Protectionism and rapprochement in Turkish higher music education: An analysis of the mission and vision statements of conservatoires and university music departments in the republic of Turkey

Abstract

Music education institutions have played a prominent role in mediating national identity in the Republic of Turkey since its founding in 1923. Initially tasked with suppressing Ottoman heritage, their nature and status changed with the ascendance of political Islam, when interest in Turkey’s Ottoman past grew and the Western aesthetics of the founding elite were increasingly contested. While music education continues to be a site of national identity construction in Turkey, no studies focus on the ideological climate of music education in the era of the Justice and Development Party, who have heralded a ‘New Turkey’ rooted in conservative Islam. We explore the discursive terrain of Turkish music education by analysing the mission and vision statements and other website texts of 71 conservatoires and music departments. Our findings reveal protectionist attitudes towards repertoires and traditions associated with competing nationalist visions, but also an emergent, reconciliatory structure of feeling and advocacy for pluralism.

A Critical Discourse Analysis on Climate Change in a Globalized World: The Nexus of Islam and Sustainable Development

“…It is evident that policy makers are faced with a severe problem due to the complexity of the dynamics and actors in policy making aimed at climate change mitigation. Harlan et al [8] and Raza et al [57] argue that, in order to gain a deeper insight into climate disruption, policy makers should be mindful of the governance, poverty, and vulnerability gap among nations [9][10][11][12]. This would allow scholars to address "just sustainability" [58], "plural environmental governance" [13], and pathways of adaptation, including technological, institutional, and societal, in order to enhance adaptive capacity [2] and reduce household emissions by shifting consumption patterns [14,15].…”

“…Correlations between perceptions about climate change and religious affiliation were documented by Morrison et al [7]. In addition, Harlan et al [8] argued that many factors play critical roles in shaping climate change discourse, including global governance, the poverty gap among nations [9,10], vulnerability [10][11][12], "plural environmental governance" [13], human behavior, and shifting consumption patterns [14,15].…”