The chapter begins by introducing the case with the help of vignettes from the field. After setting the stage for the empirical puzzle, it goes on to the theoretical framework and situates the research question in the broader debates on religion and conflict, paying specific attention to religion’s role as a conflict resolution tool. It then ties these debates to the sociological literature on identity formation and ethnic boundary making and introduces the fourfold typology of religious and ethnic identities in the Kurdish conflict. To elaborate on the structural changes that have brought about these identity categories it turns to Bourdieusian field theory, discusses briefly the emergence of an autonomous religious field under the AKP, and familiarizes the reader with the actors in the political and religious fields in Turkey.
Andreas Wimmer, Ethnic Boundary Making: Institutions, Power, Networks