This study focuses on the role of the collective emotions and values in the formation and the transformation of identity based conflicts. The research is about the transformation and the politicization of Alevi identity within the social and political context of post 1980 Turkey. Alevi identity has ethno-sectarian origins, but it has taken a multiplicity of forms during the ongoing process of identity transformation. The academic and popular literature on Alevilik has often referred to the period starting from the late 1980‘s as the ―Alevi revival.
Alevis, one of the largest identity groups in Turkey, are geographically spread all over Turkey. Alevi identity has traditionally been a strong identity with clear cultural boundaries, moral values, rituals and shared collective emotions. This identity, historically and culturally, has ethno-sectarian origins, which have been maintained for centuries through endogamous social order in a rural context. Because of the processes of rapid urbanization and modernization, the traditional Alevi identity and social order have been transforming into new forms.
The social, political, emotional and normative aspects of the identity construction and negotiation processes are explored via collective and ―personal narratives. Personal life stories, widely shared public narratives, and symbolic and linguistic resources are the essential resources for this research. A multiplicity of data sources have been used for this research but the main data is the formal qualitative interview transcripts of more than 70 Alevi‘s that were actively involved, and still getting involved in this process of revival. I also have resorted to the transcripts and records of some semi-academic discussions that
help outline general discussions. The interviews have been conducted in three big cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Malatya, between February 2006 and April 2007. Other data sources such as new Alevi literature, Alevi journals, web sites, newspapers and some public events have also been analyzed in order to collect public narrative accounts.