Fall of the Turkish Model

Just a few short years ago, the Turkish Model was being hailed across the world. The New York Times gushed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) had "effectively integrated Islam, democracy, and vibrant economics," making Turkey, according to the International Crisis Group, "the envy of the Arab world." And yet, a more recent CNN headline wondered if Erdogan had become a dictator. In this incisive analysis, Cihan Tugal argues that this development runs broader and deeper than Erdogan's increasing personal authoritarianism. The problems are inherent in the very model of Islamic liberalism, once lauded in the Western press, that formed the basis of the AKP's ascendancy and rule since 2002-an intended marriage of neoliberalism and democracy. And this model can also only be understood as a response to regional politics-especially to the "Iranian Model", a marriage of corporatism and Islamic revolution.

Review: "Tugal's book fills a critical gap in analysis on Turkey's current political trajectory." - Claire Sadar, Muftah "A forensic analysis of the AKP-Erdogan phenomenon" - Ece Temelkuran, New Left Review "The idea of the "Turkish model" has roots going back to the start of the Cold War. Plenty of post-mortems have been written for it; no doubt they will continue to be written. The Fall of the Turkish Model by UC Berkeley sociologist Cihan Tugal is the first book-length treatment of the subject. Tugal takes a longer structural view, arguing that 'the successful liberalization in Turkey during the last three decades itself paved the way for Islam's later authoritarian and conservative incarnations.' Tackling the question from the left, he writes that the cause of Turkey's crisis was 'the neoliberal-liberal democratic model (rather than Erdogan the villain - or, for that matter, 'Turkish culture')'." - Harriet "Fills a critical gap in analysis on Turkey's current political trajectory." - Muftah "A well written and well researched book offering an alternative reading of Turkey's claim to Islamic liberalism as a model for other Islamic countries to emulate." - Gorkem Altinors, Progress in Political Economy