This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation y... more This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation young male Alevi Kurds in London and the social conditions which make some of them more prone to join gangs and to reject mainstream institutions in their search for instant material rewards. It is instructive to use Durkheim’s analysis of society’s integrative and regulative functions and particularly his concept of anomie to understand a situation where the legitimate means in the pursuit of material wealth and comfort are out of balance with the demand, calling into question the legitimacy of the institutions which provide these functions. Those who cannot compete through existing institutions are more likely to seek alternative means to achieve these ends. Durkheim identified youth as more vulnerable to such unregulated desires and I argue that his approach offers valuable insights into the anomic pressures confronting second-generation migrant young men in particular. in Kurmanji Ar...
This interview with Martin van Bruinessen records his personal and intellectual engagement with A... more This interview with Martin van Bruinessen records his personal and intellectual engagement with Alevis in Turkey and the Netherlands for over fifty years. Initially, his interest was in Anatolian Alevi culture and he began exploring the religious dimension of Alevism in the 1970s at a time when Alevis were more preoccupied with left-wing politics. He charts the emergence of Alevism studies since the 1980s and links it to the religious resurgence and reinvention of diverse ethno-religious Alevi identities associated with urbanised and diasporic communities. He further examines the relationship between Kurdish and Alevi movements and Alevism and Islam.
No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and tr... more No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and trans/national Alevi identity critically engages with the relationship between religion, ethnicity and national identity. The core issues are as follows: • how ethnicity and religion are conceptualised for a relatively invisible ethnic group in different national contexts; • how religion and ethnicity intersect when Alevism is both a faith and an ethnic identity, especially when conceptions of that identity are contested; • how identity is shaped through state policies within different national policy contexts and how etic definitions of minority communities are constructed by the state or other agencies with the power to impose them on the community in contrast to the emic or self-definitions of Aleviness from within the Alevi community; • how despite the fragmented, heterogeneous nature of Alevi communities, there is also a sense of a single, transnational imaginary community, at least f...
This special issue brings together scholarship on Alevi Kurds by focusing on their ethnic, lingui... more This special issue brings together scholarship on Alevi Kurds by focusing on their ethnic, linguistic, religious, political, cultural and social specificity including a range of articles from the disciplines of anthropology, history, politics, linguistics and sociology. The first part focuses on Turkey, exploring the roots of Kurdish Alevism and how Alevi religious identities intersect with ethnic and national identity and political representations, and the second focuses on Alevi Kurds and their creation of a transnational religious identity and their mixed experience of settlement in the UK diaspora.
This is a case study of ethnographic research into the suicide among young men in the transnation... more This is a case study of ethnographic research into the suicide among young men in the transnational Alevi community in London. The research aimed to understand the high incidence of suicide and why it emerged as a phenomenon for the second-generation Alevi community but not the first. The main focus is on the issues that arose in planning and conducting the research and how these were resolved. A key concern was to find a manageable research question and to find appropriate theoretical concepts to give the research a clear direction. How the choice of theoretical perspective informed the choice of method, along with the problems of researching such a sensitive topic including accessing people to interview and managing the ethical dilemmas, and how the researcher’s insider status affected the research are covered.
Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of 'zombie concepts': the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi ... more Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of 'zombie concepts': the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi Kurd youth Cetin, U.
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurd... more This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a ‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding...
