Society and Politics in an Ottoman Town Ayntab in the 17th Century

Authors : Cengiz ŞEKER

Pages : 182-186

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Publication Date : 2007-01-01

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :One of the favorite research themes in contemporary Turkish historiography is still urban history. Canbakal‘s study, which is also a part of the genre of this literature, differs from similar ones with its rigorous sociological perspective. Her main purpose is to explore the patterns of politics in everyday life. With this purpose in mind she treats the court registers of Ayntab as a mirror for the local distribution of wealth and power in the seventeenth century. This choice, as expressed very clearly by Canbakal herself, represents the point of view which belongs to one of the leading contemporary sociologists; P. Bourdieu. In Bourdieu’s view, the law is a cultural domain that constitutes and consecrates the social reality as it is. Therefore, it is more closely related to the social world and relations of power than other cultural fields.
Keywords : society, politics, Ayntab