’s increase in female preachers reveal about the intertwined relationship between women, religion and the state in contemporary Turkey? Or, in other words, what does it reveal about the transformation of Turkey’s assertive secularism? Following year-long ethnographic observations of the vaizeler’s daily activities in three Istanbul districts (Bahçelievler, Üsküdar and Beşiktaş), this paper analyses the evolution of female religious engagement in Turkey. The concluding remarks highlight the trend of professionalisation and standardisation in the traditional activity of female preaching. The vaizeler’s sessions are also extremely telling of a broader and complex redefinition of Turkish secularism.
Research Interests:
The article addresses the religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled by a Turkish state institution, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Employed all over the country and abroad, these preachers are... more
The article addresses the religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled by a Turkish state institution, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).
Employed all over the country and abroad, these preachers are performing many activities that transcend the sacred places of mosques.
The study first investigates how concretely the Turkish state has promoted an increase in religious assistance for women and families.
Resulting from one year of ethnographic observations of the vaizeler's daily activities in Istanbul, this work enriches the debate concerning religion and the state in Turkey with an unconventional perspective: female moral support.
Employed all over the country and abroad, these preachers are performing many activities that transcend the sacred places of mosques.
The study first investigates how concretely the Turkish state has promoted an increase in religious assistance for women and families.
Resulting from one year of ethnographic observations of the vaizeler's daily activities in Istanbul, this work enriches the debate concerning religion and the state in Turkey with an unconventional perspective: female moral support.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The article deals with the historical foundation of the Italian Workers' Mutual Aid Society in Constantinople (Società Operaia Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso in Costantinopoli) pointing out its peculiarity for any researches on the historical... more
The article deals with the historical foundation of the Italian Workers' Mutual Aid Society in Constantinople (Società Operaia Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso in Costantinopoli) pointing out its peculiarity for any researches on the historical Italian community in Istanbul. Since its foundation in 1863, the Society, like other similar institutions founded all over Europe, had two main different tasks: the mutual aid and assistance directed towards the workers and their families; and the patriotic engagement for the freedom and the unity of Italy.
The article's aim is to study the role of the Società Operaia in improving the workers’ living condition and the development of mutual aid among the members in case of disease or inability of working. In this sense this Institution can be counted among the associations that during the XIX century contributed to the working classes' welfare and well being. The mutual aid, the material assistance and the charity granted to the workers and their families is then a reflecting mirror to study the integration and the labor condition of minorities under the Ottoman Empire.
By reading the meeting minutes of the Society, the official documents and the historical press, we face a reality different from the one portrayed in Edmondo De Amicis and Pierre Loti novels: the Italian workers immigrated in the Ottoman Empire after the 1848-1849 European crisis, were generally fleeing misery and wars. That is the reason why the communitarian assistance, that they were able to implement under the Ottoman Empire, mark a starting point for new searches on labor history and migration.
The article's aim is to study the role of the Società Operaia in improving the workers’ living condition and the development of mutual aid among the members in case of disease or inability of working. In this sense this Institution can be counted among the associations that during the XIX century contributed to the working classes' welfare and well being. The mutual aid, the material assistance and the charity granted to the workers and their families is then a reflecting mirror to study the integration and the labor condition of minorities under the Ottoman Empire.
By reading the meeting minutes of the Society, the official documents and the historical press, we face a reality different from the one portrayed in Edmondo De Amicis and Pierre Loti novels: the Italian workers immigrated in the Ottoman Empire after the 1848-1849 European crisis, were generally fleeing misery and wars. That is the reason why the communitarian assistance, that they were able to implement under the Ottoman Empire, mark a starting point for new searches on labor history and migration.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The work deals with an institution, the vaize (female preacher), employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). In the last decade, its role and competences have risen to to prominence particularly after the Diyanet’s... more
The work deals with an institution, the vaize (female preacher), employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). In the last decade, its role and competences have risen to to prominence particularly after the Diyanet’s decision to increase the number and competences of its female personnel. Since the early 2000s, women working as preachers (vaizeler) and Qur’an teachers have been employed all over the country, through the local and provincial Diyanet’s Mufti Offices. What is described as a “new gender policy” consists of a threefold institution’s strategy aimed at: inviting women to participate in mosque’s public realm; providing female populace with religious educations; and, finally, offering religious guidance and moral support to women and families.
