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Negotiation of Identities: The Muslim Minority in Western Thrace1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Thalia Dragonas
Thalia Dragonas*
Affiliation:
University of Athens
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Extract

Understanding the identity construction of a minority requires an understanding of the intricate interplay between the real and the symbolical groups it belongs to. In such a context, individuals and groups adopt identity strategies (at the personal or/and the collective level) by means of which they assert their existence, their social visibility, and their integration in the wider community, while at the same time valuing and establishing their own internal coherence. The case of the Muslim minority in Western Thrace is a very good example of this identity construction, which arose from incessant dynamic confrontations between the dominant values of the majority and the affirmation of their own individual ones. Taking into consideration the socio-historical context, this paper will try to analyze the complex interplay of national, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural identities of the minority groups constituting the Muslim minority of Thrace.

Type
Articles
Information
New Perspectives on Turkey , Volume 30 , Spring 2004 , pp. 1 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 2004

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Footnotes

1

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Conferences “Immigration and Integration in Northern versus Southern Europe,” Athens, 27-28 November 2002 and “A Turkish-Greek dialogue: Setting problem areas and searching for solutions,” Istanbul, 26-27 May 2003.

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