Nafees Ahmed on Turkey's Schizophrenic Identity

May 5, 2011 | 2 COMMENTS

COMMENT FROM BETH GOLDBERG– MAY 12, 2011

Nafees,

Thanks for writing such an interesting blog about Turkey, you reaffirmed my strong desire to visit the country soon myself. As I read your descriptions, I kept finding strong parallels between Turkey's seemingly schizophrenic society and Kenya's own rapidly secularizing state and wanted to offer some of those.

Like Turkey, Kenya too has a dynamic, westernized elite class who, similar to your french-fashioned turks, appear like fast-moving, fast-talking new yorkers, easily distinguished from the rest of the population by their Merdedes, Prada sunglasses, and designer jeans. The majority of Kenyans don't even wear sunglasses or jeans, let alone own cars, opting for loose traditional fabrics and sandals, making the wealth disparity and cultural divisions between westernized elites and the majority of kenyans staggeringly apparent. On Sunday morning, these westernized Kenyans are more likely to be found in a bar watching Manchester United, lighting "fags" and sipping "gins" like good Englishmen, rather than pouring into churches like the fanatically devout Christian masses.

Linguistically, the lingua franca of these masses is Swahili with a dash of broken English, while the elites are likely to have never even learned Swahili, a language taught on the streets, not in schools. Yet, just as you found both the poor townspeople and university elites to be "wildly Patriotic Turks," there was an undeniable wealth of patriotism throughout Kenya. While sectarianism and class differences often caused this patriotism to be displayed differently, it was the most unifying and hopeful sign I spotted in a society so bifurcated by the forces of modernization and secularization.

Perhaps a healthy dose of patriotism is just what is necessary to keep rapidly developing, westernizing societies (like Turkey and Kenya) in one piece as the coinciding/clashing identities of old world and new world continue to redefine the national culture.

COMMENT FROM DEVEN COMEN– AUGUST 14, 2011

Thank you both for sharing your perspectives on Turkey and Kenya. While not all of what Nafees finds perplexing about Turkey can be applied to the Indian context, I too was struck by how the Indian city represents both a "blend and a rupture between East and West, Islam and secularism, and modernity and tradition", with Islam being supplemented with Hinduism and Christianity. In Pune, clashes of the modern with the traditional define the struggles and triumphs of its people. New questions about standards of living and the growing divide between the rich and poor make a rapidly changing India hard to categorize. Globalization has increased salaries of senior managers, accountants, lawyers and public-relations personnel working for MNCs or their local competitors. For the IT-literate, plentiful job opportunities go hand-in-hand with opportunities to live and earn abroad. The "digital divide" between the IT haves and have-nots refers to the disparities in access and assimilation of knowledge.

For the English-speaking upper middle-class, access to disposable income seduces Indians into consumer-driven culture. This new and more prosperous class of Indian consumers associates India's progress with the availability of the latest automobile models and consumer goods. One Pune friend argued that poor, rural voters felt left out by the boom and that globalization “only benefits those who are already rich”. Over travel week, I stayed with a modern and wealthy Indian family who preferred Hollywood to Bollywood, flashed around Blackberry’s, and Porsche-brand watches. More access to finance and education by the globalized elite gives them more exposure to the McDonaldization of India—and availability to partake in Western culture if they so desire.

In India, the influence of the West is clear in the urban areas. Western dress and skin baring, music, fast food culture, and attitudes are constantly on displays. Behaviorally, while arranged marriage remains a strong system, modern tools like shaddi.com and increased urban breakup of the traditional joint family show the influence of modern society on Indian values. Dating remains taboo in most places, but attitudes continue to loosen daily. One Pune woman complained that “the youth have no values” and “do whatever they want” because of images in the Western media. Some argue underage drinking and drug use has increased and dangerous risk behaviors continue to rise.

The Facebook culture of America seems to have been fully imported to India. Many teens view social media as a positive tool to stay in touch with their friends, but others believe the constant connectedness to the Internet and SMS “ruins productivity”. One Pune resident explained her disbelief that a neighbor asked if she could chat with her on Facebook. She exclaimed, “I cannot understand why she couldn’t walk to my door and say hello rather than communicate with artificial devices”. In many developing countries, citizens are questioning if the modern erases traditional values and norms. At this point, we can only stay tuned.