ABSTRACT
This chapter describes that the Islamist national outlook movement (NOM) implemented a strategy based on the politicization of state-run religious education rather than on the privatization of religious education. This strategy entailed both increasing state funding for religious education through participation in governments, and changing the public's perception of Imam Hatip schools from vocational schools to "alternatives to secular education" by reinterpreting the meaning of state religious schools. The analysis of ideology construction in and around state-run religious schools provides insights for theoretical debates in social movement theory and institutionalism. The chapter provides the insights of the social movement theory (SMT) on framing processes to illustrate how these schools appealed to the sociocultural grievances of the peripheral segments of the Turkish society that go back to the state-formation period. Analyzing the politics of religious education in Turkey can provide insights on the theoretical debate in comparative politics regarding the role of institutions and ideas in shaping political outcomes.
