Modernity, Secularism and Islam. The Case of Turkey

Abstract

After September 11th the discourse of the “clash of civilizations” has played a key role in global issues. Besides, as a consequence of this discourse, Islam has been catalogued as the negation of secular modernity and liberal democracy. In this context, several solutions have been sought in order to fight against global terrorism: either “exporting democracy through war and occupation”, on the one hand, or claiming for a “global democratic governance” as the foundation for the coexistence among different cultures and civilizations, on the other. This article follows this last option and presents Turkey as a paradigmatic example of an “alternative modernity” which has experienced, even if with historical difficulties, the coexistence of Islam with democracy and modernity.