New publication: Jenny White on the anthropology of Turkey in The Making of Turkish Contemporary History

In her contribution, she argues that this history is revealing in itself: it “provides a key, not only to the impact of global intellectual currents, state concerns and national ideologies on what is understood to be Turkish society, but also can be read as a road map of political, economic and social changes since the early Republic.”

The chapter traces theoretical and methodological developments over more than seven decades. It also asks a set of pointed questions about the field itself: who is doing the studying, who and what is being studied, and where. By looking at the research as well as its subjects, White shows how the study of Turkish society has been shaped by changing intellectual currents and state concerns, as well as by the country’s political and social transformations.

Her chapter sits within a volume, The Making of Turkish Contemporary History: Voices Intertwined, that brings together perspectives from several disciplines on the historiography of the post-1950s decades which are often overlooked. The book explores tensions between global research trends and national narratives, the role of disciplinary norms, and the rise of inter- and post-disciplinary approaches. It also looks at grassroots historians who challenge state-controlled interpretations of the past.

The Making of Turkish Contemporary History: Voices Intertwined. Edited by Berna Pekesen. Berghahn, 2026. https://doi.org/10.3167/9781807580193