Citizenship as an instrument of nation-building in the republics of Turkey and Egypt

Citizenship as an instrument of nation-building in the republics of Turkey and Egypt By adopting an instrumental perspective on citizenship, the potential of citizenship as an instrument in the process of building a national identity at state level is investigated. The notion of a relationship between nation-building and citizenship is well established in the social sciences. The approach of this thesis makes up a combination of theories and terminology developed by T. H. Marshall, Uri Davis, Stein Rokkan, and Rogers Brubaker. The hypotheses tested empirically are derived from the combination of two premises concerning the cases of Turkey and Egypt, most notably the regimes of Atatürk and Nasser. Both republics share an obligation to unite the republican population in a common identity at state level (premise 1), yet the national concept of each republic differs considerably (premise 2). In the case of Egypt, there appears to be a contradiction between the idea of an Arab pan-national community and the attempt to build a community at state level. No such contradiction exists in Turkey. Precisely the combination of premise 1 and 2 is the independent variable of the analysis. The dependent variable is the citizenship concept of the two cases (hypotheses A and B). Uri Davis makes an distinction between the basic right of abode, labelled jinsiyya, and other rights of citizenship, by Davis labelled by the Arabic term muwatana. In this thesis, both jinsiyya and muwatana are viewed as possible instruments of nation-building. The citizenship concept is analysed in accordance with a nation-building strategy seeking to reduce internal differences and underline differences to the outside world. Differences to other political entities may be stressed by regulating the access to live within the territory of a state, i.e. jinsiyya citizenship. Muwatana citizenship, on the other hand, is more related to the inclusive elimination of internal differences. The validity of both hypotheses is strengthened by empirical evidence: Jinsiyya citizenship is more exclusive in the Egyptian republic than in Turkey. Muwatana citizenship is more inclusive in the Turkish republic than in Egypt. As would be expected of nation-building regimes, jinsiyya citizenship is mainly exclusive and muwatana citizenship is mainly inclusive in both Egypt and Turkey. Even so, the Egyptian concept of jinsiyya citizenship appears to be the more exclusive one. While acquisition of Egyptian jinsiyya citizenship is limited to the wife and children of male Egyptians, Turkish jinsiyya citizenship is obtainable to anyone who has lived in the country for five years and passes a language test. An inclusive concept of muwatana citizenship is evident in the legislation of both republics, yet the Turkish legislation is slightly more in line with the classical republican ideal of the French Revolution and T. H. Marshall. Whereas the Egyptian economic repression of minorities is incompatible with the model of Marshall, the cultural repression of the minorities of Turkey is accepted. The empirical analysis confirms that both jinsiyya and muwatana may be interpreted as instruments in the process of establishing a common identity within the republic. The more exclusive concept of jinsiyya citizenship in Egypt may be associated with the difficulty of identifying Egyptian boundaries to other Arab states, whereas the slightly more inclusive concept of muwatana citizenship in Turkey may be seen in light of the transformation of a former heterogeneous empire into a coherent community. Based on my theoretical analysis and empirical findings, I may conclude that co-operative organisations in Tanzania have the potential of contributing to the process of democratisation. The groundwork has been done. If the government proceeds with a follow-up on all intentions as these are stated in the Co-operative Development Policy of 1996, people in Tanzania will have a choice of participating in democratically founded co-operative organisations which are part of a world-wide network. There are no indications, as of today that the government should turn around, but the time range and efficiency for the complete implementation of the 1991 Act is difficult to assess