State Subject and Legitimacy in Turkey

Course content

This course addresses state–subject (citizen) relations in Turkey. Its primary aim is to examine the ‘evolution’ of “subjecthood” in Turkey. The idea is to compare the logic of the (Ottoman) Empire and the (Turkish) Republic in this respect. Comparison between these two logics will be conducted with a particular emphasis upon the question of legitimacy. The resemblances and the differences in the ways in which state–subject relations have been legitimized in the era of Empire and that of Republic will be studied. In studying the question of legitimacy, priority will be given to the examination of such domains as law, justice, and ideology in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic.