The Transformation of Kurdish Political Identity in Turkey: Impact of Modernization, Democratization and Globalization

I have two theoretical claims. First, nationalism is an outcome of the modernization projects. The state plays an important role in standardizing nationalist messages through its institutions and standardized education policies. However besides the state, nationalist organizations also have the ability to crystallize nationalist messages if a given society has no state to standardize nationalist message. Second, I argue, it is the transformation of political opportunity space that facilitates the transformation of political identity. Transformation in opportunity space produce/reproduce new political actors whose mobilization strategies may open new avenues in shaping political identities. The resource mobilization strategies chosen by actors shape the direction of identity transformation. To shape the direction of political identity what needs to be created is the availability of political entrepreneurs and their willingness to establish collective vehicles to disseminate shared understanding of the world around a given society enables collective action.