For the purpose of investigating forms and meanings of this state policy concerning religious affairs, the work retraces how the Diyanet has employed more and more religiously highly qualified women. This should be related to Turkish assertive laicism and how it entailed intertwined relationships between women, religion and the state. To assess the meanings of a pious female bureaucracy engaged in the religious public realm, this research resorted to ethnographic observations of the daily activities performed by the Diyanet’s female preachers.
For the purpose of investigating forms and meanings of this state policy concerning religious affairs, the work retraces how the Diyanet has employed more and more religiously highly qualified women. This should be related to Turkish assertive laicism and how it entailed intertwined relationships between women, religion and the state. To assess the meanings of a pious female bureaucracy engaged in the religious public realm, this research resorted to ethnographic observations of the daily activities performed by the Diyanet’s female preachers.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Call for abstracts SISP (Società Italiana di Scienza Politica) Annual Conference 6/8 September 2018, University of Turin Section 6 - Participation and social movements Panel 2: Political Participation and Mobilisations in... more
Call for abstracts
SISP (Società Italiana di Scienza Politica) Annual Conference
6/8 September 2018, University of Turin
Section 6 - Participation and social movements
Panel 2: Political Participation and Mobilisations in Authoritarian Contexts: Beyond Crisis
We invite papers with original empirical data and theoretical/analytical reflections from diverse disciplines including anthropology, history, political science and sociology.
Deadline for paper abstract submission: 20th May 2018
Paper abstracts must be max 2,500 characters long and must be submitted ONLY through the MySISP online platform.
Guidelines: https://www.sisp.it/annual_conference_brief_eng
SISP (Società Italiana di Scienza Politica) Annual Conference
6/8 September 2018, University of Turin
Section 6 - Participation and social movements
Panel 2: Political Participation and Mobilisations in Authoritarian Contexts: Beyond Crisis
We invite papers with original empirical data and theoretical/analytical reflections from diverse disciplines including anthropology, history, political science and sociology.
Deadline for paper abstract submission: 20th May 2018
Paper abstracts must be max 2,500 characters long and must be submitted ONLY through the MySISP online platform.
Guidelines: https://www.sisp.it/annual_conference_brief_eng
Research Interests:
Paper presented at the Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey (CEST) Symposium, SciencesPo Paris, 1-2.12.2016 Panel 2. Politics and Policies from Below. Theoretical and Methodological Issues ------- This contribution addresses the... more
Paper presented at the Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey (CEST) Symposium, SciencesPo Paris, 1-2.12.2016
Panel 2. Politics and Policies from Below. Theoretical and
Methodological Issues
-------
This contribution addresses the key role played by reasoning and heuristics (Wagenaar 2011) in the elaboration of conceptual understanding of power relations regulating policies. In particular, it resorts to political ethnography to pay attention to the ways policies are performed in the everyday. Therefore, ethnographic observation, far from being the mere inclusion of a “human factor”, is employed to uncover the structural features of public policies (Dubois 2009). Within this framework, “politics from below” is conceived as a process related to an inductive reasoning balancing the practical immersion in the research’s fieldwork and the continuous reflection on the issues at a stake.
However, to conceptualise the meanings and practices of a policy requires being prone to a process of continuous questioning of both assumptions and received categories. The researcher engaged in this process is thus an interpreter (Yanow 1995) more than a translator in between social science and the socio-political context that is being scrutinized. One of the main challenges in defining “politics from below” definitely lies on the following question: to what extent and how are the fieldwork constituting the “below” and the formulation of analytical categories mutually shaped?
In the attempt to cast light on these issues, the work largely refers to the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet)’s policy aimed at employing an increasing number of female religious officers working as preachers (vaizeler). By directly observing the preachers (vaizeler)’s everyday engagement in providing women and families with religious services, the contribution alights on how a “pious female bureaucrat” has come to the foreground. The inclusion of devout women within the state bureaucracy calls into question the evolution of Turkish state’s boundaries over religion (Gourisse 2014:30-31) and urges to a broader redefinition of the intertwined relationship between women, religion and the state in contemporary Turkey.
