A study of sociological knowledge production process in Turkish sociology through Sosyoloji Yıllıkları

This study aims to examine the process of knowledge production in Turkish sociology through the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları". The focus of the study is on the 28 books of the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları" that have been published from 1992 to the present. The books and book chapters in the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları" that contribute to the sociology literature, following the Kemal Tahir-Baykan Sezer line, have been analyzed. Since the process of knowledge production in the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları" takes place in line with the Theory of East-West Conflict, the study focuses on specific turning points in the history of East-West conflict. The study is based on a qualitative approach. Within the framework of the qualitative content analysis technique, the categories and subcategories related to the concepts of the knowledge production process, scientific understandings, obstacles to sociological knowledge production in Turkey, and criticisms in these areas, as well as the proposed sociological perspectives in the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları", are discussed to shed light on the possibilities and limitations of the knowledge production process in Turkish sociology. For example, works by Baykan Sezer, Ertan Eğribel, and Ufuk Özcan, joint works prepared within the scope of the "Sosyoloji Yıllıkları", book chapters bearing the signature of the "Sosyoloji Araştırma Merkezi", "Genel Sosyoloji ve Metodoloji Anabilim Dalı" are selected. Among the major findings reached in the research, it is emphasized that Turkish sociology has a broad potential, particularly through its connection with the discipline of history, and the problems encountered at the formal and informal levels within the process of knowledge production (such as academic appointment and promotion criteria, the perception of directly transferring Western and local theories and approaches as the practice of science, the absolute valorization of certain scientific perspectives while ignoring others, some sociologists perceiving their academic positions merely as a civil service, etc.) pose obstacles to the process of knowledge production, and it is possible to achieve a qualitative practice of sociology through collaborative traditions, interdisciplinary and critical studies.