Zeynep Ozgen

This ethnographic and historical project analyzes the relationship between rapidly growing religious education sites and mobilization efforts by Islamic movements in Turkey. The study focuses on the period from Turkey’s 1980 military coup through the present to explain how Islamic movements have appropriated the secular vision of social engineering through education to reach, recruit, and organize followers. Through a combination of ethnographic field notes, interviews with key local and national actors, and analysis of archival documents, the dissertation demonstrates that state efforts at integrating Islam into public education to tame its political message unintentionally inspired Islamic actors to build their own educational organizations to provide an alternative message and make inroads into society.