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YASİN AKTAY

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 YASİN AKTAY

 

Selçuk University
Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Department of Sociology
KONYA   TURKEY

Tel: +90 (537) 481-7481
yaktay@yahoo.com
http://www.angelfire/art/yasinaktay

 

 

LANGUAGES

English, Turkish, Arabic

 

EDUCATION:

POST-DOCTORATE
University of Utah, Political Science, Utah / USA
April-September, 2001

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORSHIP
Apllied Sociology, Istanbul University, Istanbul / TURKEY
26 November,  1999 

Ph. D
Middle East Technical University, Sociology, Ankara / TURKEY
26 July, 1997.

MS
Middle East Technical University, Sociology, Ankara / TURKEY
13 February, 1993

BACHELOR OF SCIEINCE
Middle East Technical University, Sociology, Ankara / TURKEY
24 June, 1990.
 

 

YASIN AKTAY

Aktay was born at Siirt (a South-eastern Anatolian Province) in 1966. He received his elementary and secondary education at Siirt. Then he succeeded in the high school examination and registered in the Department of Sociology in Middle East Technical University METU) (1985). While studying there he also worked as a journalist in the Turkish World of Municipalities (Belediye Dünyası) which charged him the task of observing all sub districts of three South-eastern Anatolian cities including Siirt, Mardin and Hakkari (1987). After accomplishing the undergraduate level (1990), he continued studying in METU for the graduate level, which resulted by a thesis entitled Intellectual and Political Disputes on the Academisation of Religious Knowledge, in which he studied (with his Supervisor Prof. Dr. Bahattin Aksit) the intellectual and institutional development of the higher religious institutions, particularly the faculty of divinity in Turkey (1993).. 

At the same time he edited-in-chief more than 40 books published by Vadi Yayınları, concerning sociology, philosophy and political science, some of which were translated from English and some from Arabic.  In this process he translated Bryan S. Turner's Weber and Islam into Turkish (1991). This book has had really good influences on the Turkish intellectual life. His translation has been cited more than 150 times since then in various books or articles. 

In 1993 he began studying his PhD program which ended in 1997 by the thesis entitled Body, Text, Identity: The Islamist Discourse of Authenticity in Modern Turkey. In the PhD thesis he tried to formulate the Turkish Islamist discourse of authenticity and identity in terms of the diasporic discourses, with the analysis of some texts and figures of the Turkish Islamism In the course of his studies at graduate level he attended the classes of Bahattin Aksit, Sencer Ayata, Kayhan Mutlu, Elisabeth Ozdalga, Alparslan Acikgenc, Ahmet Inam, and Ernst Wolf-Ghazzo.

He also affiliated with Selcuk University (Konya) as an Assistant Researcher in 1992. Since then he has been working in the Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Department of Sociology.. He gave lectures at several seasons on Contemporary Sociological Theories, Ottoman Social Structure, Turkish Sociologists, History of Philosophy, Sociology of Mass Communication, and New Trends in Sociological Theory, Economical Sociology and Sociology of Law. At the same time he attempted some discussions with the Turkish Islamist theologians about the hermeneutic techniques and ways of reading the religious texts, the religious problems and difficulties with (post)modernisation etc. This attempt has brought about authorizing several studies on the related issues. For example he wrote a joint book on Hermeneutics titled as "Word was at the Beginning: An Introduction to Hermeneutics" (Önce Söz Vardı: Yorumsamacılık Üzerine Bir Deneme, Ankara Vadi Yayinlari, in companion with Erol Goka and Abdullah Topcuoglu, 1996, 304 p.) and edited a book on the relationships of Postmodernism and Islam and Globalization and Orientalism  (Ankara Vadi Yayinlari, 1996, 350 p.). 

He has published more than 100 articles in Turkish and English on several issues, mainly sociological and philosophical-religious ones. The list of some of these articles and the English translation of their titles is presented below. Recently his last book in Turkish was appeared with the title: Türk Dininin Sosyolojik İmkâni (The Possibility of a Turkish Religion, İstanbul, İletişim Yayınları, 1999, 2000, 252 pages). This includes the sociological discourse analysis of the Turkish state policies of religion since the foundation of the Republic in 1923. And one of his recent articles was published in The Muslim World in USA, titled as "75 Years of Higher Religious Education in Modern Turkey" (together with Dr. Mehmet Pacaci). 

He has also translated several articles and books from Arabic into the Turkish, from Mohammed Arkoun and Ali Harp. In November 1999, he succeeded the related examination and received the degree of Associate Professorship. 
In addition to these studies he is interested with the compulsory or voluntary migration problem in South-eastern Anatolia resulted by the terror conditions since the year 1984. In order to observe and analyze the results of this migration he went to Siirt and Batman to undertake a fieldwork at the beginning of 1999, he applied there two questionnaires and evaluated them in the SPSS program and wrote a report on the diasporic consequences of the compulsory migration. In the following there are titles with their English translations of some of his studies. 

He received a three-moths fellowship from TUBA (Turkish Academy of Science) to study the Turkish Capacity of Social Capital in terms of the Sociology of Motivation, which was supported by a comparative fieldwork of the analysis of the ideological motivations of new emerging class of Anatolian businessmen and the Mormon enterprise at Utah. Therefore he spent six months as visiting professor at the university of Utah, Salt Lake City, where he conducted series of interviews with some Mormons from several parts of the society.

In the spring semester of 2003-2004 he was invited as Libra Professor to University of Maine at Farmington, where he taught Some trends and Issues in the Sociology of Middle East and Islam and joined several conferences.


 

PUBLICATIONS:

Books

  • Tarihbozumu: Osmanlı'dan Yirmibirinci Yüzyıla Tarih Üzerine Tezler, (Dehistorization: Theses on History from the Ottoman to the 21th Century,  Forthcoming: Vadi Yayınları)

·         Cevre Demokrasisi (Peripherial Democracy, A collection of  articles on Turkish democratical life) forthcoming,  Kaknüs Yayınları, İstanbul).

·         Kulturel / Siyasal Kavsaginda (At the Cultural-Political Crossroads), forthcoming, Ankara: Vadi Yayınları..


Edited Books

  • POSTMODERNİZM VE İSLAM, KÜRESELLEŞME VE ORYANTALİZM, (Postmodernizm and Islam, Globalisation and Orientalism) Derleme: Abdullah Topçuoğlu ve Yasin Aktay, 2. Baskı, Vadi Yayınları, Ankara, 1999, 346 s
     
  • DİN SOSYOLOJİSİ (Sociology of Religion), Derleme, Yasin Aktay ve M. Emin Köktaş, 2. Baskı, 1998, Ankara, Vadi Yayınları, 348 s. 
  • MODERN TURKİYE’DE SİYASİ DÜŞÜNCE, 6. CİLT İSLAMCILIK (Political Thought in Modern Turkey, Islamism, sixth volume,) 2004, İstanbul, iletişim Yayınları, 1112 sayfa. 

Translated Books

  • Max Weber ve İslâm: Elestirel Biur Yaklasim (Weber and Islam: A Critical Approach, by Bryan S. Turner, translated from English, Vadi Yayınları, 1997)
  • Tarih, Felsefe, Siyaset Uzerine Konusmalar  (On History, Philosophy, Politics, by Muhammed Arkoun'dan translated from the Arabic with Cemaleddin Erdemci 194 pages.  (It Includes a critical article by the translators titled, "Muhamed Arkoun'un Otantiklik Siyaseti" = Mohammed Arkoun's Politics of Authenticity ) Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 2000. 
  • Akil ve Toplumun Ozgurlesimi (Reason and the Emancipation of Society, by Ahmet Cigdem, translated from the English, Ankara Vadi Yayinlari, 1992) 
  • A History of Muslim World  (by Ira Lapidus) from the English, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2002, 778 sayfa.

Articles in English

  • Mehmet Paçacı and Yasin Aktay, 75 Years Of Higher Religious Education In Modern Turkey, The Muslim World, Volume, LXXXIX number: 3-4, 1999.
  • A Sociology of History on Law and Legitimation in the Ottoman Society, Humanities in the Birth of the Third Millenium, University of Binghamton (New York) and Fatih University, FÜ, İstanbul, 5-6 Haziran, 2000. 
  • Diaspora and Stability: Constitutive Elements in a Body of Knowledge, (A paper presented in a Workshop on Islams and Modernities in Georgtown University, Washington DC, 2001).
  • Deconstructing Time/Space For Reconstructing Drama and Dream versus Utopia and Heterotopie, S. Ü. İletişim F. Dergisi, 1999, Number: 1.
  • The Problem of Justification in the History of Art, Some Remarks for Outlining the Position of Muslim Art, S.Ü. S.B. Enstitüsü Dergisi, 1999, Number: 4.
  • The Reflexivity of Modernity and Social Sciences, S.Ü. Fen-Edebiyat Fakultesi Dergisi, 1998, Number: 12.
  • Some Remarks on Martin Heidegger's Path of Questioning Technology and Phenomenology, S.Ü. Fen-Edebiyat Fakultesi Dergisi, 1998, Number: 12
  •  Diaspora And Stability: Constitutive Elements In A Body Of Knowledge, John Esposito, M. Hakan Yavuz (edts),  Turkish Islam And The Secular State, New York, Syracuse University Press, 2003
  • Sociology Of History On Law And Legitimation In The Ottoman Society, New Millenium Perspectives in the Humanities (Edited by Judi Upton-Ward, New York: Global Humanities Press), 2002.


Articles in Turkish (The English Translation of the Titles):
 

·         Aklın Sosyolojik Soykütüğü: Soy Akildan Tarihsel ve Toplumsal Akla Dogru, Toplum ve Bilim, Number: 82, 1999 (A Sociological Geneology of Reason From a Pure Reason Toward a Social and Historical Reason).

·          Eskatolojilerin Sonu'ndan Çatışmanın Devamına, (From the End of Eschatologies to the Going on Clashes) Medeniyetler Çatışması, Vadi Yayınları, Ankara, 1997.

  • Aydınlatan Cumhuriyet ile Sımartan Demokrasi Arasında (Between The Enlightening Republic and the Spoiling Democracy), Hak-İş Dergisi, Ekim, 1998
  • Modernlik Durumumuza Dair (Our Condition of Modernity) Tezkire, Mayıs, 1992, Sayı: 3
  • Tarihler İçinde Tarihsiz Olmak (Being Deprived of a History within the Plurality of Histories) Tezkire, Eylül, 1992, Sayı: 4.
  • Anlama, Vahy ve Tarih (Understanding, Revelation and History), Tezkire, Güz, 1993, Sayı: 5.
  • Faili Meçhul Siyaset (The Policiy of an Unknown Subject), Tezkire, Aralık, 1997, Sayı: 11-12.
  • Demokrasiden Önce ne Alırdınız? (What Would You Like to Take Before Democracy?) Tezkire, 1998, Sayı: 13.
  • Senin Seçimin, Benim Seçimim Onun Seçimi (Your Choice, My Choice, His Choice), Birikim: Aylik Sosyalist Kultur Dergisi, Sayı: 120, 1999.
  • Siyasal Alanın Ayrılamazlığı (The Unsperability of he Political Shere), İzlenim, Aralık, 1995, Sayı: 28.
  • Dayanıksız bir Tüketim Maddesi Olarak Bilgi (Knowledge as a Matter of Daily Consumption), İzlenim, Ocak, 1996, Sayı: 29.
  • Küreselleşme ve Siyasal Metafizik (Globalization and Political Metaphysics, Umran, No, 72, August, 2000
  • Tarihbozumu ve Tarih Bilinci (Dehistorization and Historical Consciousness, Tezkire, No: 20, 2001,) Gözden geçirilmiş şekli, Tarihin Sonu mu? F. Fukuyama, Mustafa Aydın ve Ertan Özensel (derleyenler), Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 2002, ss. 176-184.

·         Karizma, Popüler Kültür ve Faşizm (Charisma, Populer Culture, and Fascism) Tezkire, No: 22, 2001)

·         Siyaset Sonrası Şartlarda Liberalizmi Tartışmak, Tezkire, No 24, 2002.

·         Türk Sosyolojisinin Siyasi Tarihi (Political History of Turkish Sociology), Yeni Türkiye, Türk Dünyası Ansiklopedisi, 2002.

·         Tarihin Sonuna Geç Kalmak Mükün mü? (Is it Possible to be Late for the end of History?) Tarihin Sonu mu? F. Fukuyama, Mustafa Aydın ve Ertan Özensel (derleyenler), Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 2002, ss. 283-294.

·         Türk Sosyolojisinin Öz-düşünümselliğine Katkı: Siyaset ve Sosyolojinin Eklemlenmesi Üzerine (A Contribution to Self-Reflexivity of Turkish Sociology: On the Articulation of Sociology and Politics) Tezkire, No: 25, 2002 (Bu yazı yukarıda geçen “Türk Sosyolojisinin Siyasi Tarihi“ başlıklı yazının gözden geçirilmiş şeklidir).

·         Eğitimde Küresel İmkanlar: Küreselleşen Dünyada Eğitimde Fırsat Eşitliği ve Özgürleşim Fırsatları Üzerine (Global Possibilities in Education: Opportunity Equality and Emancipatory Opportunities in Globalizing World), Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri, Vol. 2. No: 1, 2002.

·         Birleşen Dünyada Çoğalan Kültürler?(Multiculturalization in a Unifying World?), Euroagenda, Avrupa Günlüğü, Vol 1, No 2, 2002.

·         Sol, Metin, Tarih (Leftism, Text, History), Tezkire, No: 26, 2002.

·         Üniversiteden Multiversiteye Taşra-Merkez Diyalektiği (From University to Multiversity: Dialectic of Centre-Province) Toplum ve Bilim, 97, 97, 93 - 123, 2003

·         Sivil Toplum Ve Sıkıntıları: Oryantalizm, Şiddet Vesaire (Civil Society and its Discontents: Orientalism, Violence etc.), Sivil Toplum, 1, 1, 51 - 60, 2003

·         Amerikada Sivil Toplum Ve Sivil Dinin Değerleri (Civil Society and Civil Religious values in the USA), Sivil Toplum, 1, 4, 25 - 44, 2003

·         A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism And The Emergence Of Islamism By Bobby Sayyid, Turkish Studies, 3, 2, 237 - 239, 2002

·         Farklılık Politikaları Ve Türkiye Müslümanlığı, (Policies of Difference and Turkish Islam)  İslamiyat, 5, 4, 41 - 55, 2002

·         Soğuk Savaş Dönemi Arap İslamcılığında Sol Ve Sosyalist Bağlam, (Left and Socialist Context in the Arap Islsamism of the Cold War Period)  İslamiyat, 5, 2, 43 - 68, 2002

·         Karizmanın Aşırı Gerçekliği, (The Hiper-Reality of Charisma)  Birikim, 14, 163-4, 53 - 61, 2002

·         Amerikada Kudüsü Kurmak İçin: Mormonlarda Din Ve Değerler Eğitimi (For Reconstructing a Jerusalem in USA: Religion and Value Education in the Mormons) Değerler Eğitimi Dergisi, 3, 3, 27 - 64, 2003

·         Türk İslamcılığında Muhafazakar Bakiye (Conservative Residual in Turkish Islamism) Modern Türkiyede Siyasi Düşünce: Muhafazakarlık, 5, 5, 346 - 360, 2003

·         Georg Dumezil, Osmanlicadan Çeviren Ve Takdim Eden Yasin Aktay, Fransız Hükümeti Ve Elli Seneden Seri İlahiyat,    Tezkire, 8, 31-32, 124 - 136, 2003

·         İlahiyat Sosyolojisi: Bir Sosyal Değişim Dinamiği Olarak İlahiyat Sorunu (A Sociology of Islamic Theology: Theology as a Problem of Dynamic of Social Change)  Tezkire, 8, 31-32, 45 - 64, 2003

·         İktidarın Nesnesi Ve Kaynağı Olarak Beden Ve Kimlik Politikaları: Kamusal Alan Tartışmalarına Bir Dipnot, Sivil Toplum, 1, 2, 17 - 23, 2003

·         Tezkerenin Reddi Karizmayı Bozmaz (The rejection of USA does not destroy the Charisma) Tezkire, 29, 29, 55 - 62, 2002

·         Küreselleşmede Uzlaşmak Mümkün Mü? (Is it possible to agree on Globalization)   Tezkire, 11, 27-28, 156 - 162, 2002

·         Türk Sosyolojisinin Öz-Düşünümselliğine Katkı: Siyaset Ve Sosyolojinin Eklemlenmesi Üzerine (A contribution to the self-reflexivity of Turkish Sociology: On the articulation of Sociology and Politics) Tezkire, 7, 25, 62 - 76, 2002

·         Ve Tarih Başladığı Yere Döner: Bir Mezopotamya Güzellemesi,  (And history turns to its origins, to Mesopotamia)  Tezkire, 29, 29, 15 - 21, 2002

·         Toplumun Kültürel Kodlarında Çözülme (Dissolution of the Cultural Codes of the Society) Diyanet Aylık Dergi, 153, 153, 17 - 18, 2003

·         Küreselleşme Ve Çokkültürlülük (Globalization and Multiculturalism)  Tezkire,  35, 35, 54 - 82, 2003

·         Osmanlı'Da Hukuk Ve Meşruiyet Üzerine Bir Tarih Sosyolojisi (On Law and Legitimation in the Ottoman Society)  Tezkire, 34, 34, 32 - 60, 2003

·         Siyasette İslamiliğin Sınırları Ve İmkanları (The limits of the Islamic Policy and its possibilities) Tezkire, 33, 33, 31 - 41, 2003

·         Muhtaç Olduğu Kudret?... Kendi Merkezinde Akp, İslamcılık Ve Meşruiyet (The power that it needs: Justice and Development Party in its own Centre, Islsamism and Legitimacy)  Birikim, 181, 181, 46 - 60, 2004

Some Presentations:
 

  • Modern Dünyada Dinî Bilgi ve Otorite Kayması (The Shift in Religious Knowledge and Authority International Coference Series) Dogudan Batidan Uluslararasi Konferanslar, İstanbul, 1997.
  • Modern Bilim ve Feyerabend Uzerine (On Modern Science and Feyerabend, To the Memory of Feyerabend, Universitenin Gelecegi,  ODTÜ Ogretim Elemanlari Dernegi  (METU), 1994.
  • Türk Toplumunun Sosyolojik Analizinde Heterodoksi-Ortodoksi Düalizminin Bazı Sorunları  (Some Problems of Heterodoxy-Orthodoxy Dualism in the Sociological Analysis of Turkish Society) II. İslâm Düşüncesi Sempozyumu,Trabzon, Büyükşehir Belediyesi,  1995.
  • İktidarın Nesnesi ve Kaynağı Olarak Beden ve Kimlik Politikaları (Body and Identity Policies as Object and Source of Power, presented at 3rd Turkish National Sociological Congress, Eskisehir, 2-4 November 2000), 3. Turk Ulusal Sosyoloji Kongresi..
  •  From confrontation with the West to acceptance of a secular state with the rule of law. On the current transformation of political Islam in Turkey. Haus Der Kulturen World, 15 April, 2002, Berlin.
  • Avrupa Birliğinin Geleceğinde İslam Ve Demokrasi,    (Islam and Democracy in the Future of European Union) Türk-Alman İşbirliği Konusu Olarak İslam ve Avrupa II(Islam and Europe as an issue of Turkish-German Cooperation), 2002.
  • Bir Sosyal Değişim Dinamiği Olarak İlahiyat Sorunu (Theology as a Problem of Social Change Dynamic), İlahiyat Bilimlerinde yöntem Sorunu Sempozyumu, Erciyes Üniversitesi, 1 - 15, 2003
  • Siyasette Sahihlik Sorunu,  (The problem of Islamic quality in Politics)  Bilgide, Sanatta, Hukukte ve Siyasette İslamilik Sorunu, İslamiyat Yaz Toplantısı, August, 2003
  • Bir Toplumsal Sermaye Olarak Karizma (Charisma as a Social Capital Source)   8. Ulusal Sosyal Bilimler Kongresi, December, 2003
  • İslam, İnsan Hakları Ve Demokrasi, (Islam, Human Rights and Democracy) Alman-Türk İş Birliği Konusu Olarak İslam ve Avrupa II ((Islam and Europe as an issue of Turkish-German Cooperation), 2003.
  • Who Needs Moderate Islam?,  Moderation in Islam, A Colloquium, Utha, Salt Lake City, USA, 1 February, 2004.
  • Culture, Religion And The Formation Of Different Sects And Tradition In Islamic Societies,    Gold Leaf Institute, Islamic Studies, Maune, Farmington, USA, 1 - 8, 2004.
  • Rethinking Middle East And The Idea Of Eurocentrism,    Sixth Annual UMF Symposium, USA , March, 2004.
  • Din, Gelenek Ve Modern Sivil Toplum,   (Religion, Tradition and Civil Society) Alman-Türk İşbirliği Konusu Olarak İslam ve Avrupa-III, (Islam and Europe as an issue of Turkish-German Cooperation) , June, 2004.
  • Global Possibilities of Equal Opportunities In University Education,    Perspectives on University Education in the 21st Cuntruy, Fatih University, İstanbul,  May, 2004.
  • Social Change And Modernization Of The Middle East, Social Problems and Social Change, University of Maine, USA, April, 2004.
  • The Problem Of Democracy, Secularism And Civil Society In Middle Eastern Societies, Gold Leaf Institute, Islamic Studies-2, Farmington, USA, April, 2004