Panel 2. Politics and Policies from Below. Theoretical and
Methodological Issues
-------
This contribution addresses the key role played by reasoning and heuristics (Wagenaar 2011) in the elaboration of conceptual understanding of power relations regulating policies. In particular, it resorts to political ethnography to pay attention to the ways policies are performed in the everyday. Therefore, ethnographic observation, far from being the mere inclusion of a “human factor”, is employed to uncover the structural features of public policies (Dubois 2009). Within this framework, “politics from below” is conceived as a process related to an inductive reasoning balancing the practical immersion in the research’s fieldwork and the continuous reflection on the issues at a stake.
However, to conceptualise the meanings and practices of a policy requires being prone to a process of continuous questioning of both assumptions and received categories. The researcher engaged in this process is thus an interpreter (Yanow 1995) more than a translator in between social science and the socio-political context that is being scrutinized. One of the main challenges in defining “politics from below” definitely lies on the following question: to what extent and how are the fieldwork constituting the “below” and the formulation of analytical categories mutually shaped?
In the attempt to cast light on these issues, the work largely refers to the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet)’s policy aimed at employing an increasing number of female religious officers working as preachers (vaizeler). By directly observing the preachers (vaizeler)’s everyday engagement in providing women and families with religious services, the contribution alights on how a “pious female bureaucrat” has come to the foreground. The inclusion of devout women within the state bureaucracy calls into question the evolution of Turkish state’s boundaries over religion (Gourisse 2014:30-31) and urges to a broader redefinition of the intertwined relationship between women, religion and the state in contemporary Turkey.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Paper presented at the Workshop 'Women’s religious agency: negotiating secularism and multiculturalism in everyday life'
Research Interests:
The article deals with the religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). As a state bureaucrat working for an institution charged of the management of... more
The article deals with the religious assistance provided by female preachers (vaizeler) enrolled by the Turkish
Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). As a state bureaucrat working for an institution charged of the management
of religious affairs, the vaizeler are both religious officers (din görevlisi) and religious scholars (hoca).
These female preachers are engaged in a number of activities going beyond the sacred place of the mosques; they direct
projects toward women and families, participate in panels organised by associations and academic conferences. The
emerging of a female professional religious experts providing moral assistance within the frame of Turkish state is thus
explored through the following question: how concretely the female preachers' daily activities are able to cast light on
the intertwined relations between religion and social assistance in Turkey?
In line with these considerations, the study focuses on the vaizeler's counselling activities directed toward women and
families at the Family Offices (AIRB) situated in the provincial and local Mufti Offices and the fatwa call centre ( Alo
fetva 190) service. Originating from a larger ethnographic fieldwork on the vaizeler's daily activities in Istanbul, this
work aims at enriching the literature on religion and welfare provisions with an interesting observation point over the
intertwined relations between religious and secular social services in contemporary Turkey.
Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). As a state bureaucrat working for an institution charged of the management
of religious affairs, the vaizeler are both religious officers (din görevlisi) and religious scholars (hoca).
These female preachers are engaged in a number of activities going beyond the sacred place of the mosques; they direct
projects toward women and families, participate in panels organised by associations and academic conferences. The
emerging of a female professional religious experts providing moral assistance within the frame of Turkish state is thus
explored through the following question: how concretely the female preachers' daily activities are able to cast light on
the intertwined relations between religion and social assistance in Turkey?
In line with these considerations, the study focuses on the vaizeler's counselling activities directed toward women and
families at the Family Offices (AIRB) situated in the provincial and local Mufti Offices and the fatwa call centre ( Alo
fetva 190) service. Originating from a larger ethnographic fieldwork on the vaizeler's daily activities in Istanbul, this
work aims at enriching the literature on religion and welfare provisions with an interesting observation point over the
intertwined relations between religious and secular social services in contemporary Turkey.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The article deals with the female preachers (vaize or bayan vaizler) recently appointed by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) an institution established in 1924 with the purpose to regulate Turkish secularism. Since... more
The article deals with the female preachers (vaize or bayan vaizler) recently appointed by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs
(Diyanet) an institution established in 1924 with the purpose to regulate Turkish secularism. Since 2002, t he number of vaizler has
increased so that today they are sent all over the country and abroad especially where Turkish expatriates live.
