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Volume :45 Issue : 4 2017
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Theories of Social Movements and Islamic Movements: An Inductive Study of the Turkish Case
Auther : Ali Bin Husain Qahtani
In the last thirty years, there has been an increase in the power and influence of Islamic movements throughout the Islamic and Arabic World. The rise of these movements had its impact inside and outside these countries. There are few Arabic studies that investigate the reasons behind the rise of Islamic movements using theories of social movements in a way that will allow us to determine the most important variables that can explain this phenomenon. In order to explain the formation and the rise of Islamic movements in Turkey,this study has combined three models of social movements (Collective Identity Model, Resource Mobilization Model, and Political Process Model). The study found two important variables that could explain the growth of these movements: first, the openness of the government of Turgut Ozal toward Islamists in turkey which provided them with political opportunity that they were able to capitalize on effectively. The second variable, which was the most important finding of the study, was the ideological transformations of the Islamists' identity in Turkey toward liberal values. This identity transformation increased dramatically the power and popularity of Islamists among different segments of the Turkish society. Hence, it has become very difficult to envision the future of Turkey without a major role for Islamic movements in that future.
Keywords: Islamic movements, Social movements, Theories of social movements, Collective identity model, Political process model, Resource mobilization model, Islamists in Turkey, Future of Turkey