ABSTRACT
When considering the Sunni villages’ integration with the nation-state, I asked four questions: What enables their villages to flourish and grow? Why are most men able to retain their faith? Why do they wish the state to support their religion? And, finally, what enables the government to fulfil this wish? If we ask the equivalent questions with regard to the Alevi villages, they become: Why does it appear that the Alevi villages are contracting rather than growing in size? Why have debates surrounding faith been for the most part markedly sceptical, and almost invariably secular in tone?
