Faith and Politics in the Public Sphere: The Gülen Movement and the Mormon Church by Etga Ugur (review)

The Gülen movement and the Mormon Church represent two different religious traditions in two distinct societies with contrasting cultural, religious, and political environments. Although both organizations are oriented toward engaging the modern world with their unique religious orientations and traditional moral values, their differences in structure and strategies reflect differences in the opportunities and constraints of their sociopolitical environments. As author Etga Ugur explains: "This study argues that the Gülen movement and the LDS Church have similar aims of survival, expansion, and access to power, and both command significant economic and organizational resources. However, the opportunity structure in which they operate differs with respect to the prevalent model of the public sphere" (30).

The Gülen movement emerged in Turkey in the 1960s through the influence of Muslim cleric and scholar Fethulah Gülen and is organized largely as a network of individuals devoted to education, civic engagement, and interfaith dialogue. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—more commonly known as the Mormon or LDS Church—was founded in the early nineteenth century and is a hierarchicallystructured minority religious organization in the United States that is concentrated primarily in Utah but is represented in neighboring states and throughout the country. Although the author's initial impressions of these organizations reflect his own experiences in both Konya, Turkey and Salt Lake City, Utah (xi–xvii), his detailed analysis is based on primary source materials from the two organizations plus interviews with their leaders (12–13).

Following an introductory preview, chapter 1 contrasts liberal against republican models of how the state, politics, and civil society vary in their overall societal influence and affect the options available to religious movements and organizations in relating to the public sphere. Briefly, the liberal model, represented by the United States, is more individualistic and accepting of extensive interest group formation independent of government. The contrasting republican model, represented by Turkey, prioritizes the government's role in insuring a sense of national cohesion, consensus, and conformity. The distinctions between the state, politics, and civil society are used to divide chapters 2 to 7 into three major parts, with one chapter in each part devoted to the Gülen movement and one to the LDS Church. These chapters provide extensive historical analysis to show how both organizations adapted to major changes in their sociopolitical environments. In a concluding section that summarizes the comparative analysis, Ugur also suggests that with Gülen movement's educational and interfaith projects in the United States and Mormons' missionary activities in Turkey, the two groups' strategies and priorities tend to be reversed (264–266).

The Gülen movement seeks to project a tolerant and modern humanitarian version of Islam, with activities and projects designed to strengthen civil society throughout the various domains of Turkey's public sphere while also expanding its educational, social service, interfaith, and business activities in numerous other countries. Its informal networking strategy and amorphous structure are intended to avoid conflict with the government as well as with other Islamist groups. Nevertheless, the expansion of its numbers and influence throughout Turkish society and within government eventually triggered government suspicion and purges, and its current position in Turkey is precarious.

With its hierarchical authority structure and strong communal emphasis, the LDS Church is distinctive among conservative religious groups in America's increasingly pluralistic religious environment, particularly its acceptance of the Book of Mormon as sacred scripture along with the Bible. Even so, its leaders and members are highly patriotic, engaging in acceptable forms of political activity that reflect their interests and moral values. It is also committed to positive public relations plus expansion of its membership through missionary activity. Its current secure position in the steadily increasing religious pluralism of American society contrasts sharply with the sometimes violent conflicts of its early years that triggered its migration...