This article explains how the negative identity of second-generation
Alevi-Kurds in the UK has be... more This article explains how the negative identity of second-generation Alevi-Kurds in the UK has been transmitted intergenerationally, linked to their history of persecuted exclusion in Turkey and to the transnational settlement of Alevi migrants in the UK, and how this sense of marginalization and invisibility in the receiving country can be addressed. Education is identified as a starting point for the underachievement and disaffection of Alevi pupils, which can lead them into more serious trouble and descent into the rainbow underclass. In the quest to tackle this identity issue, a unique collaborative action research project was set up between an Alevi community centre, local schools and a university to develop the world’s first Alevi lessons as part of the compulsory Religious Education curriculum in British schools. The Alevi Religion and Identity Project1 is described and evaluated in terms of its outcomes, especially its contribution towards a more positive Alevi identity as a reflection of a vibrant community
Against Beck's claims that conventional sociological concepts and categories are zombie categorie... more Against Beck's claims that conventional sociological concepts and categories are zombie categories, this paper argues that Durkheim's theoretical framework in which suicide is a symptom of an anomic state of society can help us understand the diversity of trajectories that transnational migrants follow and that shape their suicide rates within a cosmopolitan society. Drawing on ethnographic data collected on eight suicides and three attempted suicide cases of second-generation male Alevi Kurdish migrants living in London, this article explains the impact of segmented assimilation/adaptation trajectories on the incidence of suicide and how their membership of a 'new rainbow underclass', as a manifestation of cosmopolitan society, is itself an anomic social position with a lack of integration and regulation.
Abstract
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational A... more Abstract This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a ‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding of the underlying causes in a desperate attempt to prevent further suicides.
Undetected by British mainstream media, over 48 young Alevi Kurdish men have killed themselves si... more Undetected by British mainstream media, over 48 young Alevi Kurdish men have killed themselves since 2003 in London. A study by the Times newspaper tries to shed some light on the issue.
Essex Üniversitesi'nde Londralı Alevi-Kürt gençlerinin intiharları üzerine doktora çalışması yürü... more Essex Üniversitesi'nde Londralı Alevi-Kürt gençlerinin intiharları üzerine doktora çalışması yürüten Ümit Çetin, "İntiharın, parçası olduğum toplumun önemli sorunlarından biri haline gelmesi ve intihara yol açan toplumsal nedenlerin görmezden gelinmesi, beni intihar üzerine düşünmeye yöneltti" diyor.
This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation y... more This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation young male Alevi Kurds in London and the social conditions which make some of them more prone to join gangs and to reject mainstream institutions in their search for instant material rewards. It is instructive to use Durkheim’s analysis of society’s integrative and regulative functions and particularly his concept of anomie to understand a situation where the legitimate means in the pursuit of material wealth and comfort are out of balance with the demand, calling into question the legitimacy of the institutions which provide these functions. Those who cannot compete through existing institutions are more likely to seek alternative means to achieve these ends. Durkheim identified youth as more vulnerable to such unregulated desires and I argue that his approach offers valuable insights into the anomic pressures confronting second-generation migrant young men in particular. in Kurmanji Ar...
This interview with Martin van Bruinessen records his personal and intellectual engagement with A... more This interview with Martin van Bruinessen records his personal and intellectual engagement with Alevis in Turkey and the Netherlands for over fifty years. Initially, his interest was in Anatolian Alevi culture and he began exploring the religious dimension of Alevism in the 1970s at a time when Alevis were more preoccupied with left-wing politics. He charts the emergence of Alevism studies since the 1980s and links it to the religious resurgence and reinvention of diverse ethno-religious Alevi identities associated with urbanised and diasporic communities. He further examines the relationship between Kurdish and Alevi movements and Alevism and Islam.
No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and tr... more No abstract for editorial but this is the opening paragraph: This special issue on Alevism and trans/national Alevi identity critically engages with the relationship between religion, ethnicity and national identity. The core issues are as follows: • how ethnicity and religion are conceptualised for a relatively invisible ethnic group in different national contexts; • how religion and ethnicity intersect when Alevism is both a faith and an ethnic identity, especially when conceptions of that identity are contested; • how identity is shaped through state policies within different national policy contexts and how etic definitions of minority communities are constructed by the state or other agencies with the power to impose them on the community in contrast to the emic or self-definitions of Aleviness from within the Alevi community; • how despite the fragmented, heterogeneous nature of Alevi communities, there is also a sense of a single, transnational imaginary community, at least f...
