Paul J. Magnarella

THE RECEPTION OF SWISS FAMILY LAW IN TURKEY

The debate over the extent to which Ataturks reforms have taken hold in Turkey has not been resolved. Because it is difficult to measure validly the reception of reforms, arguments have usually been based on subjective criteria and consequently are unsatisfactory. The problem dealt with in this paper, i.e., the reception of Swiss Family Law, provides a test case which can be evaluated objectively on the basis of empirical evidence provided by sociological and anthropological studies and census data.

Corporations and Social Classification [and Comments and Reply]

Maine argued that perpetuity is the essential characteristic of corporateness. Thus corporations may be defined as presumptively perpetual social units. Presumptive perpetuity is achieved by regular procedures of recruitment. Since corporations figure prominently in social structural studies from Aristotles time until now, the classification of corporations is an important theoretical task. A recent classification by M. G. Smith is critically reviewed. Although corporations are statuses, they are less difficult to analyze than many noncorporate statuses. Although corporations are institutions, they are much less boundless in form than the totality of institutions. Corporations are classifiable in terms of eight characteristics. Since further classification rests on precise definitions of principles of incorporation, the method of isolating such principles is examined. Finally it is argued that corporate analysis readily promotes the generation and testing of hypotheses.

The Development of Turkish Social Anthropology [and Comments and Reply]

The report trace the development of Turkish social anthropology from is intellectual foundations in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire to its near maturation in the early 1970s of the Turkish Republic. Rather than offering a bibliographical or a fully biographical account, the report focuses on important Turkish scientists and publications highlighting the various stages of social anthropological development. It begins by relating the various responses of Ottoman intellectuals to the declining status of their empire vis-a-vis Europe and illustrates how Western social scientific thought was diffused to Turkey at this time. Moving to the post-World War I period, the report discusses the impact of modern Turkish nationalism on the organization and nature of early anthropological research. Finally, it describes the current status of social anthropological research and anthropological instruction in Turkish universities.

Comprehending Genocide: The Case of Rwanda

In 1994 Rwanda erupted into one of the most appalling cases of genocide that the world had witnessed since World War II. Since genocide is the most aberrant of human behaviors, it cries out for explanation. This article offers an analysis and explanation of the Rwandan genocide utilizing the human materialism paradigm. It addresses the material, demographic, social and ideological elements of the problem.

Anthropology, human rights and justice

Anthropologists have a special obligation to promote the human rights of the peoples they study. This paper discusses various ways anthropologists can meet that obligation by working with various United Nations and regional intergovernmental human rights convention committees, their own state governments human rights and humanitarian affairs commissions, and human rights non-governmental organizations.

Turkish migration to Europe: Case studies

R. E. Krane, ed. Manpower Mobility across Cultural Boundaries: Social, Economic and Legal Aspects. The Case of Turkey and West Germany. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975. vi + 222 pp. Maps, tables, and bibliography. Gld. 68. Nermin Abadan‐Unat and Contributors. Turkish Workers in Europe, 1960–1975: A Socio‐economic Reappraisal. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976. vi + 425 pp. Maps, tables, appendix, index, and bibliography. Gld. 160.

The Gecekondu: Rural Migration and Urbanization.

The gecekondu are the shantytowns of Turkey. This study by Kemal Karpat investigates within a broad historical, conceptual and comparative framework the migration and urbanization of the people of these settlements. It is based on personal interviews with people living in three gecekondu in the northern hills of Istanbul, along the Bosporus. The gecekondu are considered here as a part of the entire process of rural migration and urbanization - and so of the transformation of the economic, political, social and cultural order in the Third World nations. Special emphasis has been placed on the historical factors that undermined the traditional social structure in the third world and freed a large number of people for migration and resettlement, and also on the impact of the gecekondu upon the home villages. The author draws on several academic points of view - economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, history - and, himself a native Turk, brings a long acquaintance with that land and its people to this study of an institution whose importance has been largely unrecognized.