invites you to a briefing: 

Between moral absolutism and relativism: Religious discourses on gender in Turkey

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 featuring:

Onder Kucukural 
Visiting Researcher
ACMCU

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Join Istanbul-based PhD candidate Onder Kucukural as he shares his research about gender in Turkey. 

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Research Abstract: Despite the pervasive contention in political liberal views that comprehensive doctrines and demands of pluralism in modern political and social life do not fair along, it seems that many Muslims manage to reconcile their comprehensive doctrines with the demands of pluralism in both their day-to-day practices and religious reasonings. This raises the crucial question of how this reconciliation takes place. The in-depth interviews conducted in 8 cities in Turkey indicate that some Muslims are undergoing a process within which they begin to question their religious stances and doctrines in light of the demands of modern life. Still, there are others who oppose any dilution of the doctrine (literary sense) and articulate their opposing positions in religious terms.

The micro level discourse analysis will inquire into whether and how religious actors come to bridge, or fail to bridge, the tension between the dictates of their comprehensive doctrines and the demands of (at times opposing) modern political and social life. There are several questions that will guide the analytical narrative of the current paper:  How do Muslims formulate religious comprehensive doctrines? How do their religious reasonings proceed from these fundamental claims to concrete life choices, more specifically choices concerning gender and family?

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Onder Kucukural is a PhD candidate in the political science program at Sabanci University, Istanbul. He is a visiting researcher at Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University since September 2011, currently working on his dissertation thesis on “Religious Reasoning and Pluralism in Turkish Society.” His areas of interest include sociology of religion, deliberative democracy in Muslim majority countries, political psychology of Islamism, religion and public sphere. He has a double major degree in psychology and sociology at Middle East Technical University, Ankara. He wrote his MA thesis on “Dynamics of Youth Euroscepticism” in Turkey at the same university. He has participated in research projects in Turkey and co-authored a book in Turkish on “Aging and Living Arrangements in Turkey.” He also has written articles and book chapters on “Muslims at the Borders of Liberalism and Conservatism,” “Hegemonic Masculinity,” “Citizenship in Turkey,” “Civil Society in Turkey and the Middle East.” 

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

12:30pm - ICC 270

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Seating is limited.

For directions to the Center and information on parking, please visit: http://acmcu.georgetown.edu/about/contact/