A comparative analysis of the kadro and the yön movements on the basis of Turkish modernity

This thesis aims to compare the two theoretical perspectives that are so essential in terms of conceptualizing Turkish modernity: the Kadro and the Yön Movements.In the 1930s Turkey found a group of scholars that theorized the revolutionary transformations Turkey had faced in the 1920s. The Kadro Movement, on the leadership of Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, attempted to theorize the Turkish Revolution for the first time. For anyone who aims at understanding the Turkish experience of modernity in a sociological way, the Kadro Movement cannot be neglected. The only similar movement with this in Turkish history is probably the Yön Movement. Like the Kadro Movement, the Yön Movement was an attempt to understand Turkey and the World during a very critical epoch. Both movements? theorists must be analyzed in the attempt at understanding Turkish experience of modernity.This thesis compares the two mentioned theoretical perspectives in order to understand Turkish modernity in a new way. The starting-point of the thesis is to see that aiming to conceptualize Turkish modernity means to write a ?theory of revolution?. In this regard, the thesis considers, first of all, the general discussions on Turkish modernity. Secondly, the Kadro Movement, that is an important attempt to theorize Turkish modernity, is taken into account. The Kadro Movement is very essential in terms of attempts in theorizing the modern transformation of Turkey, that in fact paved the way for the ?dependency theory? that emerged powerfully in the 1970s of social sciences. Therefore, the without conceptualizing the Kadro Movement it would not be possible to theorize the Turkish Revolution that took place in the 1920s. The Yön Movement is another one that cannot be ignored in aiming to theorize Turkish modernity. The importance of the Yön Movement lies in its interpretation of Kemalism as a sort of socialist ideology. That is, Turkish modernity could give rise to a different version of socialist modernity. The Kadro and the Yön movements together occupy a very important place in the Turkish intellectual world. It is that they converge in theorizing Turkish modernity: both are anti-imperialists, anti-capitalists, and both try to theorize the difference of Turkish modernity from the West by stressing a kind of statism as a central tenet of it. More importantly, the both movements with their theses and analyses could provide an historical background in offering theoretical foundations for the present-day problems of Turkey.Key words: Modernity, Turkish modernity, Kadro Movement, Yön Movement.