opportunities and challenges for organizational transnationalization · pdf file ·...

Opportunities and Challenges for Organizational

Transnationalization

An analysis of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Presidency for Religious Affairs e.V.

(DITIB)*

Dipl. Soz. Kerstin Rosenow

Ph.D. candidate, Ruhr-University Research School, Chair of Sociology, Prof. Pries,

[email protected]

Draft -- please do not cite without the author’s permission

Submitted for the ECPR Joint session 22.-27.03.2010; Workshop “Cross-border migrant organizations

– Rethinking National Integration Policy”, Directors: Dr. Zeynep Sezgin, PD Dr. Dirks Halm

1. Introduction

This paper develops a theoretical framework of analysis in order to study the organizational behavior

of migrant organizations and their development from a country of origin oriented diaspora

organization towards a transnational organization that spans across multiple national contexts

without having a fixed centre or motherland related identity (Pries 2005). Studies that define theses

two types of migrant organizations already exist (Portes 2007; Pries 2006; Vermeulen 2006; Vertovec

2009). However, the processes that foster the transformation from one ideal type towards another

have been understudied so far. Therefore, in order to explain the opportunities and challenges that

are related to processes of organizational transnationalization this paper underlines the importance

to analyze the various expectations that are directed at the organization both from its external

institutional environment and from its members. Two hypotheses are proposed and empirically

evaluated from an organizational-sociological perspective for the Turkish-Islamic Union of the

Presidency of Religious Affairs e.V. (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği, henceforth DITIB), which

represents the “official Islam” from Turkey in Germany. DITIB’s links to the Presidency of Religious

*The paper is based on an ongoing research on three Muslim umbrella organizations in Germany, which is supported by the

Ruhr-University Bochum Research School [DFG GSC 98/1]. For another paper in German concerning DITIB see Rosenow 2010a. I would like to thank my interview partners within DITIB’s headquarters in Cologne for their cooperation.

Affairs in Turkey (Diyanet İşleri Başkanı, henceforth Diyanet)1 are currently contested within the

German debates. The German government expects DITIB to cut its institutionalized home-country

ties in order to better serve as a cooperation partner for integration related issues in Germany.

However, such an abrupt change is not profitable for the organization both on the efficiency and

legitimacy dimension, which will be elaborated in detail below. Instead, professionalized strategies of

reconciliation and adaptation, which combine multiple traditions, are likely to emerge. Therefore,

DITIB serves as an illustrative example for strategies of organizational transnationalization – meaning

the simultaneous orientation towards the country of origin and the country of arrival.

In this context, it is assumed on the one hand, that external and internal constituents that direct

expectations towards the organizations can both support or hinder processes of organizational

transnationalization. This assumption refers to both the organizations’ members and their interests

as well as to recent changes in the institutional environment both in the country of origin and the

country of arrival and their regulative, normative, and cognitive expectations towards Muslim

umbrella organizations. This duality of external and internal expectation structures has been

elaborated by the author elsewhere with reference to Schmitter and Streeck’s (1999) concept of a

member- and an influence-logic that governs organizational behavior (Rosenow forthcoming, 2010a).

On the other hand, it is argued that organizations themselves can use transnationalization as a

strategy, if this promises to strengthen their efficiency and their legitimacy. Organizational efficiency

can be improved in a transnational setting through the creation of multiple resources’ flows that

secure the independence of the organization. The related adaptation of organizational structures has

been studied within the contingency approach since the 1950s. Secondly, organizational legitimacy

can be secured through organizational adaptation of activities and identities with regards to the

institutionalized expectations. The latter assumption is related to the research tradition of neo-

institutionalism that was established in the 1970s, and which broadens the focus on organizational

structures to include the analysis of organizational behavior (Scott 2001, Powell/DiMaggio 1991). The

following analysis of transnationalization processes is therefore embedded in organizational

sociological approaches ranging from contingency theory, to neo-institutionalism, to the study of

interest organizations.

2. Theoretical framework

Since the 1990s, transnationalism has become a widely used and accepted concept within the social

sciences in order to analyze migration related phenomena that transcend territorial boundaries

1 The Diyanet has been attached to the office of Turkey’s Prime Minister since 1924. “It was given the mandate to carry out

religious affairs pertaining to faith, worship and moral principles, [and] to inform society on religion and to administer places of worship” (Diyanet website, English version: http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/default.asp (01.03.2010)).

(Basch et al. 1997; Faist 2000; Pries 2008a; Vertovec 2009). According to Portes, transnational

activities generally have to be distinguished from “international activities conducted by governments

and other nationally based institutions; the multinational initiatives of UN agencies, global churches,

and corporate actors operating in multiple countries” (2007: 252). Through transnational networks

that can have cultural, economic, political, or religious dimensions, migrants generate new social

spaces and global linkages, which stretch between and beyond two or more geographical spaces. In

this context the emergence of cross-border and/or transnational organizations has been studied with

reference both to the industrial sector (Bartlett/Goshal 1989; Meier 1997, Pries 2000) and

concerning migrants’ organizations (Amiraux 2003; Amelina/Faist 2008; Portes et al. 2007; Pries

2008b, Trautner 2000). The focus of these studies lies on the organizational aims, structures and

activities in both sending and arriving countries, their members, networks, and the existing political

opportunity structures. According to the definition developed within the Project “Transnational

Migrant Organizations” (TRAMO2) a transnational organization is ideally characterized as having

strong coordination of material resources, knowledge, and interests across national contexts as well

as strong distribution of activities and structures in both the country of arrival and origin (Pries 2006,

see table below).

Table 1: Ideal types of migrants’ organizations

Ideal type

Characteristics of migrant organizations

Country of arrival – fokal

Country of arrival – global

Country of origin - fokal

Country of origin –global

Multinational Transnational

Resource mobilization and distribution

- Membership, money, infrastructure

Country of arrival centered


Country of origin centered


Country of origin & arrival centered


Main topics/ - claims

- Topics, target groups, allies







Orientation of external activities

- Publication strategies, public activities

- Meetings, talks







Orientation of internal activities

- Flow of communication, gatherings

- Internal elections, decision making processes

Weak coordi-nation

Strong coordi-nation

Weak coordi-nation


Weak coordi-nation


Source: Pries (2006:16) translated by the author

2 “The project „Diffusion and Contexts of Transnational Migrant Organizations in Europe (TRAMO)“ seeks to identify the

characteristics of border crossing migrant organisations, analyse the diffusion of transnational migrant organizations, study the context factors, which influence in the emergence of transnational migrant organizations in four selected European countries (Germany, United Kingdom, Poland and Spain), and address the consequences of transnationalization of migrants' organizations (if that is the case) on the participation and incorporation of migrants in European societies”. The project is headed by Prof. Dr. Ludger Pries (Faculty for Social Sciences, Ruhr-University Bochum). http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/tramo/en/index.shtml (01.03.2010).

So far, the reasons that facilitate processes of transnationalization have been associated with new

communication and transportation technologies, and an increasing importance of remittances. This

article however, stresses expectation structures as an additional dimension that can foster of hinder

processes of organizational transformation from one of the ideal types introduced above to another.

