AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightThe three-dimensional analytical model established in this paper offers a practical methodological roadmap for contemporary empirical research, including critical studies on conservative entrepreneurship, work ethics, political populism, dynamic identity formations, and generational value shifts in modern Turkey.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
Using Talcott Parsons’ social action theory and the AGIL paradigm as its primary analytical reference framework, this study comprehensively examines the theoretical frameworks developed within the Turkish social scientific tradition to conceptualize the profound impact of religion on social action. Specifically, the research analyzes and compares the original theoretical models articulated by three pioneering thinkers—Sabri Ülgener, Şerif Mardin, and Erol Güngör—regarding the multi-layered relationship between religion and social action in Turkey. Drawing on a qualitative comparative document analysis of primary and secondary literature, the central premise of the paper is that these three social scientists do not treat religion as a passive set of traditional beliefs, a static structural obstacle to development, or a secondary ideological epiphenomenon arising merely from material economic conditions. Instead, they position religion as an independent, dynamic cultural variable that fundamentally shapes the subjective action orientations, mentality structures, cognitive maps, and social motivations of both individual and collective actors. Within the scope of the study, the sociology of religion approaches of all three theorists are analytically mapped onto the functional imperatives of Parsons’ mature AGIL schema (Adaptation, Goal Attainment, Integration, Latency). Sabri Ülgener directly connects religion to the Adaptation (A) function through economic ethics and economic mentality, demonstrating how Sufi traditions such as Melamism originally fostered a productive ethos, whereas its historical shallowing subsequently led to economic inertia and a consumerist mentality. Şerif Mardin directly links folk religiosity to the Goal Attainment (G) function, defining religion as a “soft ideology” and a subjective cognitive map that fuels political mobilization, thereby effectively translating peripheral resentment against the secularizing center into active political participation. Erol Güngör conceptualizes religion within a comprehensive culture-personality-values triad by associating it with the Integration (I) and Latency/Pattern Maintenance (L) functions; he illustrates how Islamic ethics and Sufism stabilize individual identity, mitigate anomie during periods of rapid socio-cultural crisis, and ensure intergenerational value transmission. The primary original contribution of this study is demonstrating that Ülgener, Mardin, and Güngör did not merely apply Parsonian structural-functionalist theory in a passive manner; rather, they dynamically transformed it by adapting its functional imperatives to Turkey’s unique historical experience. While classical Parsonian sociology positions religion primarily as a static mechanism for pattern maintenance, these Turkish thinkers demonstrated that religion operates as an active, versatile cultural force capable of rationalizing, mobilizing, and transforming social action across diverse systemic functions. Furthermore, the study highlights how this theoretical heritage refutes deterministic secularization theses that view religion as a mere historical residue destined to fade away with modern development. Instead, it demonstrates that religion continuously integrates into modern institutional structures through evolutionary differentiation. The three-dimensional analytical model established in this paper offers a practical methodological roadmap for contemporary empirical research, including critical studies on conservative entrepreneurship, work ethics, political populism, dynamic identity formations, and generational value shifts in modern Turkey.
Özet
Bu çalışma, Türk sosyal bilimler geleneğinde dinin toplumsal eylem üzerindeki etkisinin kavramsallaştırılması amacıyla geliştirilen teorik çerçeveleri, Talcott Parsons’ın toplumsal eylem kuramı temelinde incelemektedir. Bu doğrultuda Parsons’ın eylem kuramını ve AGIL şemasını esas alarak Ülgener, Mardin ve Güngör'ün Türkiye bağlamında din ve toplumsal eylem ilişkisine dair geliştirdikleri yaklaşımları sorunsallaştırmaktadır. Çalışma, birincil ve ikincil literatüre dayalı karşılaştırmalı teorik doküman analizi yöntemiyle, bu üç sosyal bilimcinin dini, edilgin bir inançlar kümesi ya da ideolojik bir epifenomen olarak değil, toplumsal aktörün eylem yönelimlerini biçimlendiren bağımsız bir kültürel değişken olarak ele aldıklarını ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışmada ulaşılan temel bulgulara göre, Ülgener dini iktisadi ahlak ve iktisadi zihniyet ekseninde adaptasyon (A) işleviyle, Mardin siyasal ideoloji ve mobilizasyon aracı olarak hedef belirleme ve hedefe ulaşma (G) işleviyle, Güngör ise kültür-kişilik-değerler üçgeninde bütünleşme (I) ve gizil örüntü koruma (L) işleviyle ilişkilendirmektedir. Çalışmanın özgün katkısı, Türk sosyal bilimcilerin din ve toplumsal eylem ilişkisine dair analizlerini Parsons’ın eylem ve sistem kuramıyla yorumlayarak ve her üç yaklaşımın Parsonsçı AGIL şemasından farklılaştığı noktaları ortaya koyarak, dinin Türkiye'de toplumsal eylemi şekillendiren dinamik bir kültürel güç olarak işlediğini ve bu teorik mirasın günümüz tartışmaları için hâlâ açıklayıcı olduğunu göstermesidir.