Teaching History, Learning Piety : an Alevi Foundation in Contemporary Turkey

Sammanfattning: In Turkey, a considerable number of Alevi foundations and associations work intensively with promoting Alevi visibility and rights in Turkish society. Locally, they offer educational activities where Alevis can learn, practice and reflect on their religion and culture. Based on fieldwork in one Alevi foundation in present day Istanbul, this book explores ways in which knowledge of Alevi religion and culture is produced and disseminated in Turkey. In this foundation, knowledge of various aspects of Alevism was systematized, taught and learned in rituals and lectures, bringing together Alevis from various backgrounds in a collective understanding of history, religion and culture. This book underscores the importance of historiography in definitions of Alevism, as well as in individual Alevi strategies for cultivating piety.