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Rating: 
Summary: Participatory Sociology at its Best
Review: This is one of the best books to read in English to understand how "political Islam" in Turkey rose to power in many municipalities across Turkey since 1994 local elections when the pro-Islamist mayors (to the shock of the secular establishment) won the two largest cities - Istanbul, and Ankara. Current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once a protege of pro-Islamist Necmettin Erbakan, himself served as Mayor of Greater Istanbul for a number of years.White, an Associate Professor of anthropology at Boston University, lived on and off in Istanbul's Umraniye district between 1994 and 1998, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Istanbul, a mega-city with about 12 million inhabitants. Thanks to her extensive daily contacts with the people and social leaders of Umraniye, White was able to draw a very detailed and strong portrait of the "vernacular politics." Through this process channelled mostly via non-profit foundations called "vakifs," the pro-Islamic politicians consolidated their power while the poor Turks had their basic needs (from free coal to burn in winter to free job placement programs) met. The result of this give-and-take at the grassroots level was an unprecedented political mobilization of the poorest neighborhoods of Istanbul. This process of political empowerment was supported by such pro-Islamic parties like Virtue, Welfare and Felicity, but survived their demise. White describes a truly popular grassroots mobilization movement that has used Islamic rhetoric and symbolism as well as traditional Turkish cultural motifs like reciprocity inside close-knit family and neighborhood units. However she is careful to note that in the final analysis this grassroots process is somewhat independent of the pro-Islamic parties supporting it and benefiting from it. The Islamic rhetoric and cultural shell, though, seems to have worked to suppress many divergent interests (especially between the pro-Islamic men and women of Umraniye) and gave the movement a semblance of unity that would otherwise not be there. The author summarizes her point of view very well on page 271: "Islamist mobilization, then, may not really be about religion, despite the high-decibel rhetoric. Instead, Islamist mobilization may be part of a process of indigenous modernization that reshapes culturally distinct lifestyles and ideals, institutionalizing and commercializing them and linking their everyday practice to new forms of public life and political practice."
Her comparison at the end of the book with the emergence of mega-churches in the United States is especially striking. In both cases White argues that religion becomes the structuring platform around which many social activities and interests get organized and articulated to create a new community which serves many non-religious needs as well. The book is full of great photographs showing the ultra conservative ladies of Umraniye at work and in their homes (some turning their backs and trying not to show their faces). The author alternates her theoretical expositions with anecdotal stories about her various encounters as an observer in this very conservative neighborhood. Her encounter with the current PM Erdogan at Virtue Party's Izmit rally (who was then the Mayor of Istanbul) is one such powerful narrative which transports you to that scene and makes you appreciate the boiling energies that brought these religious-conservative "new elite" to power in Turkey today. A must book to understand the complicated role of Islam within the outer context of political modernization in Turkey today. Highly recommended.
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