Charged to illuminate women believers and provide them with appropriate religious knowledge, vaizler give weekly sermons, work
for the telephone call service “hallo fatwa” (alo fetva) answering to Islamic morality and law questions, give assistance in the
“enlightened offices for families” (aile irşat burosu ) as well as in the prisons' women sections and in the women shelters (kadin
konukevi).
The feature of being a civil-servant has mainly held our interest; these female preachers occupy in fact an in-between position:
supported both by Islamic political movements and by the Diyanet “secular interpretation” of Islam.
We will take into account the case of Istanbul where today operate about 50 vaizler; being a metropolis of more than 17 million
people, we have been obliged to narrow down our research on selected neighborhoods. The choice of three districts ( Şirinevler,
Üsküdar and Beşiktaş) has been the more heterogeneous as possible, taking into account traditional religious area ( Üsküdar) in the Asian side, a more secular neighborhood on the European side (Beşiktaş) and a more peripheral districts (Şirinevler). With the
purpose to detect whether and how the practices are instituted and routinized differently from one neighborhood to another, the
question behind our research is the following: since all the vaizler are sent by the Diyanet, how far their activity is nationally
structured and to what extent the local interferes with this institution?
By following the vaize' s three months based sermon's program in three different districts, we will access the everyday religious
female engagement in the social assistance realm; considering the way their practices are locally institutionalized and routinized we
will thus enlighten that intricate combination of religious associations and political identities from a different perspective: sponsored
by Turkish secular state.
(Diyanet) an institution established in 1924 with the purpose to regulate Turkish secularism. Since 2002, t he number of vaizler has
increased so that today they are sent all over the country and abroad especially where Turkish expatriates live.
Charged to illuminate women believers and provide them with appropriate religious knowledge, vaizler give weekly sermons, work
for the telephone call service “hallo fatwa” (alo fetva) answering to Islamic morality and law questions, give assistance in the
“enlightened offices for families” (aile irşat burosu ) as well as in the prisons' women sections and in the women shelters (kadin
konukevi).
The feature of being a civil-servant has mainly held our interest; these female preachers occupy in fact an in-between position:
supported both by Islamic political movements and by the Diyanet “secular interpretation” of Islam.
We will take into account the case of Istanbul where today operate about 50 vaizler; being a metropolis of more than 17 million
people, we have been obliged to narrow down our research on selected neighborhoods. The choice of three districts ( Şirinevler,
Üsküdar and Beşiktaş) has been the more heterogeneous as possible, taking into account traditional religious area ( Üsküdar) in the Asian side, a more secular neighborhood on the European side (Beşiktaş) and a more peripheral districts (Şirinevler). With the
purpose to detect whether and how the practices are instituted and routinized differently from one neighborhood to another, the
question behind our research is the following: since all the vaizler are sent by the Diyanet, how far their activity is nationally
structured and to what extent the local interferes with this institution?
By following the vaize' s three months based sermon's program in three different districts, we will access the everyday religious
female engagement in the social assistance realm; considering the way their practices are locally institutionalized and routinized we
will thus enlighten that intricate combination of religious associations and political identities from a different perspective: sponsored
by Turkish secular state.
The Società Operaia Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso in Costantinopoli (Italian Workers’ Mutual Aid Society of Constantinople) is a landmark for researches on the historical Italian community in Istanbul, its structure and organization as well... more
The Società Operaia Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso in Costantinopoli (Italian Workers’ Mutual Aid Society of Constantinople) is a landmark for researches on the historical Italian community in Istanbul, its structure and organization as well as its relations with both the newborn Italian Republic and the Ottoman Empire.
Since its foundation in 1863, the Società Operaia, like the other similar institutions founded all over the world, has had two main different tasks: the first one was the mutual aid and assistance for the workers and their families; the second one was the political and patriotic engagement for the freedom and the unity of Italy. This later issue has been the topic of different researches focused on the role of the Italian patriots Garibaldi and Mazzini, both in contact with the Società Operaia in Costantinopoli, in spreading the Italian’s Risorgimento principles inside the community.
The article's aim is to study the functioning of the Società Operaia in improving the workers’ living condition and the development of mutual aid among the members in case of disease or inability of work, without considering the political and material aids given to the unification of Italy. In this sense this Institution can be counted among the associations that during the XIX. century have contributed to the emancipation of the working class.
At the same time, the mutual aid, the material assistance and the charity granted to the workers and their families is then a reflecting mirror to study the integration and the labor condition of minorities under the Ottoman Empire. On this topic however the literature is extremely various: some researches focused on the Istanbul
“Latin” community in Galata and Pera districts.
Considering the multi-ethnic and multi-national nature of the Ottoman Empire this article’s purpose is then to show how the experience of the Società Operaia situates the Ottoman labor history in an international context.
By reading the meeting minutes of the Società Operaia, the official documents and the historical press, we face a reality different from that in the Edmondo De Amicis or Pierre Loti novels: the Italian workers immigrated in the second half of the XIX. century, after the 1848-1849 European crisis, were generally fleeing misery and wars. That is the reason why the communitarian assistance, that they were able to implement under the Ottoman Empire, mark a starting point for new searches on this aspect of labor history.
Since its foundation in 1863, the Società Operaia, like the other similar institutions founded all over the world, has had two main different tasks: the first one was the mutual aid and assistance for the workers and their families; the second one was the political and patriotic engagement for the freedom and the unity of Italy. This later issue has been the topic of different researches focused on the role of the Italian patriots Garibaldi and Mazzini, both in contact with the Società Operaia in Costantinopoli, in spreading the Italian’s Risorgimento principles inside the community.
The article's aim is to study the functioning of the Società Operaia in improving the workers’ living condition and the development of mutual aid among the members in case of disease or inability of work, without considering the political and material aids given to the unification of Italy. In this sense this Institution can be counted among the associations that during the XIX. century have contributed to the emancipation of the working class.
At the same time, the mutual aid, the material assistance and the charity granted to the workers and their families is then a reflecting mirror to study the integration and the labor condition of minorities under the Ottoman Empire. On this topic however the literature is extremely various: some researches focused on the Istanbul
“Latin” community in Galata and Pera districts.
Considering the multi-ethnic and multi-national nature of the Ottoman Empire this article’s purpose is then to show how the experience of the Società Operaia situates the Ottoman labor history in an international context.
By reading the meeting minutes of the Società Operaia, the official documents and the historical press, we face a reality different from that in the Edmondo De Amicis or Pierre Loti novels: the Italian workers immigrated in the second half of the XIX. century, after the 1848-1849 European crisis, were generally fleeing misery and wars. That is the reason why the communitarian assistance, that they were able to implement under the Ottoman Empire, mark a starting point for new searches on this aspect of labor history.
What does an approach from within in the study of a policy consist of? And, what does it reveal about the actors and the practices through which a policy is implemented on a day-to-day basis?
Research Interests:
On October 18, Turkish Parliament passed a law allowing muftis to perform civil marriages. “Want it or not, this will be passed by the Parliament!” announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in response to the opposition parties,... more
On October 18, Turkish Parliament passed a law allowing muftis to perform civil marriages. “Want it or not, this will be passed by the Parliament!” announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in response to the opposition parties, women’s rights organisations, feminist associations and women’s right activists who have protested the bill since its draft version.
Research Interests:
Una legge approvata la settimana scorsa in Turchia autorizza i muftì a registrare i matrimoni. Un provvedimento che riapre il dibattito su laicità e diritti civili nel paese
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Dalla sua fondazione la repubblica turca vive un equilibrio dinamico tra tradizione religiosa e laicità, nuovamente trasformato dalle politiche di re-islamizzazione dell'AKP
Research Interests:
La Turchia del dopo golpe si delinea sempre di più come un paese spaccato, in cui tutti devono schierarsi tra gli "eroi" per non venir classificati come "traditori"
Research Interests:
Post-coup Turkey is increasingly shaping up as a divided country, where everyone must side with the "heroes" to avoid being branded as a "traitor".
Research Interests:
nterest in the subject of “Women, Religions and Gender Relations” has intensified especially from the mid-1990s in Europe – more recently in Italy – spreading beyond the borders of the sociology of religion and gender studies.... more
nterest in the subject of “Women, Religions and Gender Relations” has intensified especially from the mid-1990s in Europe – more recently in Italy – spreading beyond the borders of the sociology of religion and gender studies. Specifically, attention has been focussed on three critical points that we shall address:
First, the study of transformations of religious expression within traditional religions and, at the same time, the analysis of contemporary forms of spirituality demonstrate a “feminine specificity” which raises various questions and highlights the necessity to dedicate more attention to the different religious experiences of men and women and to re-interpret critically the basic analytical categories of the sociology of religion;
Secondly, comparison with non-Christian traditions reveals the importance of a critical reading of women’s role in various forms of religion and spirituality;
Finally, the development of a gender lens in religion allows analysis of the variegated constructions of the male and the female in different religious traditions.
The call is designed to offer a platform to scholars to present their research on the topic and exchange their ideas on research findings at an international level. The topics are centred on the following themes:
The (often ambivalent) role of women in the administration of the sacred
Female religious agency
The relationship between body and (public and private) space, not forgetting the dimensions of chastity and sexuality
Data, sources and analytical tools necessary for the study of the complex relationship between feminism and women in religions
The ever-changing role of women in a social context of hybridization processes and recognition of various religious traditions
Female engagement in religious (official/unofficial) institutions
Designed as a space of dialogue and encounter, the conference promotes original models of interpretation based on different contexts and experiences. It strongly welcomes contributions based on empirical researches (both single cases studies or larger analyses), envisaging an interdisciplinary perspective and employing ethnographic and comparative methodologies.
The conference will host the annual board meeting of the International Association for the study of Religion and Gender (IARG) – everybody’s welcome to join.
Keynote speaker: Kristin Aune
Deadline for abstracts (350 words) – 15 September 2016. To: chiara.maritato@unito.it
Decisions will be notified: 30 September 2016
Scientific and Organizing Committee: Enrico Comba, Alberta Giorgi, Alessandro Gusman, Chiara Maritato, Luca Ozzano, Stefania Palmisano, Roberta Ricucci, Roberto Scalon.
Fees:
Auditors /Participants at the IARG meeting: 20€
PhD students: 30€
Postdocs and Temporary Research Staff: 35€
Full Professors: 50€
First, the study of transformations of religious expression within traditional religions and, at the same time, the analysis of contemporary forms of spirituality demonstrate a “feminine specificity” which raises various questions and highlights the necessity to dedicate more attention to the different religious experiences of men and women and to re-interpret critically the basic analytical categories of the sociology of religion;
Secondly, comparison with non-Christian traditions reveals the importance of a critical reading of women’s role in various forms of religion and spirituality;
Finally, the development of a gender lens in religion allows analysis of the variegated constructions of the male and the female in different religious traditions.
The call is designed to offer a platform to scholars to present their research on the topic and exchange their ideas on research findings at an international level. The topics are centred on the following themes:
The (often ambivalent) role of women in the administration of the sacred
Female religious agency
The relationship between body and (public and private) space, not forgetting the dimensions of chastity and sexuality
Data, sources and analytical tools necessary for the study of the complex relationship between feminism and women in religions
The ever-changing role of women in a social context of hybridization processes and recognition of various religious traditions
Female engagement in religious (official/unofficial) institutions
Designed as a space of dialogue and encounter, the conference promotes original models of interpretation based on different contexts and experiences. It strongly welcomes contributions based on empirical researches (both single cases studies or larger analyses), envisaging an interdisciplinary perspective and employing ethnographic and comparative methodologies.
The conference will host the annual board meeting of the International Association for the study of Religion and Gender (IARG) – everybody’s welcome to join.
Keynote speaker: Kristin Aune
Deadline for abstracts (350 words) – 15 September 2016. To: chiara.maritato@unito.it
Decisions will be notified: 30 September 2016
Scientific and Organizing Committee: Enrico Comba, Alberta Giorgi, Alessandro Gusman, Chiara Maritato, Luca Ozzano, Stefania Palmisano, Roberta Ricucci, Roberto Scalon.