This special issue brings together scholarship on Alevi Kurds by focusing on their ethnic, lingui... more This special issue brings together scholarship on Alevi Kurds by focusing on their ethnic, linguistic, religious, political, cultural and social specificity including a range of articles from the disciplines of anthropology, history, politics, linguistics and sociology. The first part focuses on Turkey, exploring the roots of Kurdish Alevism and how Alevi religious identities intersect with ethnic and national identity and political representations, and the second focuses on Alevi Kurds and their creation of a transnational religious identity and their mixed experience of settlement in the UK diaspora.
This is a case study of ethnographic research into the suicide among young men in the transnation... more This is a case study of ethnographic research into the suicide among young men in the transnational Alevi community in London. The research aimed to understand the high incidence of suicide and why it emerged as a phenomenon for the second-generation Alevi community but not the first. The main focus is on the issues that arose in planning and conducting the research and how these were resolved. A key concern was to find a manageable research question and to find appropriate theoretical concepts to give the research a clear direction. How the choice of theoretical perspective informed the choice of method, along with the problems of researching such a sensitive topic including accessing people to interview and managing the ethical dilemmas, and how the researcher’s insider status affected the research are covered.
Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of 'zombie concepts': the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi ... more Cosmopolitanism and the relevance of 'zombie concepts': the case of anomic suicide amongst Alevi Kurd youth Cetin, U.
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurd... more This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a ‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding...
This article explains how the negative identity of second-generation
Alevi-Kurds in the UK has be... more This article explains how the negative identity of second-generation Alevi-Kurds in the UK has been transmitted intergenerationally, linked to their history of persecuted exclusion in Turkey and to the transnational settlement of Alevi migrants in the UK, and how this sense of marginalization and invisibility in the receiving country can be addressed. Education is identified as a starting point for the underachievement and disaffection of Alevi pupils, which can lead them into more serious trouble and descent into the rainbow underclass. In the quest to tackle this identity issue, a unique collaborative action research project was set up between an Alevi community centre, local schools and a university to develop the world’s first Alevi lessons as part of the compulsory Religious Education curriculum in British schools. The Alevi Religion and Identity Project1 is described and evaluated in terms of its outcomes, especially its contribution towards a more positive Alevi identity as a reflection of a vibrant community
Against Beck's claims that conventional sociological concepts and categories are zombie categorie... more Against Beck's claims that conventional sociological concepts and categories are zombie categories, this paper argues that Durkheim's theoretical framework in which suicide is a symptom of an anomic state of society can help us understand the diversity of trajectories that transnational migrants follow and that shape their suicide rates within a cosmopolitan society. Drawing on ethnographic data collected on eight suicides and three attempted suicide cases of second-generation male Alevi Kurdish migrants living in London, this article explains the impact of segmented assimilation/adaptation trajectories on the incidence of suicide and how their membership of a 'new rainbow underclass', as a manifestation of cosmopolitan society, is itself an anomic social position with a lack of integration and regulation.
Abstract
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational A... more Abstract This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a ‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding of the underlying causes in a desperate attempt to prevent further suicides.
Undetected by British mainstream media, over 48 young Alevi Kurdish men have killed themselves si... more Undetected by British mainstream media, over 48 young Alevi Kurdish men have killed themselves since 2003 in London. A study by the Times newspaper tries to shed some light on the issue.
Essex Üniversitesi'nde Londralı Alevi-Kürt gençlerinin intiharları üzerine doktora çalışması yürü... more Essex Üniversitesi'nde Londralı Alevi-Kürt gençlerinin intiharları üzerine doktora çalışması yürüten Ümit Çetin, "İntiharın, parçası olduğum toplumun önemli sorunlarından biri haline gelmesi ve intihara yol açan toplumsal nedenlerin görmezden gelinmesi, beni intihar üzerine düşünmeye yöneltti" diyor.
