Gender, Selfhood, and Media:

This book is an ethnographically based investigation
of Turkish modernities in which the domains of state,
Islam, and neoliberalism, in all the multiplicities
each entails, are struggling for political, economic,
social, and cultural domination. Yet, they are not
entirely oppositional as the three domains
interactions contribute to keeping overlapping and
ever evolving versions of patriarchies in place. I
explicate my arguments through a focus on the
Province of Hatay and its population of Syrian Alawi
Arabs. Attending to their cultural and historical
specificities, I contextualize both the region and
its peoples with the formation of the Turkish state
and the rapid and complex transformations that are
occurring in Turkey at this time. Addressing Hatay
and its ethno-religious minority through their
participation in Turkish modernities provides fresh
perspectives on such issues as the erosion of state
led modernization, the Islamist challenge, ethnic
separatism, Turkey s burgeoning free market, and the
nation''s integration into the global community. This
book enhances knowledge and understanding of the
understudied Syrian Alawis of Hatay, and to new modes
of research on Turkey.

Autorentext
Sheila O'Rourke has a M.F.A. in experimental media and performance from UCSD and a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCI. Dr. O'Rourke's research interests include gender, identity, popular culture, media, political economy, and Islam. Her areas of focus are Turkey and California. She is currently a faculty member of the Department of Anthropology, UCI.

Klappentext
This book is an ethnographically based investigation of Turkish modernities in which the domains of state, Islam, and neoliberalism, in all the multiplicities each entails, are struggling for political, economic, social, and cultural domination. Yet, they are not entirely oppositional as the three domains' interactions contribute to keeping overlapping and ever evolving versions of patriarchies in place. I explicate my arguments through a focus on the Province of Hatay and its population of Syrian Alawi Arabs. Attending to their cultural and historical specificities, I contextualize both the region and its peoples with the formation of the Turkish state and the rapid and complex transformations that are occurring in Turkey at this time. Addressing Hatay and its ethno-religious minority through their participation in Turkish modernities provides fresh perspectives on such issues as the erosion of state led modernization, the Islamist challenge, ethnic separatism, Turkey's burgeoning free market, and the nation's integration into the global community. This book enhances knowledge and understanding of the understudied Syrian Alawis of Hatay, and to new modes of research on Turkey.