The focus in the following case study lies on processes of organizational transnationalization that end

a strong country of origin orientation in order to combine multiple context affiliations. Expectation

structures however, can also explain whether transnationalism represents a final or a preliminary

stage within organizational development and if further transformations towards a country of arrival

focused organization are likely or not.

Focusing on expectation structures in order to understand organizational and also individual

behavior generally enables us to overcome the limits of the so-called ‘methodological nationalism’

(Basch et al. 1997). Expectations can originate from any constituent that is perceived by the

organization as relevant. On the one hand, expectations can therefore ignore traditional concepts of

territories and national borders altogether; on the other hand, they are certainly not limited to one

national context but often appear at least within the country of origin and the country of arrival.

Modern communication technologies, which are often cited as a main facilitator of transnationalism,

in this context, become tools to communicate expectations. The example of the DITIB spokesperson

for press affairs that regularly monitors blogs and YouTube in order to collect insights on the public

perception of the organization is just one example of the changing organizational environment and

the manifold expectations that can derive from this reality (DITIB Interview 28.07.2009). Existing

criticism on “an exclusively bilateral perception of cross-national ties” (Amiraux 2003: 151) is

therefore acknowledged and the concept of a transnational space that is constructed through

multiple sources and levels of expectations is proposed. This also broadens the often restrictive focus

on the political context factors (political opportunity structures) in both the country of origin and

country of arrival by including individual or group related expectations, as well as globally

constructed discourses within the analysis.

In this context, it is argued firstly, that the four categories highlighted in table 1 can be summarized

into two dimensions of organizational orientation: efficiency and legitimacy (see table 2). Both

categories are related to two distinct research traditions (contingency theory and neo-

institutionalism) that both focus upon expectations of the organizational environment. It is argued

that the organizational orientation towards organizational efficiency and legitimacy within two or

multiple institutional environments can be used as an indicator for its degree of transnationalization.

A transnational organization is therefore characterized by simultaneous orientation towards the

county of origin and the county of arrival. Furthermore, the focus upon multiple countries of arrival is

also common for example among European Muslim networks such as the Milli Görüs (Islamische

Gemeinde Milli Görüs, IGMG), or the Alevi organization (Almanya Alevi Birlikleri Kofederasyonu,

AABK), and to a lesser extent the Diyanet network, which more or less strongly coordinate their

activities within the various European nation states (cf. TRAMO project)

Table 2 Characteristics of a transnational organization

Analytic dimensions Country of origin Country/Countries of arrival

Efficiency Structural Ties

Resources

X

X

x

x

Legitimacy Activities

Identity

X

X

x

x

Source: Author’s own creation

Secondly, it is assumed that this process of transnational orientation can be hindered or fostered by

actors that are in contact with the organization either on the level of the external public, politics,

within the religious sphere, or within the organization itself. Their expectations can influence both

the efficiency and the legitimacy of the organization in the home or host country by fostering or

hindering the transnationalization of structural ties and resources (efficiency dimension) or of

activities and the organizational identity (legitimacy dimension). While the state can use legal

measures to prevent or to establish structural ties, the public and other actors within the religious

sphere can encourage, tolerate, or discredit transnational activities and identities on a normative

level.

Concerning the differentiation in efficiency and legitimacy dimensions both the assumptions of the

contingency approach (efficiency concerns) and the neo-institutionalist approach (legitimacy

concerns) provide useful explanations with the former relating only to structural and the latter to

structural and behavioral changes within organizations. The contingency approach and the

researches of the Aston school (Pugh & Hickson et al. 1963, 1968) have established since the 1950s

that organizational structures are influenced by contextual factors such as organizational origins and

history, ownership and control, standardization versus differentiation, size, technology, location, and

independency versus dependency from other organizations (Schreyögg 1999). The contingency

approach assumes that the organizational structure has to fit to the situation in which it finds itself.

In this context, the aim of the Aston School was to heighten organizational efficiency by detecting

positive correlations between contextual factors and types of organizational structures. However,

neo-institutional approaches go beyond an analysis of the influence of these functional context

factors upon organizational structures by highlighting regulative, normative and cognitive

dimensions, which influence both organizational structures and organizational behavior. While the

environment therefore remains relevant as an explanatory variable, the focus within neo-

institutionalism lies on institutional expectations that the organizations adapt towards – or not3. The

combination of the contingency and the neo-institutional approaches enables an analysis of changes

in organizational structures and behavior that are related to both efficiency and legitimacy

expectations and related constraints and opportunities.

In this context, it is assumed thirdly, that under favorable conditions the organization itself can use

transnationalization as a strategy in order to broaden its access to efficiency and legitimacy granting

resources. Amiraux similarly argues that “as far as Turkish Islamic associations in Germany are

concerned, the transnational dynamics become for them a working method and provide them with

different types of resources” (2003: 150). She does not specify however, the types of resources,

which for her are mostly related to the greater freedoms of religious participation and mobilization

within the German context. From an organizational-sociological perspective table 3 depicts seven

organizational changes that are linked towards the strategy of transnationalization in order to

heighten both organizational efficiency and legitimacy.

Concerning the functional efficiency dimension the context factors dependency, location, size, and

control can be structured on a transnational level through the multiplication of revenue sources and

locations, an overall expansion of size and the decentralization of coordination within the country of

arrival. The latter refers to a structural change from a hierarchical to a bottom-up structuration in

order to prevent the accusation of being governed by constituents abroad.

On the legitimacy level, the adaptation towards multiple laws and institutional systems, the

combination of value systems and cooperation expectations, and the adaptation towards frames of

references that are part of local discourses in distinct institutional settings enable the fulfillment of

institutional expectations on the regulative, normative, and cognitive level. According to the

definitions provide by Scott (2001) the regulative pillar is defined as the legal basis of laws and

policies; the normative level summarizes the political expectations which are underlined by a logic of

appropriateness, while the cognitive level includes the frames of references employed within the

public debates and the opinions of academia, the media, and the general population. Overall, the

3 The possibility that organizations do not act in unison and adapt simultaneously towards the external expectations, as

expected in the concept of organizational isomorphism (DiMaggio/Powell 1991), but that they can decouple their external and internal behavior, or can protest against the external expectations if they conflict with internal expectations, have been discussed by the author elsewhere (Rosenow 2010a, forthcoming).

regulative frame is legally sanctioned, the cognitive frame is characterized by its cultural support, and

the normative dimension is morally governed4.

Table 3: Transnational strategies and their relation to functional and institutional levels of expectations

Level of expectations Changes within the organization from country of origin diaspora orientation towards transnationalization

Functional expectations

Dependency

Location

Size

Control

Establishing sources of revenues in country of arrival

Establishing multiple locations in multiple countries

Foster expansion in order to gain legitimacy

Sharing of control = Decentralization of coordination in the country of arrival (from hierarchy to bottom-up democracy)

Institutional expectations

Regulative

Normative

Cognitive

adapt towards multiple laws and institutional systems

combine value systems and cooperation expectations

Adapt towards frames of references that are part of multiple local discourse


However, table 3 only presents a model approach for the combination of opportunity structures in

order to gain efficiency and legitimacy. In practice, these expectations are either supported or

hindered by external constituents like the state and the public, or by internal organizational decision

makers and members’ expectations. Therefore, the feasibility and opportunities of organizational

transnationalization– meaning the simultaneous orientation towards multiple national contexts – as

well as its challenges need to be analyzed individually for each case study. While the functional

expectations that are related to the context factors need to be analyzed on the organizational level

(cf. chapter 4). The institutional expectations need to be defined ex-ante with regards to the context

settings that are relevant for the individual case study. In the following chapter the institutional

expectations situated at these three levels are introduced for the German and the Turkish context.

