Towards a Social History of Modern Turkey: Essays in Theory and Practice

Abstract

The book Towards a Social History of Modern Turkey challenges the state-sponsored historical narrative of modern Turkey by adopting a social history approach. Traditional historiography has often glorified state-centric perspectives, neglecting the experiences and agency of ordinary people. This volume seeks to 'de-Turkify' Anatolia’s past, presenting it as a diverse, contested space rather than a monolithic entity. The contributors explore relatively unexplored aspects of Turkish history through grassroots-level dynamics, methodological rigor, and interdisciplinary methods such as oral history, comparative analysis, and archival research. Essays examine themes like challenging state-centric historiography, social dimensions of nation-building, violence and identity, and gender and reform. The book aligns with postcolonial critiques and emphasizes agency, lived experiences, and micro-level dynamics over macro-political narratives.

(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)