Capitalism without enlightenment: Islamic Calvinism in Turkey

Rise of Islamist politics and social movements since 1980s had coincided with the expansion of Islamic capital in Turkey. Islamic capital contains not only the commodification of religious materials and symbols, but also Islamic type of capitalist relations among capitalists and workers and an Islamic social vision. Islamic capital had generated a transformation in religiosity that is named “Islamic Calvinism” i.e. a rather earthly religious vision suggesting that working hard is a form of service. Associations belonging to the Islamic capital such as MÜSİAD, TUSKON, etc. present themselves as moral entrepreneurs, and they even reject to be named as capitalists for that they perceive the term as “Western” and are uncomfortable with the notion of class struggle. Therefore, patronage is one of the major themes in the employee-employer relation.

Islamic Calvinism indicates that Islam is not an obstacle for free market economy, but the new ideology of it in Turkey. This is parallel with the anti-Enlightenment character of the “postmodern” era, and the outcome is “capitalism without Enlightenment” in Turkey. Elimination of Enlightenment from the hegemonic ideology brings also the elimination of concepts such as class struggle, equality, and welfare state and this creates a safer and more profitable social and economic system for the capitalists.