İdentity and the other in Turkey: The case of Sultanbeyli- Kadıköy

Today's identities are shaped by modernization, industrialization, capitalism, urbanization and nation-state; and they differentiated from the traditional period. In parallel with this in Turkish history, founders of Turkish Republic described "ideal identities" in the frame of "modernization" project they regard as a mission and excluded different identities, which they thought were unsuitable for modernity out of the public sphere. This has increased social distances, both between different identities and between the state and society. In the 1980s, with the impact of social, economic and cultural developments in the world, identity demands have increased, especially on the basis of ethnic, religious, cultural and sexual belongings, and as a result the period called re-identification in the sense of formation of new identities based on differences began to be debated. At this point with the impact of neo-liberalization, globalization and multi-culturalism in Turkey, identities that were excluded from the public sphere by the nation-state began to gain visibility and to raise their demands. This has led to increased polarization between secular and conservative identities in social, political, cultural and economic spheres. In the history of Turkey, ethnic, religious and political identity are the most visible form of differentiation in social and political fields. But this identity and the other have a multi-layered structure. At this point, ethnic and religious identities are at the same time a political stance and are built around power relations. Moreover, although identity differences gain visibility within the framework of ethnic, religious, political identities and everyday life practices, they are shaped by a socio-economic background. At this point it can be argued that identity and belonging are influenced by socio-economic differences, are rebuilt within the framework of power and power relations, symbolically represented in everyday life practices, correspond to an ethnic-religious-political attitude and cause spatial decomposition. In this context, the main motivation for this study is the hope to explain political, social and economic differences and similarities, as well as polarization tendencies of secular-conservative identities, which is known as an important axis in Turkey, in the context of their everyday life practice in Istanbul. In Istanbul, a metropolitan city where, as a result of great migration waves, many people with different identities live together and share the same public space, people increase the symbolic visibility of the identities they feel belong to in everyday life practices and the social and spatial boundaries between "us" and "others". In this context of academic studies, social perceptions and political preferences, Istanbul-Kadıköy, which is thought to have a secular identity and Istanbul-Sultanbeyli, which is believed to have a conservative / religious identity, constitute the sample of this research.