{"title":"Reflections on Şerif Mardin’s center-periphery thesis","authors":"Paul T. Levin","doi":"10.1080/14683849.2023.2189592","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT It would be an understatement to say that Şerif Mardin’s center-periphery thesis (CPT) has been influential on contemporary understandings of Turkey. This essay reflects on the impact of the CPT, considers the challenges from both critics and a changing empirical reality, and discusses whether it still has something to offer us today. It argues that some of the criticisms levied at Mardin’s thesis are based on a misunderstanding of the role of simplification in social science, while others point to important shortcomings of the theory without presenting an alternative framework. However, the article suggests that the anomalies in the CPT have by now amassed to the point that it no longer serves as a meaningful approximation of key dynamics in Turkish politics, primarily because it fails to capture the importance of the Kurdish issue and the consolidation of the ruling AKP at the center.","PeriodicalId":47071,"journal":{"name":"Turkish Studies","volume":"50 1","pages":"617 - 639"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Turkish Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2023.2189592","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT It would be an understatement to say that Şerif Mardin’s center-periphery thesis (CPT) has been influential on contemporary understandings of Turkey. This essay reflects on the impact of the CPT, considers the challenges from both critics and a changing empirical reality, and discusses whether it still has something to offer us today. It argues that some of the criticisms levied at Mardin’s thesis are based on a misunderstanding of the role of simplification in social science, while others point to important shortcomings of the theory without presenting an alternative framework. However, the article suggests that the anomalies in the CPT have by now amassed to the point that it no longer serves as a meaningful approximation of key dynamics in Turkish politics, primarily because it fails to capture the importance of the Kurdish issue and the consolidation of the ruling AKP at the center.
期刊介绍:
Turkey is a country whose importance is rapidly growing in international affairs. A rapidly developing democratic state with a strong economy, complex society, active party system, and powerful armed forces, Turkey is playing an increasingly critical role in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. Given Turkey"s significance and the great interest in studying its history, politics, and foreign policy, Turkish Studies presents a forum for scholarly discussion on these topics and more.