Between Islam and the State: The Politics of Engagement

Abstract

The relationship between Islam and the state in Turkey has been the subject of a great interest among the students of Turkish politics and Islam. A new study, based on a multi-sited ethnography by Berna Turam of Hampshire College, provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of the transformation of Islam(ism) in Turkey. As Turam points out in the introduction, the book is the story of “a rising agreement, cooperation and a growing sense of belonging between the secular state and Islamic actors”. This agreement emanates from the shifting dynamics between Islamic ways of life and the conduct of the state.