Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interreligious Dialogue in the Public Sphere. Challenges from an Alevi Perspective

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue

Abstract

With around 1.5–2 million members, Anatolian Alevism is undergoing a major transformation, from an “invisible secret religion” toward an institutionalized religion in its new home in Europe. It is no coincidence that, in this process, different levels of “interreligious dialogue” in the city of Hamburg have a substantial role to play. Despite the various challenges with which the former guest workers from Anatolia are confronted, they are constantly striving for an interreligious dialogue in Hamburg.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    On the opening of the “Alevi Religion” at the Academy of World Religions, see Aksünger and Weisse (2015).

  2. 2.

    Different texts estimate different figures: 550,000 in Germany, 250,000 in the United Kingdom, 200,000 in France, 100,000 in the Netherlands, 80,000 in Austria, 50,000 in Belgium, 40,000 in Switzerland, 12,000 in Sweden and 10,000 in Denmark (Cosan-Eke 2014; Alevi Union 2015).

  3. 3.

    For more details, see the link https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/themen/kulturdialog/-/212814

  4. 4.

    On the “ground rules” of dialogue, see Leonard Swidler (1992): Die Zukunft der Theologie. Im Dialog der Religionen und Weltanschauungen, München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag.

  5. 5.

    In his book, “Das Alevitentum in seinen divergierenden Verhältnisbestimmungen zum Islam“, Andreas Gorzweski (2010) discusses these different positions.

  6. 6.

    Ismail Kaplan (2013) described the ethical System of “Four Doors, Forty Rules” in detail in his text “Glaubensgrundlagen und Identitätsfindung im Alevitentum”.

  7. 7.

    For more details see Aksünger (2010), “Eine ethnologische Interpretation des Cem-Rituals”.

  8. 8.

    The female members of the Ocak are called Ana (literally “mother”).

  9. 9.

    The Ottoman Millet System was introduced in 1454 following the conquest of Constantinople. This minority status was based on religion and applied only to non-Muslims. See Hakan Yilmaz 2016: 5. http://beucitizen.eu/wp-content/uploads/D4.9-Turkey-final.pdf

  10. 10.

    For example see the EU Commission Report of 2011https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/20161109_report_turkey.pdf

  11. 11.

    On the role of Alevi Centers or Immigrant Organizations as civil society actors between the state, public and private sphere see Aksünger 2013.

  12. 12.

    For more details about the IFH, see the homepage https://ifh.hamburg/

  13. 13.

    The Christian Democratic Union and Alliance 90/The Greens.

  14. 14.

    For the contracts see https://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/3551370/373c79022a3cc28025f815d9a33d2b49/data/download-muslim-verbaende.pdf;jsessionid=8F529EB33DAFE85A21AB5E22BAD8286F.liveWorker2 and https://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/3551366/4e1faf8a197766a1d54a25acf7e5ee3a/data/download-alevitische-gemeinde.pdf

  15. 15.

    For an intensive discussion of these contracts from various perspectives and by different actors, see the documentation of the Academy of World Religion “Religiöse Vielfalt und Säkularität. Die Verträge zwischen Staat und Religionsgemeinschaften in Hamburg”, edited by Wolfram Weisse (2016).

References

  • Aksünger, H. (2010). Eine ethnologische Interpretation des Cem-Rituals. In F. Eißler (Ed.), Aleviten in Deutschland. Grundlagen, Veränderungsprozesse, Perspektiven (pp. 85–98). Berlin: Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aksünger, H. (2013). Jenseits des Schweigegebots. Alevitische Migrantenselbstorganisationen und zivilgesellschaftliche Integration in Deutschland und den Niederlanden. Deutschland und die Niederlande im Vergleich, Vol. 11. Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aksünger, H., & Weisse, W. (Eds.). (2015). Alevitische Theologie an der Universität Hamburg. Dokumentation einer öffentlichen Antrittsvorlesung. Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alevi Union Europe. (2015). European Parliament Brussels/Belgium.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, P. L. (2014). The many altars of modernity: Toward a paradigm for religion in a pluralist age. Boston: De Gruyter.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Çoșan-Eke, D. (2014). Transnational communities: Alevi immigrants in Europe. Alevilik-Bektașilik Araștırmalar Dergisi, 10, 167–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dressler, M. (2002). Die alevitische Religion. Traditionslinien und Neubestimmungen. Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, LIII, 4. Würzburg: Ergon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erdemir, A. (2005). Tradition and modernity: Aleviś ambiguous terms and Turkeys’ ambivalent subjects. Middle Eastern Studies, 42(6), 937–955. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4284417. Accessed 2 June 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2011). Turkey progress report 2008–2009. https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhoodenlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/20161109_report_turkey.pdf. Accessed 30 Sept 2016.

