ABSTRACT THE POPULISM OF THE VILLAGE INSTITUTES: A CONTRADICTORY EXPRESSION OF KEMALIST POPULISM Aytemur, Nuran Ph.D., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Okyayuz March 2007, 217 pages This thesis analyzes the populism of the Village Institutes by comparing it with Kemalist populism. In this context it is worth to say that throughout the thesis populism is defined as government by the people and discussed in relation to democracy. In order to do so &ndash / as a first step - the democratic structure and function(ing) of the Village Institutes are discussed with reference to their fundamental principles, organizational structure, and educational program. Secondly, the contradictory conceptualization of the &ldquo / people&rdquo / and the separation between the &ldquo / intellectual&rdquo / and the &ldquo / people&rdquo / is tried to be analyzed with reference to the writings of ismail Hakki Tongu&ccedil / (who is called as the architect of the Village Institutes), the memoirs of the graduates of the Village Institutes, and indepth interviews made with their graduates. The question hereby is to what extent this understanding of populism involve in itself what can be called the &ldquo / paradoxical elitism&rdquo / of the populist ideology, which arises out of the tensive relation between &ldquo / social-egalitarian&rdquo / and &ldquo / administrative-institutional&rdquo / aspects of populism. It is claimed that despite the similarities with Kemalist populism, the Village Institutes shifted the emphasis from the &ldquo / administrative-institutional&rdquo / to the &ldquo / social-egalitarian&rdquo / aspect of populism and surpassed the boundaries of Kemalist populism by implementing democratic principles like &ldquo / equality&rdquo / and &ldquo / self-government&rdquo / , and encouraging participation and by attempting to create a new kind of intellectual through &ldquo / education within work&rdquo / . Keywords: The Village Institutes, Populism, Elitism, Kemalist Populism, Democracy

The main aim of this thesis is to examine the characteristics of Kemalist views and works on Turkish folk music during Early Republican Period. Kemalism, as a modernization project, aimed to transform the Turkish social formation totally. In this respect, one of the indispensable dimension of this project was cultural reforms. The music policies, as a part of the cultural reforms, were given considerable attentions by the Kemalist cadres since the music, according to them, was one of the area to reflect the developmental level of a society. Their views and efforts on Turkish folk music were a significant part of these music policies. In this sense, Kemalist folklore acts are of crucial importance to understand the features of Kemalist ideologic paradigms. Besides, this thesis will deal with the Kemalist folklore acts in order to understand two main principles of Kemalism / nationalism and populism which were the important ideological paradigms of Kemalism. In other words, one of the main ab inito of this thesis is to comprehend the nationalism and populism principles which constituted the general framework of Kemalist folklore acts. The thesis also pays attention to the inconsistencies and unmethodological works in folk music acts during the Early Republican Period.

La recherche que nous menons tend à interroger la domination masculine et l’égalité des sexes en tant que sujets conflictuels au sein de la société turque. Cette domination soumet la femme au père puis au mari, ainsi qu’à tous les hommes de son entourage. Les étudiantes féministes laïques et kémalistes considèrent que cette domination trouve ses origines dans le Coran qui encouragerait la soumission des femmes. Les étudiantes féministes islamiques stipulent que c’est la tradition et les multiples interprétations du Coran qui expliquent la domination masculine. De plus, la laïcité est également en tension chez ces groupes d’étudiantes. Les étudiantes laïques et kémalistes craignent de voir disparaitre le principe de la neutralité inscrit dans la laïcité, au détriment d’une Turquie devenant de plus en plus religieuse. Les étudiantes islamiques, quant à elles, critiquent ouvertement la laïcité qui serait source de discrimination et surtout responsable de l’inégalité entre les sexes. Les deux groupes d’étudiantes féministes ont vécu des expériences qui influencent leurs représentations sociales et leurs comportements, qui seront analysés à travers ce travail de recherche. / In our research, we aim at understanding the reasons of male dominance and gender inequality; a conflictive topic within Turkish society. This dominance imposes the women to obey firstly to their father and then to their husband, as well as all the men around her. Feminist students that also define themselves as secular and “Kemalist” consider that this dominance find their roots in the Quran, which would encourage female submission. As to the Islamic feminist students, they point out that tradition and various interpretations of the Quran may explain this male dominance. Moreover, secularism is also a cause of tension between Kemalist and Islamic students. The Kemalist students are afraid that the principle of neutrality that is a part of secularism will disappear, at the expense of a more religious Turkey. On the other side, Islamic students criticize secularism, as the origin of women segregation and responsible of the inequalities between genders. Indeed, both feminist students groups have distinct experiences that influence their social perceptions and behaviours, which will be analysed through this research work.