YAMAN, Ali Abant Izzet Baysal University - Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences - Department of International Relations, Turkey , Özgür DÖNMEZ, Rasim Abant Izzet Baysal University - Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences - Department of International Relations, Turkey

CREATING COHESION FROM DIVERSITY THROUGH MOBILIZATION: LOCATING THE PLACE OF ALEVI FEDERATIONS IN ALEVI COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN EUROPE

25133

This article evaluates the narratives of Alevi federation members, ranging from high officials to ordinary members, in order to analyze to what extent and how Alevi federations in Europe create social and political cohesion from the highly diversified structure of Alevi community in terms of ethnic, ideological, and political differences. In other words, the study analyses to what degree the Alevi federations are embedded in particular social movements and in general what comprises the Alevi Collective identity. The other aim of the study is to understand to what extent the federations ensure political mobilization for regenerating the Alevi collective identity in diaspora. Based on field research including semi-structured interviews and focus group studies with 30 Alevi associations, more concretely 52 members of the federations – Alevi Federation-located Lyon in France, Basel in Switzerland, Vienna in Austria, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Koln in Germany – and 10 years of observations in the AABF of the authors of the study, this research sheds light on the efforts of Alevi collective identity construction efforts in diaspora through mobilization by Alevi Federations in Europe. The study tries to understand whether these organizations ensure social and political cohesion through the highly diversified structure of group between May 30, 2014 to July 28, 2014. Hence, the interviews focus on three cardinal questions: what are the elements that form the Alevi “imagined community” in diaspora; to what extend there is social and political cohesion both in Alevi Social movement identity and collective identity; what are the obstacles in creating social and political cohesion in Alevi social movement in diaspora?

13

Alevi , Alevi federations , collective identity , social , political cohesion

Turkish Culture and Haci Bektash Veli Research Quarterly

35