They are also linked to members’ expectations, which are derived from the five expert interviews at

DITIB’s headquarters in 2009. Together with the institutional expectations they provide the

background for the following case study on DITIB’s organizational transformation process

4 For an empirical application to structure environmental expectation structures see Rosenow 2010a, b

3. Changes in the institutional environment in Germany and Turkey

Since the turn of the century, both in Germany and in Turkey, various changes have taken place

concerning the role of Islam in the public sphere. In Germany, on the one hand, the late

acknowledgment that Germany is an immigration country has coincided with the terrorist attacks in

the USA and in Europe. The subsequent security debates have shifted the focus of the integration

debates towards the integration of Islam in Germany. This “Islamization” of integration debates

(Tiesler 2007) has influenced the work and the role of Muslim organizations in Germany, which have

been required to participate in the ongoing debates on the political and the public level. On the other

hand, Turkey’s policy towards religious migrant organizations abroad has always been differentiated

with regards to organizations that support the “official Islam” of the laicist Turkish state and

organizations that were formed in opposition to this. This long lasting conflict has been somewhat

diminished by the victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)5 in the November 2002

elections. Since March 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the incumbent prime minister of the

conservative AKP. It has been argued that this political development also resulted in changes

concerning the policies of the Diyanet, and concerning the cooperation of formerly opposing

organizations in Germany, which will be elaborated below.

Generally, one can argue that Muslim organizations in Germany with ties to Turkey are confronted

with multiple expectations originating in different spheres (e.g. religious, legal, and political), in

different national and also in supranational contexts (e.g. Turkey’s EU accession discourse), and by

diverse actors (religious actors such as the Diyanet, Christian churches and other Muslim

organizations; political actors; the media; the public; as well as organizational members). The

following chapters shall briefly summarize these expectations before analyzing DITIB’s strategies with

regards to this variety of expectations and the advantages and disadvantages of simultaneous

country of arrival and country of origin affiliations.

3.1. The German institutional environment and organized Islam

A new debate on the role of organized Islam has emerged in Germany on the public and the political

level since the turn of the century. While at first, the main cooperation partners of Muslim

organizations were the churches and other Muslim organizations, which jointly initiated

interreligious dialogues; the political level has now discovered the issues of integrating Muslim into

German society. Consequently, Muslim organizations are increasingly contacted by the federal

political level in Germany in order to function as cooperation partners in the new task of negotiating

the institutionalization of the role of Islam, while guaranteeing the successful integration of their

5 official party website: http://eng.akparti.org.tr/english/index.html

members and cooperating in the newly acclaimed fight against terrorism. This process is best

expressed by the establishment of the German Conference on Islam (DIK)6, which was initiated in

2006 as a high-level dialogue between politics and various Muslim actors including the five main

Muslim umbrella organizations7 as well as non-organized Muslims, and even Islam critics, which was

strongly criticized by the Muslim umbrella organizations. The participants discussed in four working

groups German values, German law and religious questions (including practical claims concerning the

acceptance of religious practices within the public sphere, the introduction of Islamic religious

education in public schools, or the establishment of imam training within German universities), the

role of the economy and the media, and the fight against fundamentalism and terrorism (German

Islam Conference 2009). Within these negotiations the Muslim organizations have constituted for the

first time not only the objects of the debates but were officially invited to partake in the discussion.

The government intended to reach a joint agreement on normative claims that included the support

for the German value order and the fight against terrorism. Both dimensions can be said to

characterize the underlying normative and cognitive political discourse on Islam in Germany

(Rosenow 2010b, Peter 2009). The aim to create “German Muslims” as announced in the title of the

DIK “Muslims in Germany– German Muslims”8 should be reached through the creation of a broad

consensus regarding the compliance with social principals and politics of religion, while emphasizing

the adherence to the principles of liberal democracy as enshrined in the Constitution (Federal

Government 2006: 3, 20079). Laurence highlights that this process of “nationalizing” Islam takes place

in various European countries, where after a period of “outsourcing” a period of “incorporation” has

begun, in which governments try to “reassert state sovereignty over transnational Muslim networks”

(2006: 266). His assumptions point out an important shift in the logic of the German government:

While it welcomed the involvement of the Turkish state in Germany during the 1980s in order to

introduce a moderate Islam in Germany (cf. Seufert 1999), today the German government repeatedly

criticizes any official organizational ties to governments of the countries of origin, which allegedly

hinder the integration process (cf. Amelina/Faist 2008). While this criticism does not yet result in a

termination of official relations between the government and DITIB, this normative argument

concerning organizational independence now also has been anchored at the regulative level.

6 www.deutsche-islam-konferrenz.de

7 These include the Alevi Community in Germany (Alevitische Gemeinde Deutschland, AABF, the Turkish Islamic Union

Organization for Religion (Türkisch-Islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion e.V., DITIB), the Islamic Council for the Republic of Germany (Islamrat für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, IRD), the Association of Islamic Cultural Centres (Verband der islamischen Kulturzentren e.V., VIKZ), and the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland, ZMD). 8http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_012/nn_1016300/Internet/Navigation/EN/Topics/German__Islam__Conference/German__I

slam__Conference__node.html__nnn=true 9 Bundesregierung 2007, online statement regarding the German Islam Conference

http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_012/nn_1026710/Internet/Content/Themen/Deutsche__Islam__Konferenz/DatenUndFakten/Islamkonferenz__Kurzinfo__en.html

Both the acknowledgment of religious communities, which can receive the right to deliver religious

education in schools according to article 7(3) of the German constitution (GG), and the granting of

the status of a corporation by public law according to article 140 GG represent a specialty of the

Church-State law in Germany. The benefits of a corporation by public law include among others the

right to levy taxes from the community members, to organize a parish, to employ people under a

belief-orientated labor-law, as well as property tax reductions and exemptions (Rohe 2008: 57;

Federal Government 2006: 101ff.). Generally, one can argue that the status of a corporation by

public law would heighten the organizational legitimacy and equality within the German system. The

prerequisites to achieve the status of a corporation by public law are organizational continuity that is

measured through the by-laws and the number of members10. Besides, a clear organizational

structure with transparent procedures for decision making and a reliable body that decides about

doctrine and order are necessary. Additionally, the loyalty to German laws has to be proven

according to the decision of the Constitutional Court from 19 December 200011. Strong ties to

governments abroad are seen critically both by the German government and also by some Muslims

in Germany12, which both require that religious education services should be free of any political

influences13. Concerning these issues of collective representation and the acknowledgment of an

official status for Muslim organizations as a religious community or corporation by public law, the DIK

has only yielded compromises on the regulative dimension. With regards to the establishment of

Islamic religious education in Germany14 working group 2 within the DIK proposed (although not

unanimously) in 2008 that state level negotiations can be undertaken with organizations that have

not yet received the status of religious community but are believed to fulfill the requirements in the

foreseeable future (German Islam Conference 2009: 64). This shall end the standstill in negotiations

because the umbrella organizations are currently denied official recognition as religious

communities. The proposal is seen critically however, by the Muslim umbrella organizations, which

want to be recognized by the state authorities as religious communities.

