(Institute of Social Sciences, 2015)
Akpınar, Neslihan; Serdar, Ayşe; 393630; Political Studies; Siyaset Çalışmaları
This thesis addresses some Alevis' estrangement from their traditional belief system and worship forms and their conversion into conservative Sunni Islam in relation to their experience of urbanization process and encounters with Sunnism i.e. Sunnification politics of the Turkish state, Sunni people's behaviors and interactions with them. In-depth interviews were carried out by the thirteen informants. Sunnification of the informants is basically examined in terms of factors, motivations and relationalities which lay behind the Sunnification process. Secondly, the thesis analyzes how those informants identify themselves with regard to religious, cultural and political sensitivities during their conversion process and its aftermath.