Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives, The Making of Turkish Contemporary History explores the complexities of historiography by focusing on often-overlooked decades of the post-1950s. It examines tensions between global research trends and national narratives, highlighting the role of disciplinary norms as well as the emergence of inter- and post-disciplinary approaches. It also addresses the growing influence of grassroots historians who challenge state-controlled interpretations of the past. As struggles over historical interpretation intensify, the authors offer a timely analysis of how contemporary history becomes a battleground for ideological dominance in an authoritarian context. Engaging and thought-provoking, this is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of knowledge production, contested historical truths, and the political stakes of writing contemporary history.
Berna Pekesen is a historian and the founder and director of the DFG-Scientific Network for the Contemporary History of Turkey at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, as well as a Review Editor for the Turkish Historical Review. A former professor of Modern Turkish History at Duisburg-Essen, she has held research posts in Bochum, Hamburg, and Basel. She has published extensively on modern and contemporary Turkey, with a particular emphasis on nationalism, nation-building, political violence, social history, and historiography. She is the editor of Turkey in Turmoil: Social Change and Political Radicalization During the 1960s (2020) and is currently preparing a new volume on the social and economic history of Turkey.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Berna Pekesen
Chapter 1. From Statecraft to Critical Inquiry: The Normative Foundations and Transformation of Political Science in Turkey
Cengiz Günay
Chapter 2. Contemporary Turkish History: Problems and Perspectives
Berna Pekesen
Chapter 3. The Contribution of Cultural Anthropology
Jenny White
Chapter 4. Beyond Contentious Modernities? Religion, Secularism, and the Interpretation of Contemporary Turkish History
Jan-Markus Vömel
Chapter 5. “Turcology” and Contemporary History: A Multi-Layered Dialogue
Onur Bülbül and Samim Akgönül
Afterword: The Contemporary History Orchestra
Stefan Plaggenborg
Index