Translated Articles:

  • W. Montgomery Watt ve İslâm'ı Kılıçla Fethetmenin Zorlukları, by Elisabeth Özdalga, Ingilizce'den, Tezkire, number: 11-12, 1997.
  • Havva, İslâmî Kadın İmajı by Yvonna Haddad (İngilizce'den), The Journal of Islamic Research, 1991, Vol 5, No: 1
  • Benlik ve Düşünümsel Modernlik, Bryan S. Turner, Tezkire, 1996, no: 9-10

·         Suskun Imge, by Hans-Georg Gadamer, Tezkire, 2001, No: 21

·         Tarihin Sonundan Sonra İslam ve Çatışmanın Geleceği, Abdulvahap el-Efendi’den çeviri, Tarihin Sonu mu? F. Fukuyama, Mustafa Aydın ve Ertan Özensel (derleyenler), Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 2002.

·         Hedefleri: Modern Dünya, F. Fukuyama’dan (Birol Akgun’le beraber), Tarihin Sonu mu? F. Fukuyama, Mustafa Aydın ve Ertan Özensel (derleyenler), Ankara: Vadi Yayınları, 2002


Accomplished Fieldworks:
 


Interviews:
 

 

 

ON-GOING STUDIES:

Books and Fieldworks
 

  • AYET VE TARİH: KUR'AN YORUMLARININ HERMENÖTİK BAGLAMI, (Revelation and History: The Hermeneutical Context of Qor'anic Interpretations: Including the discussions on historicism. sociological and aesthetic aspects of the formation and reading of the texts in general and the scriptures in particular. A book that will appear in Vadi Books). 
  • The translation of Émile Durkheim's THE DIVISION OF LABOUR IN SOCIETY from the English in companion with Abdullah Topçuoğlu.
  • The translation of Émile Durkheim's THE ELEMENTARY FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE from the English with Dr. Abdullah Topçuoğlu.
  • The translation of (the second volume of) Ira Lapidus’s A HISTORY OF MUSLIM WORLD, İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları. 
  • The translation of Ali Harb's YORUM VE HAKİKAT: KÜLTÜREL HERMENÖTİK ÇALIŞMALARI from the Arabic..
  • KONYA: A CITY UNDER TANSFORMATION, a study of Konya as an Important city model, representing some characteristic trends In the Turkish Development which will be held In companion with Abdullah Topçuoğlu and Hakan Yavuz
  • THE SOCIAL CAPITAL CAPACITY OF TURKEY IN TERMS OF SOCIOLOGY OF MOTIVATIONS (AComparative Study of the Anatolian Business Class and the Mormons) a fieldwork study held in Utah State of US which was sponsored by  TÜBA (Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi / Turkish Academy of Sciences).