The London School of Economics and Political Science Interaction between the International and the Domestic: The case of the 1908 Constitutional Revolution in the Ottoman Empire Derya Go£er A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2009 UMI Number: U615B01 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615301 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. 2 Abstract This thesis focuses on the international-domestic interaction within the context of the 1908 Ottoman Constitutional Revolution and examines it in relation to the international dimensions of the social transformation of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So the focus of the research is on the extent and the mechanisms of the international constitution of political change within the Ottoman Empire in regard to the historical moment of 1908. The framework for the research question is the ongoing theoretical investigations of the scholars of International Relations into the possibility of using a historical sociological approach to conceptualize the reciprocal constitutive roles of the international and the domestic realms in engendering political transformations, whetherlongue in this duree or in sudden ruptures. As such, the thesis engages with the historical sociology tradition. The main objective is to enable a productive encounter between the case study itself and the general theory: the starting assumption is the impossibility of a purely national account of political changes of this scale. Given this framework, the thesis limits the examination of the case and the discussion of theory to the debate on the interaction between international and domestic dynamics. A creative understanding of how these two dynamics interact and co-constitute each other would contribute to the general analysis of political change within the field of International Relations. At the same time an analytical re-reading of the case study from this angle would locate this turning point in the history of the Ottoman Empire and of the Middle Eastern in a wider analytical context and thereby give it its due theoretical and historical weight. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis was only possible through several institutional, professional and personal relationships. First of all, there is the one between the supervisor and the supervisee. Hence, it feels natural to me that my thanks go first and foremost to my supervisor, Prof. Fred Halliday, to whom this project owes its very existence. Prof. Halliday, through his academic work gave me the courage to explore these topics long before I met him in person at LSE. His choice of revolutions as an IR topic, his choice of historical sociology as a tradition to be tackled within IR and finally his choice of Middle East as a region to be studied in a social scientific framework gave direction to this PhD project even before the start of our formal academic relationship. Also, throughout the years of the PhD study, he supported me during my ever-changing plans for the project, patiently listened to me and received the countless synopsises and outlines and with his friendship he turned this PhD adventure to what it should be but easily may not be: a cheerful process of production of ideas, discussions and curiosities about our world as we see it now and as it changed over time. I am forever in debt to him for the very existence of this project and for the teaching example he set out and for his friendship that will no doubt endure the time-span of this project. I am also in debt to the two institutions and many scholars and friends within these institutional bodies: The Middle East Technical University (METU) and London School of Economics (LSE). At METU I received my undergraduate education in Philosophy and also had the opportunity to engage with other departments. METU gave me the chance to explore various topics. The courses I took there and the lecturers with whom I engaged shaped my thinking on the several topics that inspired me for this project. I especially thank Tahir Kocayigit, from whom I took countless formal courses on history of philosophy but also informal courses on life in general. The excellent teacher and the vocal thinker that he was always inspired me. At LSE, I had the benefit of taking numerous seminars from great scholars on various topics. My graduate and doctoral studies at this truly cosmopolitan institution enriched my understanding of the social sciences and certainly improved my formal training. I would like to thank my panel members, Chris Alden and Katerina Dalacoura who read the earlier drafts and with their valuable comments provided me the guidance expected from an academic community. At LSE, I also had the opportunity to work as a Teaching Assistant at LSE on a core IR course, designed by Kimberly Hutchings. I thank her and my students at the course for giving me the chance to see how much I enjoy engaging with students and how much there is to look forward in academia, besides the research and the writing. I also thank three special friends whom I met at LSE: Manal Alafrangi, Denis McAuley and Claire Beaugrand, with whom I discussed Middle Eastern jokes and food, the miseries and the rewards of doing what I do and all the other significant and trivial things in life. Without them, London would have been a less pleasant city. PhD is to a certain extent a lonely experience. It is lonely intellectually and also lonely emotionally as being tied up to a project so long it narrows life I was fortunate. I had the companionship of dear friends, who, with their own unique habits and merits kept my feet on the ground and made me realize that there is more to life. Zelal Ozdemir was there for me, physically, intellectually and in solidarity. With her I shared the gloomy weather of London, the moments of paralysis when I could not simply produce anything but also the moments of enlightenment when I was certain that I rediscovered all that there was to my topic. She listened patiently when I complained and also intervened when I needed it. I thank her for all the support to this project that she has given but also for her friendship. Melike Kara read many drafts of this project and called me at the most needed moments with her always supportive comments. Sometimes, it was she who reminded me what I was doing. Her humour and her cheerful attitude to life in general and to academy in particular, her enthusiasm to learn and to produce in many domains of intellectual life and the trust that we have built throughout the years kept me going. Her presence as a colleague and a friend made a huge difference in my life. I thank her for the unique person that she is. Funda Hiilagu had to drink many cups of tea and coffee, while listening to my theoretical adventures. Thanks to her patience and calm, she gave me courage, instead being frightened by my confusions and illusions. Our conversations on social sciences, our shared grammar on these issues made me return home 4 with more ideas to explore. I thank her for her intellectual support and her solidarity. I would also like to thank Murat Ferhat who shared with me some hopeless moments that are bound to occur in such a long and difficult process and kept me hopeful with discussions on philosophy, food and life in general. Ay§e Kur§uncu, my long-distance friend, never let go of me. Her relentless solidarity and support, in her own humorous way, was a true inspiration as to how to support someone you hold dearly. She made me feel loved and cared for, no matter how the thesis was going. I thank her sincerely. My family contributed a great deal to all my academic endeavours and to this project. This includes not only my parents but also my brothers and sister. They were patient when I was not there for them. They endured all those phone calls when I simply forgot to ask them how they were and instead only talked on and on about the thesis. And they were the ones to turn to when I simply needed to rest. Their support goes a long way back then the time-span of this project.