10

In 1954, the state ministers of interior decided that a necessary stability of a community has to be proven over a period of 30 years (Rohe 2008: 57). 11

BVerfG, 2 BvR 1500/97 vom 19.12.2000, Absatz-Nr. (1 - 109), http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/rs20001219_2bvr150097.html 12

Especially the non-Turkish community criticizes the maintenance of institutionalized home country ties, which can hinder the establishment of joint religious education classes for all Muslims. 13

The DIK working group 2 concludes in this context: “religious education that does not reflect religious self-determination in its basic principles but that is substantially influenced by another state does not conform to the Basic Law. A community that is influenced by another state in a way that its basic principles are not an expression of its religious self-determination therefore cannot be a cooperation partner of the Federal States for religious education. This does not exclude of course the possibility that foreign dignitaries have influence within a religious community even when they simultaneously hold a state office as it is not uncommon in state-church systems” (German Islam Conference 2009: 62, translated by the author). Especially the latter sentence opens up a backdoor for DITIB’s president for example, who simultaneously holds the position of counselor for religious services of the Turkish embassy in Berlin. 14

So far, only the Alevite umbrella organization (AABF) as well as the Islamic Federation in Berlin have received the right to deliver religious education in some German states (Uslucan forthcoming).

http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/rs20001219_2bvr150097.html

Finally, the mentioned criticism within the Muslim community concerning home country ties already

points at the fact that the expectations of the Muslim community and of organizational members in

particular are relevant for the organization as well. As Schmitter and Streeck (1999) have highlighted,

an organization is governed by a “member logic” and an “influence logic”. The resulting duality of

internal and external expectations and related patterns of behavior have been elaborated elsewhere

by the author concerning Muslim umbrella organizations (Rosenow forthcoming). In this context, it is

important to notice that the importance attached towards the country of arrival and the country of

origin differ within the Turkish community in Germany. While the older generation favors a home

country orientation, it is mainly the second and third generations, which support and demand a

stronger focus on the country of arrival. As Vermeulen’s (2006) and Tietze (2008) have shown in their

work, these generational shifts are expressed in procedural changes within organizational

structuration and identity formation, which over time become more an more detached from the

country of origin. However, the fact that not only the members in Germany but also constituents

abroad have an interest in organizational orientation, as shown below, can lead to the fact that an

organization has to reconcile contradicting expectations. The complete assimilation towards the

country of origin as envisioned by Vermeulen is therefore not always likely to occur.

3.2. The Turkish institutional environment and organized Islam

On all three institutional dimensions (regulative, normative, and cognitive), the Turkish institutional

environment has been characterized by a long division between its laicist approach 15 and opposing

Islamist organizations (Kepel 2002; Trautner 2000). In 1923, the creation of the Republic of Turkey

under Mustafa Kemal Pasha16 aimed at a separation of religion and politics “placing religion under the

official control of the state” (Amiraux 2003: 157). In this context, the Diyanet was established in 1924

as an institution attached to the Office of the Prime Minister. In his detailed historical analysis of the

surrounding circumstances Kara (1999) argues that the young Republic of Turkey used religious

politics as a means to an end in order to legitimate its political aims among the public. Therefore, the

state established certain control over the Diyanet (the Prime Minister appoints the president of the

Diyanet and controls its budget) and restrained its influence (Ibid: 212ff.)17. This development has

been criticized by the Diyanet as the following quote from a former Diyanet president shows: “It [the

Diyanet] lacks without doubt religious authority. The reason for this is that the Presidency appears to

be the long arm of politics and that some circles exploit this situation” (translation KR cited after Kara

1999: 236).

15

It has to be noted in this context that the Turkish understanding of laicism differs from the strict separation between

religion and the state as Kara (1999) and Amiraux (2003) explain in more details 16

In 1934 the Parliament awarded him the honorific name Atatürk, the father of the Turks. 17

Kara stresses Diyanet’s limited powers. It is for example not responsible for religious education, and has no access to religious foundations and their funds, which are regulated by another agency called Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüǧü (Kara 1999).

“The Presidency of Religious Affairs, which was created in the Republican period, continued the Ottoman experience to a certain extent, but was given a structure that complied with the secular structure of the state; it was given the mandate to carry out religious affairs pertaining to faith, worship and moral principles, to inform society on religion and to administer places of worship” (Diyanet website, English version

18.).

The attempt of the Turkish state to establish a secular nation state, while controlling the Diyanet as

the religious institution (that in turn cannot criticize the state and the government) has received

much criticism throughout the decades (Trautner 2000). Various Islamist parties have continuously

aimed at the reestablishment of an Islamic state in Turkey. In this context, Schiffauer (2007: 73)

illustrates that “a series of Islamic-conservative parties have developed” that are linked to the Milli

Görüs movement, which was found back in the 1960s in Turkey. These parties were all led by

Necmettin Erbakan, who had periodic success within Turkey despite consecutive bans upon his

parties and his person (Franz 2000: 163ff.). However, “in 1980, the military ended the civil unrest at

Turkish universities. The clashes between left and right had left over 10,000 dead. A state of

emergency was declared and all political parties were forbidden. Many leftist, rightist and Islamist

activists were imprisoned or fled to Europe” (Schiffauer 2007: 76; cf. Franz 2000). These

developments resulted in additional emigration to Germany and a subsequent transportation of the

political tensions into the new host country (Trautner 2000). In Germany the Islamic Community Milli

Görüs (IGMG, formerly AMGT) was established as a political Islamic organization that was free to raise

its ideas in Germany that were outlawed in Turkey. At the same time, the Süleymancɩ and the Nurcu

movements were also banned in Turkey based on their ties to the Islamic-brotherhood religiosity.

These organizations mainly aim at providing an Islamic upbringing through training programs

(Schiffauer 2007; regarding the followers of Süleyman Efendis, which are united in the German

umbrella organization VIKZ see Jonker 2002). The Alevis are a third group, which has been actively

ignored by the Sunni centered religious politics in Turkey until very recently. The lethal attack on a

gathering of Alevi representatives in Sivas on 2 July 1993 sparked an Alevi protest movement inside

and outside of Turkey. This also fostered the abolishment of the takiye principle, meaning the

concealment of the Alevi belonging, which was practiced until the 1980s due to their history of

oppression in Turkey (Sökefeld 2008: 3).

“In the 1980s, the emergence of identity mobilization (Kurds, Islamists, Alevis) alerted Turkish public authorities to the politicization of various groups of Turkish citizens, gathering behind various types of flags. These movements opened a high competition on the market of ideas and identities, challenging the central state definition of an exclusive national identity” (Amiraux 2007: 192).

