Winter 2009

History - 481.001

Power, Peoples, Statistics: Nationalisms in the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey

In this course we will study the role of ethno-statistics in the emergence of ethnic and religious problems in the Ottoman Empire (Balkans, Transcaucasia, Middle East and Turkey). The primary subjects of analysis will be the Ottoman register, the Ottoman census and finally the Turkish Republic’s Census. We will also analyze the utilization of the ethno-statistics by the Ottoman state power, by the nationalist movements and by the Great Powers. Our main questions will be as follows: Why does the state power ‘count’ and ‘classify’? How was statistics mobilized for political and nationalist claims? How did the population numbers influence inter-social relations and the international state system? How did the Young Turks employ ethno- statistics and political demography during the Great War (deportation, conversion, assimilation and massacre)? And what was the role of census in the assimilation policy of the young Turkish Republic? From an international state perspective, we will also examine how ethno-statistics were used by foreign diplomacy in the making of borders in the Transcaucasia and the Middle East. In this context, we will study the contemporary problem of Kirkuk and the history of its demographic politics along with the referendum to be held in May 2008. Weekly discussions will also be conducted in reference to current events in the Balkans, the Caucasia and the Middle East. Requierments: Students will be evaluated on their classrooms participations, as well as writtens (one mid term and one final research paper).