In his presentation, Serdar Poyraz will provide a framework for a radical re-evaluation of the history of modernization in the late Ottoman Empire and Turkey. He argues that, historically, European vulgar materialist ideas affected how Ottoman and Turkish intellectuals thought about religion and society, ultimately paving the way for the radical reforms of Kemal Atatürk and the strict secularism of the early Turkish Republic. He demonstrates that the ideas of leading westernizing and secularizing thinkers, who were inspired by European materialism, provoked religious, philosophical and literary responses from conservative anti-materialist thinkers; whereas, the westernizers argued for the adoption of western modernity in toto. The conservative anti-materialist thinkers made a crucial distinction between the "material" and "spiritual" sides of western modernity: They were eager to adopt the material side of western modernity, but had reservations about adopting European ethics and secular attitudes toward religion. The results were two different and competing approaches to modernity in Turkish intellectual history, accompanied by great social tension, which continues to this day. The echoes of these diverging philosophical approaches to modernization, he argues, provide the necessary background to understand the contemporary discussions between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its political critics, especially the Republican People's Party (CHP).

Serdar Poyraz has published on the History of Turkey and Ottoman Empire, and taught classes on Modern World History and the History of the Middle East at Ohio State University and Wake Forest University. He worked as a Graduate Research Associate at the Ohio State's Mershon Center for International Security Studies. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, in International Relations from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and his M.A. in Political Science from Ohio State University. He also studied at the Dekhoda Institute in Tehran, Iran. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. studies in Middle Eastern History at Ohio State University. He will teach as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Montana next year. His research languages include Modern Turkish, Ottoman language and Persian.

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