  • Gorzewski, A. (2010). Das Alevitentum in seinen divergierenden Verhältnisbestimmungen zum Islam. Bonner Islamstudien. Vol. 17. Berlin: EBVERLAG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, I. (2013). Glaubensgrundlagen und Identitätsfindung im Alevitentum. In F. Eißler (Ed.), Aleviten in Deutschland. Grundlagen, Veränderungsprozesse, Perspektiven (pp. 29–76). Berlin: Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehl-Bodrogi, K. (2006). Von der Kultur zur Religion. Alevitische Identitätspolitik in Deutschland. Working Paper No. 84. Halle/Saale: Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Küster, V. (2011). Einführung in die interkulturelle Theologie. Stuttgart: UTB–Verlag Barbara Budrich.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nestmann, L. (2005). Die ethnische Differenzierung der Bevölkerung der Ostürkei in ihren sozialen Bezügen. In P. A. Andrews (Ed.), Ethnic groups in the Republic of Turkey. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Șahin, Ș. (2005). The rise of Alevism as a public religion. Current Sociology, 53(3), 465–485. London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Dehli. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011392105051336. Accessed 20 Apr 2017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankland, D. (1999). Integrating the rural: Gellner and the study of Anatolia. Middle Eastern Studies, 35, 132–149. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4284007. Accessed 22 Sept 2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankland, D. (2010). Maps and Alevis: On the ethnography of heterodoxy of Islamic Groups. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 37(3), 227–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2010.543307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sökefeld, M. (2002). Alevi Dedes in the German diaspora: The transformation of a religious institution. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 127, 163–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sökefeld, M. (2008). Struggling for recognition. The Alevi movement in Germany and in transnational space. Oxford/New York: Berghan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sökefeld, M. (2013). Die Geschichte der alevitischen Bewegung in Deutschland. In F. Eißler (Ed.), Aleviten in Deutschland. Grundlagen, Veränderungsprozesse, Perspektiven (pp. 18–28). Berlin: Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statisches Amt für Hamburg und Schleswig Holstein. (2016). Statistik informiert. NR. I/2016. Bevölkerung mit Migrationshintergrund in den Hamburger Stadtteilen Ende 2015.http://www.statistiknord.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Statistik_informiert_SPEZIAL/SI_SPEZIAL_I_2016_komplett.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2016.

  • Swidler, L. (1992). Die Zukunft der Theologie. Im Dialog der Religionen und Weltanschauungen. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisse, W. (Ed.). (2016). Religiöse Vielfalt und Säkularität. Die Verträge zwischen Staat und Religionsgemeinschaften in Hamburg, vol. 4. Dokumentationsreihe der Akademie der Weltreligionen. Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisse, W., & Doedens, F. (1997). Religionsunterricht für alle. Hamburger Perspektiven zur Religionsdidaktik. Münster: Waxmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yilmaz, H. (2016). Turkey: Minorities, othering and discrimination, citizenship claims. http://beucitizen.eu/wp-content/uploads/D4.9-Turkey-final.pdf. Accessed 28 Jun 2018.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Islamisch-Theologische Studien; Alevitisch-Theologische Studien, Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria

    Handan Aksünger-Kizil

Authors
  1. Handan Aksünger-Kizil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Handan Aksünger-Kizil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Management and Vice Director of the Academy of World Religions, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Anna Körs

  2. Senior Research Fellow and Head of Research Project “Religion and Dialogue in Modern Societies” at the Academy of World Religions, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Wolfram Weisse

  3. l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Department of Religious Studies, Sorbonne University Paris-Sciences-Lettres, Paris, France

    Jean-Paul Willaime

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Aksünger-Kizil, H. (2020). Interreligious Dialogue in the Public Sphere. Challenges from an Alevi Perspective. In: Körs, A., Weisse, W., Willaime, JP. (eds) Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31856-7_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31856-7_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31855-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31856-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation