Efe Peker, a PhD candidate in Sociology, will be defending his Dissertation entitled:
SA Graduate Defence - Efe Peker
March 04, 2016
The Doctoral Dissertation defence will take place on Friday March 11, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. (PST) in the West Mall Complex, Room 2522 on the Burnaby Campus.
Abstract
This dissertation features a comparative-historical examination of macrosocietal secularisation in France (1875-1905) and Turkey (1908-1938), with particular attention to their republican state building experiences. Bridging the literatures on secularisation theory (sociology of religion) and state formation (comparative-historical sociology), it is the purpose of this work to contribute to 鈥渉istoricising the secularisation debate鈥� by scrutinising the 鈥渟ociopolitical conflicts鈥� involved in the making of macro-level secularisation (Gorski, 2003b, 2005). The existing literature often interprets different patterns of secularisation through voluntaristic perspectives (overemphasising the ideologies/beliefs of rulers and individuals) or deterministic lenses (anticipating civilisational or modernist path dependencies). To overcome the duality, this study provides a comparative-historical approach that investigates secularisation as a non-linear, uneven, and dialectical process contingent upon the course of sociopolitical struggles and structural transformations.
Differing from many other national states, why did France and Turkey converge to embrace secularism as a central principle and doctrine, based on an accentuated form of 鈥渟eparation鈥� from and 鈥渞egulation鈥� of religion? What accounts for their divergence, that is, why did the 鈥渟eparation鈥� aspect prove more dominant in French 濒补茂肠颈迟茅, whereas 鈥渞egulation鈥� came to be prominent in Turkish laiklik? Resting on a rich array of archival and bibliographical sources, my analysis proposes to explain the convergence and divergence between France and Turkey through the interaction of 鈥渆xtra-religious鈥� and 鈥渞eligious鈥� sets of variables. The former set takes into account geographically specific class struggles/alliances, and dynamics of internal/external sovereign state building. The latter set explores the doctrinal/institutional configuration of dominant religions, and the situation of religious minorities. Highlighting the interplay of these 鈥渆xtra-religious鈥� and 鈥渞eligious鈥� dynamics, the dissertation offers an analytical framework to contribute to the social scientific understanding of secularisation/desecularisation beyond the French and Turkish cases.
The highly contentious histories of France and Turkey reveal that secularisation is not merely about the conflict of ideational visions. Secularisation is also a concrete state building strategy operationalised through a combination of 鈥渟eparation鈥� and 鈥渞egulation鈥�. As part of the struggle against religiously affiliated/legitimated sociopolitical contenders, these dual strategies are utilised by bourgeois-national state builders to bring about 鈥渄ifferentiation鈥�, 鈥渟ocietalisation鈥�, and 鈥渞ationalisation鈥� (Wallis & Bruce, 1992). While the strategy of separation 鈥渄ifferentiates鈥� (and transfers to the state) diverse social functions previously assumed by 鈥渞eligious authority鈥� (Chaves, 1994), the latter鈥檚 remaining prerogatives are placed under the regulation of 鈥渟ocietally鈥� and 鈥渞ationally鈥� organised secular-bureaucratic institutions. In this sense, secularisation is intimately linked to the consolidation of sovereign infrastructural power (Mann, 1984; Soifer, 2008) in 鈥渓egal-institutional鈥�, 鈥渟ocio-educational鈥�, 鈥渟ymbolic-ideological鈥�, and 鈥減roperty-distributional鈥� spheres. France and Turkey allow for a cross-religious and cross-regional comparison to crystallise the national and extra-national social forces and mechanisms that influence the ebbs and flows in the secularising process.
The members serving in Efe Peker's Examining Committee are:
Chair: Dr. Wendy Chan, Professor, Sociology
Senior Supervisor: Dr. Gary Teeple, Professor, Sociology
Co-Senior Supervisor: Dr. Patrick Weil, Professor, Center of Social History of the 20th century (Centre d鈥橦istoire Sociale du 20猫me Si猫cle), Universit茅 Paris I - Panth茅on-Sorbonne
Committee Member: Dr. Gerardo Otero, Professor, School for International Studies, Associate Member Sociology
External Examiner: Dr. Rita Hermon-Belot, Professor, Department of History at EHESS (脡cole des hautes 茅tudes en sciences sociales / The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), Universit茅 Paris I - Panth茅on-Sorbonne
External Examiner: Dr. Gilles Dorronsoro, Professor, Political Science, Universit茅 Paris I - Panth茅on-Sorbonne
External Examiner: Dr. Philip Gorski, Professor, Department of Sociology, Yale University
Everyone is welcome to attend!