The power of ideas in the AKP-Gülen fight

Abstract

This article argues that the scholarly vigilance against the ‘culture talk’ should not behold the studies over the Middle East, Islam, and Islamism from studying ideas. There has been a significant progress in recent years to overcome essentialist approaches to Islam, Muslims, and the region. Instead of explaining all issues that are related to Muslims with the unchanging and archaic nature of Islam or Islamic culture, there are increasingly more studies that bring economic, political, and historical context to forefront. Yet, without falling into the culturalist trap, ideas can play a significant role in explaining the real world. By using the case of the conflict between the Justice and Development Party and the Gülen Movement (GM), this study shows the causal role of ideas in interplay with material environment.