CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2026
| Author | Oguz, Damla Zeynep |
|---|---|
| Title | Identity and Social Belonging Among the Armenian Community in Turkey: A Social Identity Complexity Approach |
| Summary | This thesis investigates the social identity complexity of contemporary Turkish and Armenian identities by situating individual and collective experiences within historical and structural processes of nation-building. Drawing on Roccas and Brewer’s (2002) theory of social identity complexity and broader social identity frameworks (Tajfel, 1981), it examines how individuals navigate multiple, intersecting group affiliations in a context shaped by civic inclusion and social exclusion. Tracing the evolution from the Ottoman millet system through the Ottomanist and Muslimhood contracts to the Turkishness contract of the early Republic, the study highlights how successive frameworks alternately fostered overlapping identities or imposed hierarchical and compartmentalized structures. The analysis demonstrates that Armenians and other minorities negotiate identity by balancing adaptation to dominant civic-national narratives with the preservation of distinct sub-identities. By combining historical analysis with theoretical insights, the thesis contributes to understanding the cognitive, structural, and political dimensions of identity in contexts of contested belonging and nation-building. |
| Supervisor | Mijić, Ana; Miller, Michael, L. |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2026/oguz_damla.pdf |
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