Cultural practices and social life in Alevism: Musahiplik and düşkünlük in the village of Cevizli, Çorum

In Alevi culture, musahiplik and düşkünlük, which in some aspects function both as institutions of solidarity and fictive kinship as well as social control and folk law, have a deep-rooted past. Musahiplik, which is the covenant of brotherhood in this world and the hereafter, is a special form of fictive "kinship" that develops through mutual consent and begins with the solidarity of two families, while also contributing to peace in society. Düşkünlük, on the other hand, is a folk law practice in Alevism that is essentially based on social isolation, applied to those who commit crimes by acting outside the rules and principles that safeguard moral values and social order, and ultimately aims at reformation. While these two institutions take on regulatory roles in social and individual relations, they also form a basis for folk law, the functioning of social order, and practices of solidarity. The aim of this study is to analyze the nature of both institutions through materials compiled from field data, to describe the transformations they have undergone in connection with certain reasons in the modern period, the points at which they diverge from the traditional line, and their functions as sociocultural phenomena. In this context, the study seeks to examine the functioning, role in social relations, place in collective memory, process of transmission, and the continuities, differentiations, or dissolutions within the traditional codes of these two institutions, which are still alive in the village of Cevizli, in the province of Çorum, selected as the sample.