Generally, the legal ban of all four of these groups in Turkey resulted in a shift of power between their

organizations abroad. While the Diyanet enjoyed a monopoly in Turkey, the others are proportionally

18

http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/default.asp (30.09.2009)

http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/default.asp

more strongly represented in Europe (Schiffauer 2007). Consequently, the transnational networks of

Muslim organizations in Germany include strictly differentiated actors within the Turkish society,

which also results in different normative expectations. On the one hand, the Turkish State and the

Diyanet are the most important actors for the DITIB in Germany; on the other hand, all the other

organizations were created in opposition to this state-controlled religious institution. Their network s

either include political parties and their members (in the case of IGMG); or span around certain

personalities and their followers (in the case of the followers of Süleyman Efendis and of Said Nursis

and later of Fethullah Gülens); or are made up of a religious community, which is organized locally (in

the case of Alevis). This differentiation in their ties to Turkey can explain the different organizational

orientation in the country of arrival. In this context, Amelina and Faist (2008) have pointed out that

reference towards transnational ‘identity politics’ is accepted within Germany, which supports the

case of the Alevis. Contrary, transnational linkages between politics and religion are not equally

accepted and “the reference to transnational linkages in the cases of DITB and IGMG would increase

such suspicions and cause their labeling as not willing to integrate” (Ibid: 115). Furthermore, it is

important to note that on the regulative dimension the Turkish constitution does not allow political

parties to receive any support from abroad (Trautner 2000: 62). This limits the legitimacy of structural

and financial ties between the Turkish political sphere and diaspora organizations, while

strengthening their ambitions to switch their focus towards a transnational space. This can be

observed currently especially with regards to the IGMG (Schiffauer 2004).

Furthermore, the election of the incumbent Prime Minister Erdogan and the AK Party in 2002 also

influenced the organizational life abroad. While the above mentioned differentiations of

transnational networks were for a long time expressed in conflicting relations of the organizations in

the country of arrival, these tensions have decreased with Erdogan’s election. As a former protégé of

Necmettin Erbakan and a member of his Fazilet Partisi until 1998 Erdogan combines the two

opposing religious trends in Turkey: laicism and Islamism (Amiraux 2007). In this context of political

changes, it can be argued that the Diyanet also had to change in its approach towards other

organizations abroad. One result is that since 2007, the four biggest Sunni and Shiite dominated

umbrella organizations have cooperated for the first time within the Coordination Council of Muslims

in Germany (KRM), which joins organizations such as DITIB and IGMG that were formerly described

as rivals (for example in Trautner 2000).

Finally, the latest development is Turkey’s plan to establish a Presidency for Turks living abroad,

which “will offer help to the Turkish citizens living abroad to resolve their problems, as well as to

carry out lobby activities and promote Turkey abroad. The Presidency will also be responsible for the

negative propaganda experienced against Turkey” (Kavkaz Center 2010; cf. IGMG 2010). The

presidency is an initiative by Faruk Çelik the newly appointed minister of state for Turks living abroad.

The initiative can be seen as a reaction towards the changing integration debates in the European

Union that increasingly aim at the cutting off of home-country ties and related expectations for

cultural assimilation19 within the country of arrivals.

4. Opportunities and challenges of transnationalization as a strategy for

DITIB

In the following analysis DITIB is chosen as an example due to its institutionalized ties to the

Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) in Turkey, which are currently conflicting with its aim to

serve as an integration and cooperation partner in Germany. Concerning the analysis of

organizational strategies that reconcile multiple levels of expectations DITIB proves to be an

illustrative example in order to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of a transnationalization

strategy with regards to the expectations depicted above. It is argued that due to changing

expectations within the country of arrival and new opportunity structures within Turkey and the

European Union, the organization tries to change its structures and activities from “diaspora

building”, which is characterized by references to a “clearly fixed motherland or centre” (Pries 2002:

17) to a more transnational oriented organizations, that combines the reference systems of the

countries of arrival and origin. The analysis is structured according to the efficiency dimension

(structural ties/ resources) and the legitimacy dimension (activities/ identity) and it is situated at the

level of the umbrella organization and not at the individual mosque communities20.

4.1. DITIB’s efficiency dimension: diversification of contacts and resources

It has been widely discussed in the literature that DITIB is a branch of the Diyanet, which initiated its

establishment in 1982 and that of similar organizations in other European countries21 (Gibbon

forthcoming; Laurence 2006; Schiffauer 2007; Seufert 1999; for Austria see Kroissenbrunner 2002).

Present day ties between Diyanet and DITIB include the imams being sent from Turkey to Germany,

19

Overall, the terms integration and assimilation have been widely debated within sociology including diverse definitions. “Cultural assimilation” goes back to the concept of the Chicago School of the 1920s that expects migrants to lose their cultures and traditions over time in the U.S. “melting pot” (Hoerder et al. 2007: 48). Within the German debate, this concept reoccurs in the Leitkultur (core culture) debates and many migrants accuse the German government of demanding cultural assimilation. Officially however, the German government only uses the term integration. 20

This is due to the field work that includes five semi-structured interviews with representatives of the headquarters. It can also be argued that the umbrella organization is more directly targeted by the expectations described in chapter 3. Furthermore, the nearly 900 mosques communities in Germany represent a heterogeneous field that would require extensive qualitative and quantitative field work. 21

According to the Diyanet webpage these European organizations are joined under the roof of the European Religious Institutions Union that was established as a “supervision union” in Belgium on 7 November 2002, its first meeting was held in Ankara on 3 February 2003. Within the interviews with DITIB officials this European body was not mentioned. It is assumed that it does not have significant influence upon organizational structures and activities and therefore it is not analyzed in depth hereafter. http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/default.asp (10.10.2009).

http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/default.asp

where they receive their salary from the Diyanet22 (resources), and special immigration conditions.

The imams work in assigned DITIB mosques for a period of four years, while being supervised by the

attachés for religious affairs that are situated at 13 Turkish consulate generals in Germany (structural

ties). The imams share the responsibility for the mosque community together with the elected

president and the advisory board, which are required for a registered association in Germany.

Further structural ties between Diyanet and DITIB include the fact that the president of DITIB also

holds the post of counselor for religious services of the Turkish embassy in Berlin. On the one hand,

he is paid by the Diyanet and has diplomatic status; on the other hand, so far the changing

counselors have regularly been elected by the DITIB board of directors as their president for a period

of two years. His work as a president for DITIB is voluntary and not remunerated by DITIB itself (DITIB

Interview 23.07.2009). It is argued in one interview that the counselor for religious services of the

Turkish embassy, who is always a trained theologian and an experienced diplomat, offers more

qualities and skills than any other candidate for the DITIB presidency could offer. Especially his

theological training, which often includes being a mufti, a Muslim legal expert, distinguishes him

from other candidates (DITIB Interview 28.07.2009)23. In this context, on the one hand, DITIB’s self-

understanding as a religious organization becomes visible – although the organization is currently

expanding its services towards other domains – such as political and social activities (see below). On

the other hand, these institutionalized structural ties to the Diyanet are indicators for a diaspora

organization with a fixed centre in Turkey. However, due to the fact that the status of the DITIB

president as a theologian and a diplomat has received much criticism from the Germans government

and other Muslim organizations, existing ties towards the Diyanet within the decision making process

are repeatedly denied by the organization: “The organizational politics of the religious community

are decided in Cologne and not in Ankara or in Berlin” (DITIB Interview 23.07.2009). Based on the fact

that the criticism on the institutionalized linkage between Turkish state employees and DITIB

personnel is upheld in Germany on the regulative and the normative dimension, this linkage between

the DITIB presidency and the Turkish embassy could be given up in the future since it is not

mandatory. The same holds true for the imams being sent always from the Diyanet, which will be

discussed further below.

