Citizenship controversies in Germany: The twin legacy of Völkisch nationalism and the Alleinvertretungsanspruch

For many Germans, citizenship is a problematic and emotive issue, as is demonstrated by the controversies generated around current attempts to modernise and ‘normalise’ German citizenship law. This article looks to German history to account for the failure of successive governments to effect such change. It asserts that two key historical developments have been decisive in stalling a ‘normal’ western European pattern of policy development in this field. First, the concept and law of citizenship in Germany were originally formulated in the context of nation‐state development based on cultural or ‘völkisch’ nationalism. Second, West German governments subordinated the development of citizenship policy to the aim of upholding the West German claim to be the sole legitimate representative of the Germans, thereby denying the legitimacy of the GDR. The unification of Germany in 1990 removed the specific constraints which had brought about the stalled citizenship policy. The article contrasts a Kulturnation (ethno‐cultural) stance on citizenship issues with a Verfassungsnation (civic‐territorial) understanding, and identifies contemporary partisan positions within this conceptual framework.     

The social imperative of pacifism in postwar Japan: Shimizu Ikutarō and the Uchinada movement

Abstract

Postwar Japanese history is often analyzed from the perspective of peace and democracy. Both ideas represented an interpretation of the war experience on the part of postwar progressive thinkers that saw postwar pacifist activism assume an anti-State character. But another important part of this intellectual context was its pro-society inclination. Social agency and autonomy became the main objectives of postwar progressive thinking, and it was this that drove the intellectual activism and advocacy of postwar pacifist movements. But how did intellectuals conceptualize society, and what were the consequences of this conceptualization for the actual development of pacifist movements? Through examining the intellectual leadership of postwar pacifist movements we can begin to appreciate how the peace-democ-racy paradigm actually worked. A pioneering thinker in this respect was Shimizu Ikutarō, who was a central figure in Japanese pacifism in the 1950s, and a leading activist in the first anti-base movement at the village of Uchinada in 1953–54. It was in the context of this movement that Shimizu developed and articulated his ideas about society and peace. In the process, he revealed the dissonance in his thinking concerning “commoners,” and commenced his own intellectual disintegration as a progressive thinker. The consequences of the Uchinada protest for postwar popular and intellectual movements for peace would be formative, eventually leading to the cataclysm of the failed anti-security treaty movement of 1960.     

The ‘European Turks’: identities of high-skilled Turkish migrants in Europe

Using exceptionally rich qualitative data coming from the FP7 EUCROSS project on the ‘Europeanization of the Everyday Life’, this paper focuses on high-skilled and highly transnational Turkish migrants who reside in the UK, Romania and Italy. The article analyses participants’ discursive constructions of Europe and Europeanness and shows how specific images and symbols of Europe and Turkey influence their own relationship to Europe. We argue that understanding Turkish migrants’ identification with Europe requires a comprehensive analysis of the development of a Westernization discourse in Turkey that has framed people’s identities. This discourse symbolizes the desire for being part of the Western world, and especially Western Europe, but, at the same time, the fear of being dominated by the very same world. We show that we need to grasp the values, images, symbols and discourses that underline transnational practices to understand the making of European identity among migrants.     

From Islamic Radicalism to Islamic Capitalism: The Promises and Predicaments of Turkish-Islamic Entrepreneurship in a Capitalist System (The Case of İGİAD)

The rise of Turkish Islamic capitalism, and with it an Islamic bourgeoisie and the accompanying lifestyle has profound implications for the Muslim world, since the Turkish Muslims have been backed by a relatively successful democratic and liberal system that has allowed them to integrate more easily into the global system. Focusing mainly on the members of the Islamic-oriented Association of Economic Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics (?G?AD), the aim of this article is to demonstrate the inherent (in)compatibility and contradictions between Islam and capitalism in contemporary Turkey, and by extension in the Muslim world. From the start, for the Turkish Muslim bourgeoisie, the burning questions were ‘how to earn’ and, more importantly, ‘how to consume’ within a capitalist system while still not transgressing Islamic boundaries. In order to overcome these challenges, the article argues that, rather than creating an ‘alternative Islamic economic system’, Islamic actors have reduced – in some cases, even eliminated – this discursive and ideological tension between Islam and capitalism by (a) trying to introduce Islamic morality into capitalism and (b) redefining both Islam and capitalism. Through these mechanisms they have also broadened and deepened Turkish modernity.     

