A study on the concepts of western and westernization in Şerif Mardin

Especially since the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire turned its direction to the West with its modernization efforts, and since the Tanzimat, the Western influence began to be felt instensely in social and political life, from intellectual life to institutional structure. Şerif Mardin, a political scientist and sociologist, has mixed the Westernization movements that spread to the social and intellectual field in the Ottoman Empire in his theses and articles with great interest and curiosity. Starting from the role of intellectual products in the political structuring and shaping it, and displaying a questioning attitude on the contrary, Mardin brought a different perspective to Turkish political life based on the political ideas of the New Ottomans and subsequently the Young Turks. As a matter of fact, in the process from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic, along with many innovations made with the effect of Westernization, disconnections in the social field also occurred. This disconnection continued in the Atatürk period. In this framework, Şerif Mardin dealt witht his process with its intellectual aspects, continuities, disconnections and breaking points and created a new and original concept series. In this study, the above –mentioned issues are discussed in detail with reference to Şerif Mardin's works, and the modernization process, which sometimes emerges in a measured way, sometimes stands against traditional culture and gains a structure that criticizes it, is evaluated from the perspective of Mardin.