The research is both a study of the social organisation of an under-researched community in Lond... more The research is both a study of the social organisation of an under-researched community in London, the Alevi Kurds, and of the relatively high incidence of suicide amongst its young men. Drawing on Durkheim’s theoretical postulate that suicide is a product of a lack of integration and regulation (anomie) it looks at how the institutions that came to integrate and regulate the first-generation in Turkey and London ceased to function for the second generation. The research differs from Durkheim in using an ethnographic approach that records and analyses personal experiences and biographies in order to understand everyday lives and socio-cultural practices and their relationship to the social organisation of the community. The suicides are thus placed within the intersection of personal biographies, changing community structures and broader socio-historical factors. The ethnographic data is drawn from interviews with the families, relatives and friends of those who committed suicide as well as other first and second-generation Alevi Kurds. These not only provide data about the suicides but also the structure of the community and the experiences of its members before and after settlement in London. Whilst the first generation followed a pattern of segmented assimilation maintaining a strong sense of community, the second generation experienced downward mobility into the “rainbow underclass”, disengaging from their parents, education and employment to seek alternative means to achieve their goals through membership of gangs. But when this membership failed to provide these goals, the young men who also suffered a crisis in their intimate relationships, found themselves in a situation of chronic anomie, experienced as a sense of hopelessness leading to suicide. The study confirms Durkheim’s theory that suicide is related to the social organisation of society but also demonstrates how the social forces associated with integration and regulation are experienced at the individual level.
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Papers by umit cetin
Alevi-Kurds in the UK has been transmitted intergenerationally,
linked to their history of persecuted exclusion in Turkey and to
the transnational settlement of Alevi migrants in the UK, and how
this sense of marginalization and invisibility in the receiving
country can be addressed. Education is identified as a starting
point for the underachievement and disaffection of Alevi pupils,
which can lead them into more serious trouble and descent into
the rainbow underclass. In the quest to tackle this identity issue, a
unique collaborative action research project was set up between
an Alevi community centre, local schools and a university to
develop the world’s first Alevi lessons as part of the compulsory
Religious Education curriculum in British schools. The Alevi
Religion and Identity Project1 is described and evaluated in terms
of its outcomes, especially its contribution towards a more
positive Alevi identity as a reflection of a vibrant community
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a
‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding of the underlying causes in a desperate attempt to prevent further suicides.
Alevi-Kurds in the UK has been transmitted intergenerationally,
linked to their history of persecuted exclusion in Turkey and to
the transnational settlement of Alevi migrants in the UK, and how
this sense of marginalization and invisibility in the receiving
country can be addressed. Education is identified as a starting
point for the underachievement and disaffection of Alevi pupils,
which can lead them into more serious trouble and descent into
the rainbow underclass. In the quest to tackle this identity issue, a
unique collaborative action research project was set up between
an Alevi community centre, local schools and a university to
develop the world’s first Alevi lessons as part of the compulsory
Religious Education curriculum in British schools. The Alevi
Religion and Identity Project1 is described and evaluated in terms
of its outcomes, especially its contribution towards a more
positive Alevi identity as a reflection of a vibrant community
This study of the unusually high incidence of young male suicides in the transnational Alevi-Kurdish community in London demonstrates the benefits of combining a Durkheimian structural approach with a qualitatively driven ethnographic methodology. Examination of the life experiences of those who committed suicide is located within the underlying social organization of the transnational community in which the suicides occurred, enabling us to explore unanticipated events that render certain groups more at risk of committing suicide. Interviews with significant others facilitated a deeper understanding of the personal life paths of those who committed suicide. The suicide cases followed a particular assimilation trajectory that gradually positioned them in a
‘rainbow underclass’, an anomic social position leading to suicide. Despite the sensitivity of the subject, participants appreciated the opportunity to discuss their experience frankly and contribute towards a better understanding of the underlying causes in a desperate attempt to prevent further suicides.