The Success of Islamic Politics in Turkey: The Importance of Trust

By Esraa Ahmed, a 2020-21 FLAS fellow and a senior majoring in Global Studies

In honor of Professor Avital Livny’s publication of her first book titled Trust and the Islamic Advantage: Religious-Based Movements in Turkey and the Muslim World, the European Union Center held a Brown Bag Lecture on October 2, in which she summarized the contents of her book. Dr. Avital Livny is an assistant professor in the Political Science department and has written several publications on topics of ethnicity and political movements in the Middle East. This post will serve as a short synopsis of the talk I attended. You can access the full recorded lecture here.

Dr. Livny expressed that this book began with a conundrum. Since the 1980s there has been a consistent increase for support of Islamic parties in Turkey, and at the same time, there is a general understanding that Turkey is a secular(ist) state. She refers to research pointing to religious resurgency, but finds that the indicator was unexpected — religiosity has actually decreased since the 1980s. Dr. Livny looks closer into her question and divides it into two main categories: the participation gap and another category, one that she calls the Islamic advantage. 

The participation gap is based on a finding that people in Muslim-majority countries are less likely to join and participate in general politics, adding another element which is that more secular support has been going to Islamic political organizations.

The Islamic advantage is a term denoting the idea that Islamic organizations and political parties have had more success and support than secular organizations in recent decades due to their clear and targeted goals or slogans. Based on the various existing theories that Dr. Livny examined explaining the concept of the Islamic advantage, she found that they only partially explained the scenario and were too individualized.

A new trust-based theory was possibly the most comprehensive approach. Dr. Livny explains the trust theory as one that features some psychological reasoning and stresses that political engagement and participation is contingent on this aspect. “Individual decisions to participate in group activities are inherently interdependent,” says Dr. Livny.

Fewer than 10% of Turkish respondents in a survey stated that most people can be trusted. This statistic proves the impact that lack of trust can have on political participation. Honesty and trust in the topic of the Islamic advantage manifests itself through shared identity and thus beliefs and practices. The success of Islamic organizations and parties in more recent decades were mainly due to a rise of trust and therefore participation and engagement, as Dr. Livny concludes. The presence of trust and honesty that participants feel towards Muslim organizations and spaces is most probably the cause to the surge of support towards organizations and political parties with a focus on Islamic principles.

The Success of Islamic Politics in Turkey: The Importance of Trust

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Graduate Student Meeting with Professor Phillip M. Ayoub

By Soraya Cipolla, Robin Turner, and Nicholas Zalewski

On Friday, September 25, graduate students from various departments across campus had the opportunity to chat with Phillip M. Ayoub, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Afairs at Occidental College, during a virtual coffee hour. In addition to answering follow-up questions based on his talk given at the European Union Center’s fall reception, we got to talk with Prof. Ayoub about his experiences as a researcher and professor. We talked about his time in the field working with LGBTQ+ activist movements as well as practical insight and advice about the writing process. During the discussion we learned about LGBTQ+ rights and activism in Europe focusing on Poland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Baltic Republics and Czechia.

We had the opportunity to ask specific questions about furthering their careers as academics. He gave advice on applying for postdoc positions and discussed how there are not only opportunities in the United States, but in other countries as well. Professor Ayoub recommended always being on the lookout for fellowships that can help support our research. In addition, Professor Ayoub gave tips on writing about LGBTQ+ rights and the need to be aware of how the terminology is constantly changing. For example, while queer was a slur in the past, the LGBTQ+ community has worked to reclaim the word to be used as a positive descriptor. When writing about a specific individual, it is important to realize they have their own preferences about how their identity should be described and how important it is to respect that.

Our sincerest thanks to Professor Ayoub for his generosity and openness in talking with us about his work and interests!

The full recording of Professor Ayoub's lecture may be found here.

Graduate Student Meeting with Professor Phillip M. Ayoub

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The EU Center's Fall 2020 Virtual Reception and Lecture by Occidental College's Phillip M. Ayoub

By Nicholas Zalewski, M.A. Student in European Union Studies and Graduate Research Assistant, European Union Center

For the European Union Center’s opening lecture as part of the Fall 2020 virtual reception, Phillip M. Ayoub, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Afairs at Occidental College, described the findings that he wrote about in his book, When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Professor Ayoub discussed how rather than national movements increasing LGBTI rights, it has been transnational movements that have motivated the rapid adoption of LGBTI rights in a lot of European countries. Ireland, which is a predominantly Catholic country, adopted gay marriage before Germany. This influenced Germany to adopt gay marriage as it was seen as an embarrassment that a Catholic country was more progressive than Germany in adopting legislation that allowed and protected the right to gay marriage. Besides influencing Germany, Ireland also influenced numerous European Union member states, including Italy and Greece, to adopt civil unions. When Poland outlawed LGBT public assembly, marches and protests were organized in Germany. Then, they were bussed into Poland. This transnational pressure eventually led to an increase in LGBTI+ rights in Poland.

Professor Ayoub also discussed how countries that share a trait such as Catholicism may still have different outcomes in the level of LGBTI+ rights that they have. While Ireland adopted a law to protect gay marriage, other Catholic countries still only have civil union laws. Differences can also be seen within the different regions of Europe and in the different waves of when countries joined the European Union. Sweden, which joined in 1995, has the most LGBTI rights protections in the European Union. Meanwhile, Greece, which joined in 1981, has the lowest level of LGBTI rights protections.

After Professor Ayoub’s lecture, the EUC held its annual fall reception. Several professors gave short presentations on their favorite European wine (or favorite alcoholic beverage) and a European cheese that pairs well with it. Some professors chose a wine and cheese pairing from a country they discovered while visiting the country, while others presented on a wine and cheese from their home country. Some showed how to properly decant and serve the wine. These presentations showcased wine and cheese pairings from a wide variety of countries, including Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, and Hungary.

The full recording of Professor Ayoub's lecture may be found here. See here for a recap of the post-lecture graduate student meeting with Professor Ayoub.

The EU Center's Fall 2020 Virtual Reception and Lecture by Occidental College's Phillip M. Ayoub

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