Are You a Muslim?': Contested Transnational Diaspora Identity of Alevis as a Minority Within a Minority Through Alevi Organizations in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article focuses on the contested process of identity formation among the Alevi diaspora through an examination of Alevi organizations in the Netherlands, by considering various actors, situations, events, and interventions or reactions within asymmetrical power relations. In doing so, it argues that over the last two decades, Alevi identity has been positioned and repositioned through such questions as 'Who are you?' and 'Are you a Muslim?' constantly asked by different actors. These questions -especially the ones asked by states- require Alevis to situate themselves to Islam and invite them to explain themselves in relation to Sunni Muslims, in both Turkey and Europe, albeit in different contexts. This study claims that both the Turkish state's direct question to Alevis, a minority in Turkey, and the Dutch state's indirect question to diaspora Alevis, a minority within a minority in the Netherlands are prominent positioning factors in the identity formation process of transnational diaspora Alevis in the Netherlands.