Local demands and state policies: general councils (Meclis-i Umumi) in the Edirne and Ankara provinces (1867–1872)

By comparing the decisions of various meetings of the General Councils of Edirne and Ankara provinces from 1283 to 1288 (1867–1872 AD), this study analyses social and economic dynamics of both provinces, the state vocabulary for handling local demands, and the boundaries of responsibility for the state and the local actors in provincial administration. Instead of reading the Tanzimat as a top-down imposition, this article defines General Councils as sites of negotiations between state and local actors and instruments for local development. This article challenges the conventional view of provincial councils as weak and unable to implement various policies. It contributes to a new generation of studies that challenges the separation between state and social forces and looks at how both interacted in provincial administration.     

A Future of “Happiness”: Can Markets Be Co-evolved?

The downturn of the markets in the recent global economic crisis points to a need to question the current dynamics of the market system, a decade after the turn of the millennium. The inequalities with regard to the consumption of resources across world markets, the declared low satisfaction rates over what is offered in the marketplace, and the increasing skepticism with marketing practices are all more pronounced than ever. It is becoming evident that consumer marketing fails in constructing a happier society. Consumers, producers, and governments as the three main market stakeholders, share responsibility for the undesired consequences. This article provides a critical perspective on the contemporary paradigm that dominates marketing thought in relation to the central role and the evolving meaning of consumption in the market economy that is favored by most governments. The core position of the article is that determining happiness as the ultimate end requires a shift to a new societal orientation for all stakeholders of the market system.     

Transnational networks and kin states: the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, 1878–1940

This paper focuses on the development of national identity and the formation of political organizations in the Turkish minority in the early years of the formation of the Bulgarian state from 1878 to the 1940s. It studies transnational aspects of nationalism, which is usually considered territorially bounded, by studying the impact of connections between the Turkish minority and the Ottoman Empire and later with Turkey. In addition to studying inter-state relations and their reflection in the legal and political sphere, this paper studies the flow of ideas across borders, transnational networks among political activists, and the resulting cleavage formation. Findings show that transnational connections and actors played dual roles. The circulation of political activists, contributed to the formation of national organizations which played a crucial role in (re)formulating national identity. Transnational connections increased political activity in the name of the Turkish minority. Through these organizations the community was able to make collective demands from the Bulgarian state. However, transnational connections carried debates and divisions in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey to the Turkish minority in Bulgaria. By dividing the community, they decreased the capacity for collective action.