Islamism is a powerful political force in contemporary Turkey. But what are the roots of this ideology? This book provides an intellectual history of Islamism in Turkey, tracing the thought of key figures from the late Ottoman Empire to the contemporary period. Examining the works of Namik Kemal, Said Halim Pasa, Said Nursi, Ali Bulaç and others, the book puts these figures and their works in historical context, showing the origins of their ideas and how they changed as Turkey moved from a constitutional to an authoritarian and then more democratic political system, with democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism today. Covering also the rise of Islamism as a political movement in the late 20th century, it provides important insight into the intellectual background of Islamism in contemporary Turkey under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP.