Another structural link to the Diyanet is DITIB’s advisory council. According to §11 of the bylaws from

1996 the advisory council consists of five imams from the Diyanet and is headed by the president of

the Diyanet (Seufert 1999: 263). In 1996, the powers of the advisory council were far reaching and

22

According to Gibbon in 2006 approximately 530 imams were employed in Germany, which means that not every

mosques association receives a government-funded imam (forthcoming: 7). 23

During the biannual elections DITIB members can run for one of 5-6 seats in the executive board that is being elected by

the 889 leaders of the mosque communities. After the election the top 6 candidates decide among themselves who receives which office including the presidency.

included its decisive power over changes in the bylaws and the appointment of candidates for the

executive board as well as its possibility to announce members of the executive board if necessary

majorities are not reachable (§9) (Ibid; AG Köln Amtsblatt 25.01.1996, page 8)24.

Finally, concerning the resource dimension, the main source of financial income are the donations of

organizational members and supporters. While these donations traditionally were mainly linked

towards the Turkish community, they now include donors within the country of arrival (on the

macro, meso and micro level). This can be related to the generational change and the naturalization

of many followers, which establish new ties and sources for revenues locally as well as worldwide.

One example in this context is a 5.000 € donation by a catholic congregation to support the

construction building of the new central mosque in Cologne (DITIB 2010c).

Furthermore, on the efficiency dimension, two process of re-structuration have been taking place

that point at a transnationalization of the organization, meaning its reorientation towards the

country of arrival while keeping its ties to the country of origin: firstly, a decentralization through the

establishment of regional structures and secondly, a professionalization within the public outreach

activities. The regional structures on the one hand, are prerequisites for the aspired

acknowledgement as a religious community on the level of the Federal States. According to the plans

presented in the interviews in 2009, every organization has to send two delegates to the regional

assembly if they have more than 200 members. In this case, at least one of the delegates has to be

female. The delegates are elected locally and therefore, can function as an additional representative

position within the mosque. Furthermore, the imams are sent to the regional level in order to form a

theological council, while the attachés are excluded to hold a position within this new regional

structure. The training of dialogue representatives on the other hand, aims at promoting close ties

towards the German public. The related project “pro dialogue” runs for a period of three years

(February 2009 – December 2011) and aims at “qualifying voluntary multipliers and dialogue

representatives for intercultural and interreligious cooperation” (flyer DITIB25). For the project young

men and women, who speak German fluently, and who also know Germany’s structures, are trained

as bridge builders. It is planned to train 1800 dialogue representatives in the areas of interreligious

and intercultural dialogue, which highlights the importance associated to structural ties with other

religious communities in Germany. Another focus lays on tasks such as press and public affairs and

the required software skills such as MS Office knowledge. In the end, the representatives shall

receive a handbook in order to be able to spread their knowledge to other community members.

Additionally, a webpage shall enable the continuation of their communication. The project is one of

24

Current changes concerning this structural tie still have to be investigated by consulting the register of associations in

Cologne. 25

www.DITIB.de/media/File/prodialog_flyer.pdf

http://www.ditib.de/media/File/prodialog_flyer.pdf

the examples of DITIB’s increasing financial cooperation with the German government and EU

funding lines, which currently enrich the organizational resource portfolio and point at a

transnationalization within the efficiency dimension. With regards to the advantages of the EU level

the organization functions similar to other Turkish organizations as an advocator for Turkish EU

accession. The organization’s interests in public funding possibilities can partly explain its eagerness

to strengthen its ties with the German government and with the German public. The interviews

highlight the conscious duality of this process. On the one hand it is argued with regards to the

German Islam conference that: “I think DITIB enjoys currently a very high reputation with the politics

and the German State” (DITIB Interview 23.07.2009) This reputation mainly refers to the legitimacy

dimension but also fosters organizational efficiency especially when it comes to financial support of

its social activities that are described in more detail below. On the other hand, the public affair

responsible argues that “it does not help when I positively reach the political level but loose the

people respectively” (DITIB Interview 28.07.2009). The people in this context are both the (potential)

members as well as the general public, which both function as resources on the legitimacy as well as

on the efficiency dimensions.

4.2. DITIB’s legitimacy dimension: combining modern and traditional activities and

identities

Concerning DITIB’s field of activities, religious services have been the main focus. Currently, however,

a diversification of services which emphasizes the dimensions of social welfare work and interest

representation takes place, which can be linked to a stronger country of arrival focus. But also within

the sphere of religious services changes have taken place. Until recently, the sermons for the imams

were drafted by the Diyanet experts in Ankara and distributed within Turkey and abroad (Amiraux

2007: 287). Gibbon however, argues in his analysis of Friday sermon policies that “the centralized

sermon regime came to an end in June 2006” (forthcoming: 24). Now, religious figures in 81 Turkish

provinces and in 12 German regions or cities are responsible for the sermons production. This change

aims at adapting the religious services to the local needs of the community, while trying to counter

the image of a centralized agency, which restricts religious expression (Ibid). The religious services

nonetheless, are still held in Turkish language and are only sometimes summarized in German orally

or in printed form.

In this context, the often criticized language barrier of the imams that are sent from Turkey has also

let to changes. In 2002, four months-long German classes for future imams in Germany were

introduced by the Goethe-Institute in Ankara26, which is co-funded by the Diyanet and the German

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Goddar 2008). Furthermore, since 2006, the Konrad-Adenauer 26

http://www.goethe.de/ins/tr/ank/deindex.htm.

http://www.goethe.de/ins/tr/ank/deindex.htm

Foundation has participated in this cooperation offering a week-long orientation course to prepare

imams in Ankara for their stay in Germany (Ernst 2006). The Diyanet itself aims at training students

from Germany with Turkish background at the Islamic theology faculties in Istanbul and Ankara in

order to prevent their language barriers. A project, which was presented back in 2006, and which has

not yet been completed in its first cycle (Ibid: 5). Furthermore, DITIB imams receive an additional

language training of 500 hours within Germany sponsored by the BAMF, DITIB, and the Goethe

Institute (DITIB 2009). Moreover, the study of Islamic religion in Germany is supported by the Diyanet

through its co-financing of the foundation professorship of theology in Frankfurt University that is

currently held by Prof. Dr. Özsoy (Keller 2009). So far, the related Institute for Culture and Religion of

Islam27 does not yet provide imam training in Germany. The German government however, is

currently planning to establish three university departments that shall establish Islamic Studies in

Germany following a decision of the German Science Council on 29 January 2010. The aim is to

prepare teachers for the planned introduction of Islamic education in public schools, as well as to

teach Islamic theology28. DITIB’s dialogue representative already stressed in an interview in 2009 that

DITIB is willing to cooperate with the German authorities (Forum am Freitag 2009). This was

repeated in a DITIB press release following the decision of the German Science Council (DITIB 2010b)

although in the media contrary reactions were cited originally29. Overall, the need of the Muslim

community for imams raised and trained in Germany is acknowledged as shown in the following

quote.

