Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns

Abstract

Turkey’’ (p. 91). The new movements aim to help new immigrants, the homeless, and other disadvantaged groups. According to Ciftci, the Labor and Justice Platform and Anti-capitalist Muslims promote Islamic justice as their platform of resistance against government corruption. On the other hand, Ciftci’s interviews with Turkish youth show that they are primarily concerned with justice and feel that justice could be established in a secular democracy; yet their understanding of justice is strongly tied to Islam. The interview data reveal that Turkish youth express a belief in a just ruler who maintains fairness. Although Ciftci attempts to provide context for the variation in youth perspectives about democracy and justice, it is unclear why they value a secular democracy even though their vision of social justice is guided by Islam. Perhaps more context about their socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, gender, and religiosity variations could explain this. Also, since this is a discussion of youth perspectives, there also needs to be a reference to parental or family influence on their attitudes about democracy. Youth are highly impressionable, and more context about their social environment and demographic information would help to frame their perspectives. There seems to be an abrupt departure from the qualitative analysis of the Turkish case study in Chapters Seven and Eight, which take a different methodological and locational turn. Chapter Seven provides statistical data testing Muslims’ religiosity and support for democracy, and Chapter Eight provides a discussion of the Arab Spring and perceptions about justice in Muslim societies outside of Turkey. While these two chapters examine information about the variation in Muslim attitudes about democracy, they might provide more context for the analysis if the data were integrated with the qualitative data of the case study of Turkey rather than as separate chapters. This would make the data easier to follow and compare. Overall, Ciftci provides a focused and well-written account of Turkish experiences with democracy and justice. This book could be used in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate-level courses on Islamic Studies or Political Sociology. Scholars could use this book to advance their research on Islamist movements and the revival of Islam in contemporary Muslim societies.