Fees:
Auditors /Participants at the IARG meeting: 20€
PhD students: 30€
Postdocs and Temporary Research Staff: 35€
Full Professors: 50€
Research Interests:
Women, gender roles, and female participation in the public realm recently rose to prominence as key issues to investigate the current social and political transformations in the Mediterranean region. From the 1980s, a wide literature... more
Women, gender roles, and female participation in the public realm recently rose to prominence as key issues to investigate the current social and political transformations in the Mediterranean region. From the 1980s, a wide literature (Arat 2012; Saktanber 2006; Cooke 2007; Zayzafoon 2005; Ask and Tjomsland 1998) has explored women’s participation and/or mobilisation within Islamic movements and parties. Moreover, the debates over the “Islamic feminism” (Mernissi 1991; Badran 2009; Moghissi 1999; Braidotti 2008; Moghadam 2002) enriched the picture by directing the spotlights on the redefinition of gender roles within religious circles, parties and institutions.
Besides such a religiously motivated female engagement, the heterogeneity of women participating in social and political movements all over the MENA region gained the interest of scholars who analysed women’s activism in protests, especially during the so called “Arab springs” (Khamis 2011; Bennoune 2012). Five years after the revolts, women’s political and/or religious engagement turned to be either silenced, eclipsed by state repression, or transformed: women’s militancy being institutionalised, included within state bureaucracy; or rather represented by associations closed to –unless embedded with– the governments (Göçmen 2014). Yet, it was exactly from these precarious and evolving niches that women find their ways for expressing their public role, in some cases in the context of new institutional arrangements related to the religion/state boundaries.
In the light of these considerations, the categories of mobilisation and participation seem indeed inadequate both at the theoretical and practical levels. Hence the necessity to focus on the everyday experiences of women engaged in movements, parties, NGOs, institutions in the Mediterranean region. The panel invites contributions that critically call into questions the forms and meanings of female engagement in the religious and secular public realm. In particular, it analyses the scope and scale of female participation by asking: How concretely does it occur? Which factors/actors contribute in enhancing it? To what extent the current political and social transformations have contributed in redefine it?
Designed as a space of dialogue and encounter, the panel promotes original models of interpretation based on different contexts and experiences. It strongly welcomes contributions based on empirical researches (both single cases studies or larger analyses), envisaging an interdisciplinary perspective and employing ethnographic and comparative methodologies.
please send an abstract (max 500 words) by following online instructions: http://www.sisp.it/convegno2016/
deadline : 05/06/2016
for more information: chiara.maritato@unito.it
Besides such a religiously motivated female engagement, the heterogeneity of women participating in social and political movements all over the MENA region gained the interest of scholars who analysed women’s activism in protests, especially during the so called “Arab springs” (Khamis 2011; Bennoune 2012). Five years after the revolts, women’s political and/or religious engagement turned to be either silenced, eclipsed by state repression, or transformed: women’s militancy being institutionalised, included within state bureaucracy; or rather represented by associations closed to –unless embedded with– the governments (Göçmen 2014). Yet, it was exactly from these precarious and evolving niches that women find their ways for expressing their public role, in some cases in the context of new institutional arrangements related to the religion/state boundaries.
In the light of these considerations, the categories of mobilisation and participation seem indeed inadequate both at the theoretical and practical levels. Hence the necessity to focus on the everyday experiences of women engaged in movements, parties, NGOs, institutions in the Mediterranean region. The panel invites contributions that critically call into questions the forms and meanings of female engagement in the religious and secular public realm. In particular, it analyses the scope and scale of female participation by asking: How concretely does it occur? Which factors/actors contribute in enhancing it? To what extent the current political and social transformations have contributed in redefine it?
Designed as a space of dialogue and encounter, the panel promotes original models of interpretation based on different contexts and experiences. It strongly welcomes contributions based on empirical researches (both single cases studies or larger analyses), envisaging an interdisciplinary perspective and employing ethnographic and comparative methodologies.
please send an abstract (max 500 words) by following online instructions: http://www.sisp.it/convegno2016/
deadline : 05/06/2016
for more information: chiara.maritato@unito.it