“I think DITIB is quite aware that imams have to be trained in Germany because in the long run a deployment from Turkey is not possible any more. On the one hand, because it is not supportable politically and on the other hand, the generational break enforces in the medium term that imams will not go down well with the community. Right now, there are still many elderly in the community for them it is quite necessary to have also an imam from Turkey. One has to adapt towards this change” (DITIB Interview 04.03.2009a).

Overall, the umbrella organization describes itself as a “service provider” for its member organizations

with religious services representing only one field of its activities. In this context, a representative

draws a comparison between old and new mosques and their functions. He comes to the conclusion

that in the new mosques, such as the central mosque currently under construction in Cologne,

religious services might even become “secondary” (DITIB Interview 14.10.2008). This is explained

with the fact that the demand for religious services is already satisfied. According to the interviews

this “diversification” of services is new to the organization and its mosque communities and it is

27

http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/fb/fb09/islam/index.html 28

http://www.rp-online.de/wissen/Deutsche-Unis-sollen-Imame-und-Religionslehrer-ausbilden_aid_813622.html# 29

In an article from the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 31 January 2010 Bekir Alboga DITIB’s dialogue representative is quoted with the statement “we have no need for imams from German universities” (http://www.sueddeutsche.de/jobkarriere/459/501712/text/ (01.03.2010)). The duality of statements can be related to the internal organizational conflict between expectations from the Diyanet and the German government.

http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/fb/fb09/islam/index.html

related to the demands raised by its members and by the external institutional environment. On the

one hand, associated mosque communities can approach the different departments at the

headquarters in order to acquire advice in diverse areas ranging from legal to managerial issues, to

event planning, or the building of mosques. This also includes the provision of mediators in local

conflicts, which can be solved by personal conversations or by local visits by someone from the

headquarters (DITIB Interviews 23. und 28.7.2009). On the other hand, the broadening of the

activities includes professional public affairs activities in order to meet the demands raised by the

German organizational environment The above mentioned training of dialogue representatives is one

reaction strategy for the local organizational level, while at the headquarters professional personnel

has been hired. The most recent development in the context of public outreach activities is the

establishment of a nine week long seminar series on “Islam within daily life” from theological and

social science perspectives (DITIB 2010a).

“Subsequently, stronger public relations work, stronger dialogue work, an attempt of networking with churches other organizations and institutions, with politics and the public, and what is also new stronger attempt to act together with other umbrella organizations” (DITIB Interview 14.10.2008).

On the individual level, the focus on a Turkish identity and the maintenance of its culture, language

and tradition is upheld and practiced mainly locally. Within the last years the traditional array of

home-country oriented cultural activities (dancing and music groups, art exhibitions, traditional

festivities), Turkish language courses, and religious programs (Koran courses, organizing the hajj,

funeral services in Turkey, celebrating the holidays) have been supplemented by activities that foster

the identification with the country of arrival. These include the offering of German language courses,

which are organized in cooperation with the German authorities that have made them mandatory

since 2005 for newly arriving immigrants. Additionally, a new focus on social services (provided by the

centre for social support as well as by the education department) includes courses (e.g. computer,

homework, sowing, and language courses30) and the recent establishment of a telephone hotline for

family and social counseling. This is linked to the aim of an overall professionalization of services for

youth, women, and seniors as well as integration related offers are part of the diversified activity

portfolio. Additionally, DITIB finally agreed on the provision of Islamic educations in schools in

German language, while formerly one tried to implant these courses in Turkish. Similarly, the internal

member magazine Haber Bülteni has become bilingual since September 2008 broadening its former

focus on local activities by introducing thematic priorities that discuss social issues31.

30

For an overview of courses offered at the DITIB headquarters in Cologne see http://www.ditib.de/default.php?id=23&lang=de (01.03.2010). 31

So far the monthly topics included among others Ramadan, mosques, pilgrimages, foundations, science, youth and old age, peace messages from the prophet, the parents, the environment, and the education of children.

The latter arguments concerning the activity level also involve the Identity question. While DITIB was

formerly mainly an ethnic Turkish Organization that served the Turkish community abroad, offering

mainly religious services in order to conserve their tradition and culture and to prevent assimilation,

this narrow focus has underwent decisive changes. Now, the focus on the Turkish community has

been broadened in the direction of both the Muslim and the migrant community in Germany as well

as the society as a whole. “Our doors are not only open for Turks or people with Turkish or Muslim

background but to everyone” (DITIB webpage, ‘who we are’)32. The cooperation with other

organization is part of this organizational identity. Generally, this new focus on being Muslim mirrors

the development of public discourses in Europe that have shifted: “The other, the different, the

foreigner, the immigrant. And today the Muslim” (Allievi 2005: 3). In Germany, the Turks were a

synonym for foreigners for the longest time and only with the rediscovery of Islam within public

debates is this group now associated with Islam, a topic that was secondary before and relegated to

the private sphere (ibid). This development is also observed by a DITIB representative:

“I would say until 2000, or until 2001, one could identify a strong a strong ethnic focus in the DITIB *…+. I think this *changed+ parallel to the public attitude *…+ and now, the same group is labeled with religious symbols and this development DITIB has participated in - the focus more on Islam. For example it was a concession at the time it is not anymore that the religious education is held in German. That is this renunciation from this strong ethnical towards the religious” (DITIB Interview 14.10.2008).

Another part of DITIB’s identity is its political neutrality. The emphasis on this fact needs to be

understood in the historical context of DITIB’s establishment, which is linked to the military coup in

Turkey on 12 September 1980 (DITIB Interview 04.03.2010b). One interviewee argues that many

Turks in Germany did not want to be dragged into these political conflicts. Therefore, they were

looking for a neutral organization to practice their religion, their culture and their language. In this

context, it is emphasized that DITIB enjoyed the confidence of many Turks who believed in the

neutrality of the Turkish state, which is distinguished within the interview from the Turkish

government. According to the interviewee especially the imams and the religious attachés that were

send to Germany by the Diyanet created a feeling of security, in the sense that people believed that

they would guarantee that the political discourses were kept out of their mosques. “The religious

attachés and so on played a role of course because they were theologians for the people, and they

were somehow representatives of the state, and not from the political currents but from the state,

which is independent to all Weltanschauungen” (DITIB Interview 04.03.2010b). The argument of

political neutrality is stressed by the organization because of the often raised criticism that DITIB is

the long arm of the Turkish government (DITIB Interview 04.03.2010a) and therefore, tied to the

ideology of the ruling party. Spuler-Stegemann criticized DITIB for example as an “unstable”

32

http://www.ditib.de/default.php?id=5&lang=de

organization due to its relationship to the Turkish state and its dependence on the political

constellations in Turkey (Spuler-Stegemann 2001: 222). Today, the expectations within Germany

have changed. The criticism is no longer directed at Islamist movements and their home-country ties

but also includes ties towards the Diyanet, which was once welcomed as a facilitator of a moderate

Islam. Therefore, the argument of political neutrality is now valid only internally with regards to the

members’ interests.

