Socio-Cultural Transformation

This book gives reader a historical and sociological understanding of Turkish modernization and cultural transformation by focusing on socio-cultural life of Istanbul. In every era, Istanbul has been the intersection point of Eastern and Western civilizations. With a settlement history of more than thousands of years, this rooted city presents an absolute harmony of culture and civilization. Since last couple centuries, Western-oriented modernism has significantly affected the formation of socio-cultural life in this city and this historical research study specifically investigates the changes in various aspects of everyday life in Istanbul. The changes observed in all fields of daily life have taken different guises at different strata of the society with a dichotomy. In fact, this dichotomy in society is a continuation of the process that was earlier observed in fields like military-administration and education. The changes in 19th century have brought significant social problems that exist today. The dichotomized structure originated in this period has grown in scale today due to greater interactions among cultures in Turkey.