The making of a transnational religion: Alevi movement in Germany and the World Alevi union

Abstract

The literature on migrants' religious movements generally see them as backward and conservative movements that are resistant to change. On the contrary, this paper shows that transnational religious movements are shaped by interactions between origin and destination places' political, legal, and social structures, and may take different pathways across time and place. Analysing the development of the Alevi diaspora movement in Germany and the recent efforts to establish the World Alevi Union, the article argues that both the (old and new) states and the (old and new) societies they live in, as well as broader paradigm changes and their agency have a direct influence on the ways migrants' daily life practices alter in time.

Home State Oriented Diaspora Organizations and the Making of Partisan Citizens Abroad: Motivations, Discursive Frames, and Actions Towards Co-Opting the Turkish Diaspora in Europe

“…3 Both countries of settlement and countries of origin formally and informally intervene in and shape this space. Diaspora organizations respond to, interpret, and seize political opportunities, including accessible resources and regime dynamics in both settlement and sending countries ( Sökefeld 2006 ;Özkul 2019 ;Odmalm 2004 ). Put diff erently, diasporic civic space is circumscribed by the political, legal, and juridical systems of countries of settlement and origin.…”

İngiltere’de “Alevi Olmak”: Diasporada Alevi Kimliğinin Kuruluşu

“…Kimliğin böylesi nesnelerde somutlaştığı bu anlar aslında, onun kültürel formlarla temas ettiği, bu temas neticesinde de bir referansa dönüştüğü ve ötekilerle bazı tutunma noktaları üzerinden ilişkiye geçtiği sosyal biçimleri de açığa çıkarır. Türkiye dışındaki Alevi kimliğinin kuruluşu üzerine son dönemde yapılan pek çok çalışma da (Massicard, 2010;Erol, 2010;Yaman & Dönmez, 2016;Arkılıç & Gürcan, 2020;Zırh & Es, 2019;Turkish Studies, 18(3) Bilecen & Araz, 2015;Lord, 2017;Özkul, 2019;Hanoğlu, 2022;Ceylan, 2019;Jongerden, 2010;Sökefeld, 2006;Jenkins & Çetin, 2017;Arslan, 2017) göstermektedir ki, Alevi kimliği kültürel formlar üzerinden üretilip, aidiyetler etrafında şekillendirilmiş bir doğaya sahiptir. Burada din, inanç, gelenek, ritüel, alışkanlıklar vb.…”

Editorial: Alevi Kurds: History, Politics and Identity

“…This late development of Alevi studies reflects the fact that the largest group of Alevis, those in Turkey, have experienced generations of assimilationist "Turkification" and "sunnification" policies that has rendered them officially invisible, whilst in the diaspora it has been assumed that they are Turks and therefore Muslim (Jenkins et al, 2018;Cetin, 2014;Aydın, 2018;Gezik & Gultekin, 2018). The term "Alevi" is itself contested as it is generally seen as an umbrella term for groups that are found mainly in central Turkey but also scattered elsewhere in the Balkans and the Middle East, along with diasporic communities largely in Europe (Dressler, 2013;Özkul, 2019;Aydın, 2020;Karakaya-Stump, 2020). Kurdish Alevis live in several eastern and central provinces of Turkey such as Dersim, Malatya, Kayseri, Sivas and Maraş.…”