“[P]owerful, rich, and impressive. . . . The clarity of writing, together with the subtlety and sophistication of the analysis, makes this monograph unique: one that is accessible to thoughtful undergraduates and intriguing for those more engaged with anthropological theories. . .” — Mandana E. Limbert, American Ethnologist
“Özyürek’s work is original and offers a fresh look at the rise of political Islam in Turkey and its consequences. . . . Nostalgia for the Modern will be a valuable resource for Turkish studies for years to come.” — Yaprak Gürsoy, Canadian Journal of History
“Nostalgia for the Modern is a well-organized, well argued, and well-written study which will be of great use to readers interested in the comparative study of modernisms, political anthropology, memory studies, and the anthropology of Europe, and is particularly suited for undergraduate teaching.” — Leyla Neyzi, Anthropos
“[A] fine contribution to a multidisciplinary, rich, and sophisticated discourse on contemporary Turkey. . . . The author provides us with a rich ethnography, a sophisticated and nuanced theoretical frame, and a historical perspective through which we can understand her data and conclusions.” — Roberta Micallef, International Journal of Middle East Studies
“[The book’s] analysis of the maintenance and manipulation of founding myths and ideologies has applicability well beyond Turkey’s borders.” — Howard Handelman, Perspectives on Politics
“I recommend this book to students of advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in political anthropology and area courses in the near east, and to researchers in the fields of secular and religious debates and the politics of culture.” — Henry J. Rutz, American Anthropologist
“The book’s main strength is its lucid presentation of the concerns of Kemalist circles in contemporary Turkey and its analysis of some of the strategies they adopted to cope with them. . . . Özyürek’s study offers fresh insights into recent political and ideological developments within the influential Kemalist circles of Turkey.” — Amit Bein, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
“Esra Özyürek equips us to see modernity as both an ongoing invention and an object of nostalgia. Her analysis, exceptional for its ethnographic richness and ideological nuance, shows how power struggles between secular and Islamist political movements are reconfiguring popular notions of citizenship and the sacred in Turkey. Few scholars have devised such a compelling framework for assessing the mutual transformations of nationalism, Islam, and the state. This is exciting, innovative work.” — Andrew Shryock, author of Nationalism and the Genealogical Imagination