Another change in DITIB’s activities is a “politicization” of the organization at least concerning its

involvement in claims-making activities in Germany. While DITIB is less protest oriented than IGMG

for example, the representatives nonetheless stress DITIB’s right to disagree as a sign of being on an

equal footing within negotiations “Not till we can also express our discomfort then we are an equal

partner” (DITIB Interview 04.03.2010b). This contradicts earlier analyzes that described DITIB as

being restricted to the private realm of religion without struggling for a public position for Islam

(Schiffauer 2007)33. Schiffauer’s argument has been supported by Seufert's analysis of religious text

issued by the Diyanet, which propagate an apolitical role of Muslims, who shall obey the state's

authority abroad (Seufert 1999: 274). However, this argument of an apolitical and mainly homeland

oriented organization has to be corrected due to observed behavioral changes at the level of the

organizational headquarters within the first decade of the 21st century.

The following table summarizes the organizational changes depicted in this chapter that can be seen

as a reaction towards the efficiency and legitimacy related expectations that have been discussed in

chapter 3. Although the current climate in Germany is unfavorable for the maintenance of highly

institutionalized ties towards the home country, the case study of DITIB showed that a strong

orientation towards the country of arrival and its demands can provide a successful basis in order to

maintain its structural and identity related ties towards the home country.

33

This argument has already been criticized by Gibbon (forthcoming), who also hints at an opening of the organization in

the direction of the host country. He bases his assumption on a detailed analysis of the Diyanet headquarters in Ankara.

Table 4: DITIB’s process of transnationalization on the level of efficiency and legitimacy

Country of origin orientation

Organizational

beginnings

Country of arrival + Country of origin orientation orientation

= Transnationalization

Since the turn of the 21st

century

Efficiency

Structural Ties

Diaynet (sends imams, involved within advisory board);

Turkish Consulates (host Attachés)

Imam head of mosque community

German Government (negotiates status and rights -> DIK)

Intercultural and Interfaith dialogues

Local level: Imam + elected president + regional delegate + dialogue representative

Imams are still send from Turkey

DITIB president is also counselor for religious services at Turkish embassy

Attachés are still relevant for imams but not involved in regional structures

Resources Diyanet (wages for imams, attachés, DITIB president)

Donations only from Turkish citizens

German government & EU (education and integration programs)

Donations also from naturalized migrants and the German public

Diyanet (wages)

Donations from abroad and from Turkish citizens in Germany

Legitimacy

Activities Religious services in Turkish (sermons prepared by the Diyanet)

Practice Turkish culture, language and tradition

Focus on remittances

Religious services now prepared also in Germany

German language courses

religious education in schools in German language

German articles in member magazine

Investing in mosques, services and representation

Religious services can be held in Turkish and German language

Practice Turkish culture, language and tradition locally

Investing in dialogue activities to represent Turkish traditions and Islam

Identity Ethnic Turkish Organization

Serve the Turkish community abroad

Mainly religious services

Conserve tradition and culture

-> no assimilation

Muslim Community and migrant organization

Serve Muslims and the German society

new focus on social welfare services

Integrate Islam into German society

Turkish organization

Serve the Turkish community abroad (funerals in Turkey, social services)

Conserve tradition and culture

-> no assimilation


5. Conclusion

The literature on transnationalism highlights that an either/or semantic as propagated by concepts of

core cultures and nationally bound identities does not reflect well transnational phenomena of

individual and organizational networks that span across two or more states and multiple localities.

Although nation states lately try to “nationalize” their Muslim communities (Laurence 2006) and

require that related organizations cut their ties to constituents abroad, the organizational reality

shows a much more differentiated picture. On the one hand, migrant organizations evaluate the new

opportunity structures in the countries of arrival, which can lead to structural and behavioral

changes; on the other hand, the symbolic and functional ties to the country of origin cannot be cut

easily due to expectations both of organizational members and other stakeholders involved. Both

Sökefeld and Vertovec refer to this as the “diasporic duality of continuity and change”. Concerning

processes of organizational change that have been analyzed within this paper from an organizational-

sociological perspective, Sökefeld agrees that “the rhetoric of continuity obscures that *sic] actors

constantly re-constitute and re-invent (or refuse to re-constitute) in diverse manners what is

imagined as simply continuing” (Sökefeld 2000: 23, cited after Vertovec 2003: 314).

The organizational case study of DITIB presented here, illustrates well this dilemma between

continuity and change and the related opportunities and challenges of organizational

transnationalization. While DITIB enjoys efficiency advantages (structural and financial support) and

legitimacy advantages (moderate Islam, political neutrality) through its institutionalized ties to the

Diyanet in Turkey, the opportunity structures in Germany increasingly question this country of origin

orientation. The official German expectations concerning organizational integration in the form of

structural assimilation towards the German state-church patters as well as the requested cultural

acceptance of the German value order leave little room for DITIB’s traditional diaspora orientation.

This leads to the common question faced by diaspora communities: “How to adapt to the

environment without surrendering group identity?” (Shaye/Frerichs 1993: i, cited after Vertovec

2003: 313).

Various outcomes of the outlined dilemma can be possible for DITIB’s organizational development in

the middle- and long-term. On the one hand, the country of arrival expectations could gain more

significance both on the efficiency and legitimacy level that the organization eventually develops into

a country of arrival focused organization. This scenario however, is not likely as long as other

expectations that are relevant for the organization demand a home-country orientation on the level

of structural ties, resources, activities, or identity formation. This is currently the case due to the

institutionalized ties both to the Turkish state and the identity expectations of the first generation of

emigrants, who are still active within the organization in Germany. Therefore, DITIB currently tries to

reconcile conflicting expectations on the efficiency and the legitimacy level through strategies of

structural decentralization, multiple resource acquisition, a diversification of services, and a

broadening of the organizational identity concept. The organizations’ identity thereby follows the

general trend in public German discourses and changes from an ethnic Turkish identity towards an

organization that provides religious services for all Muslims in Germany and that also serves the

immigrant community and the German public through non-religious services.

With regards to the characteristic of a transnational organization that maintains ties between

multiple countries without having a clear centre, the Diyanet network does not fulfill the

characteristic of complete decentralization, yet. At least for the German context, however, it can be

observed that the strategy of transnationalization in the sense of simultaneously combining

expectations and linkages between two national contexts is increasingly chosen. This development is

linked to attempts to end the prevailing diaspora identity. This tendency towards organizational

transnationalization can be explained by changing expectation structures within the institutional

environments that are relevant for the organization as well as by changing members’ interest. It is

uncertain whether this trajectory eventually leads towards complete organizational assimilation

towards the country of arrival as expected for example by Vermeulen (2006). Instead it is argued

here that organizational transnationalization can be either a permanent or an interim state of

organizational development. A permanent pattern of organizational transnationalization – meaning

the maintenance of structural and symbolic ties towards the country of origin, which are reconciled

with the expectations in the country of arrival – is likely, as long as home-country ties are expected

by key organizational constituents.

6. References

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