The Battle of Gökdepe in the Turkmen post-Soviet historical discourse

The Battle of Gökdepe (1881) is considered to be a turning point in Turkmenistan's contemporary historiography. It led to the then independent Turkmen (Akhal Tekke in this case) tribes coming under Russian control. Almost immediately after the event the battle became a controversial point of interpretation starting from Turkmen sources (rarely known to us), an immense number of Russian (mostly military) sources, up to the Soviet historians. The post-Soviet official Turkmen historiography of the event came from these foundations, but used its own mythological approach. As a result, the contemporary narrative of the Gökdepe defeat turned into a victory for the Akhal Tekke (and broadly Turkmen) nation. Additionally, this paper argues that the first and partly the second presidents of Turkmenistan incorporated the battle into their own personality cults, a fact which is still specific to the Central Asian context, albeit not unique in world history. In particular, the first president usurped the myth and connected it with his own historical narrative. The second president continues this in the frames of the already settled political culture in the country, adapting the Gökdepe myth to create his own ideological story. Therefore, the appropriation of the historical event in Turkmenistan represents a specific (albeit not unique) case of this kind and shows the way of thinking about the leader in current Turkmenistan.     

The first ‘history of the Turkish revolution’ lectures and courses in Turkish universities (1934 – 42)

Due to its particular border situation and historical past, Antakya (in south-central Turkey) has, in contrast to most cities in Turkey, been successful in protecting important components of its diachronically composed multiculturalism. In light of such qualities Antakya is able to permit a diachronic analysis of different subsequent ‘governmentalities’ (Foucault) and flexible network formations that reflect the various processes in government styles in twentieth century Turkey. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews the authors try to reconstruct the diachronic multiculturalism from a perspective of macro- and micro-powers, ‘conduct’ and ‘counter-conduct’.     

The ‘Europeanization’ of the Religious Cleavage in Turkey: The Case of the Alevis

The EU accession process reveals a series of paradoxes, which are not merely indicative of the complexity of Turkey's state–religion relations in general but also point to how the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government portrays controversies such as the Sunni–Alevi divide. The religious cleavages in Turkey have become Europeanized and found expression in the European political and legal structures. The Alevis have been one of the groups most affected by this issue partly because of their heterodox and transnational religious identity and partly as a result of their links with secularist political sectors. The paper underlines a dilemma of current Turkish politics. The case of the Alevis shows that the regime's current transformation undermines its basis through exclusion. The JDP's political strategy, focusing on the effective control of the mainstream Sunni base, does not willingly accept or tolerate the autonomy of some civil society groups, including the Alevis.     

Conditionality,migration control and bilateral disputes: The view from the Greek–Turkish borders in the Aegean

The article provides a conceptual framework for understanding the return of third country nationals from Greece and the European Union, as well as their readmission by Turkey, a critical issue of migration policy at the European external borders. Return and readmission could be conceptualized as integral to the EU conditionality, a key tool at the disposal of the European Union to encourage and ensure compliance with its norms. In this respect, incentives are offered to countries of origin or transit as reward for the enforcement of expulsion decisions and the regulation of migration issues. Return and readmission could also be understood in respect to cooperation between two sovereign states, wherein expected costs and benefits are constantly (re)evaluated on the basis of their recurrent bilateral interactions. Thus, migration issues between Greece and Turkey should be grasped as indivisible to relations between a member state and a prospective one; in this sense, they could be interpreted in relation to Turkey’s progress towards the adoption of the acquis communautaire, in the light however of the politically volatile border between the two countries.     

Under the conflicting pressures of the ideals of the era and the burdens of history: Ethnic relations in Estonia, 1918–1925

Abstract

One of the many challenges that Estonia faced when it gained independence was the minority question. The history of certain minorities, above all that of the Baltic Germans, has already been studied fairly intensively. Nevertheless, the scope of all previous studies has been rather narrow (the position of a single minority). This article traces the history of all ethnic minorities in Estonia and views them from a broader perspective. Answers are sought to the following questions: What were the ethnic relations like in Estonia in 1918–1925? Why were they so? Did they change in the course of time? The article is based on the systematic study of Estonian press and archival sources. It constitutes an expanded version of the conclusion of the author's Finnish-language monograph Ajan ihanteiden ja historian rasitteiden ristipaineissa: Viron etniset suhteet vuosina 1918–1925.