01/11/2014
ISTANBUL THINK-HOUSE (IDE):
OUR MANIFESTO
Why do human beings seek to know, and how do they know? Although it is impossible to answer these thorny questions to everyone’s satisfaction, the never-ending inquiry and quest for answers serves as the starting point of IDE’s endeavor. Another focal point is the power-knowledge relationship, for to know something often denotes the ability to fulfill it. We live at a time when the critique against deploying objective knowledge claims to disguise certain political, economic, and related impulses has become increasingly vocal and widespread. This forceful voice of dissent has called into question the tabula rasa upon which the accomplishments of modernity are supposedly reflected and has exposed the flawed foundations of its premises.
Furthermore, the human sciences’ espousal of the natural sciences’ triumph has validated the conviction that their purpose was simply to replicate the project of modernity rather than serve as a gateway to objective knowledge. The objects of these former sciences have traditionally been viewed as mere passive recipients who exist only to assume their ever-changing assigned roles and postures and submit to being nothing more than a constantly changed directed other vis-à-vis the powerful.
But something fundamental has changed, for now these “others” are demanding to speak for themselves. And they are indeed speaking out.
The most striking examples of those power-knowledge complexes configured by hegemonic power relations and that work almost always against the subjugated can be observed in the think-tank industry, which took root in the Euro-American world during the last century. Knowledge, which used to possess a relatively secure space in the academy one in which it could exist for its own sake increasingly fell under the tutelage of market forces and financial/political power to such an extent that it has now been largely commodified. This form of institutionalization almost always nullifies the moral responsibilities with which knowledge is charged: to function as a witness to truth and to pursue it endlessly.
Today, knowledge has become an instrument of strategic calculations, national interests, or market demands. And yet one core problem seems to have escaped many people’s attention: The centers of vested power and organized capital that inflict so much injustice and subjugation on others are the very same bodies that manufacture the knowledge and discourses used so effectively to obscure and render their own presence and activities invisible. As the existing power configurations become more normalized and (mis)represented as fair, their deliberately produced false reality blinds the people to just how much these configurations block the creation of those sociopolitical structures that are more just and really care about the general public’s wellbeing.
Lately, certain hegemonic processes have managed to transform and then consolidate neoliberal market fundamentalism into a universal norm by implementing it wherever possible under the guise of a successful development model. This is true in Muslim-majority countries, even in those run by Islamist-rooted governments. The same can be said of the politics in these countries, which has received its fair share of assimilation into the various Euro-American prototypes via the institutional mechanisms fostered by these same hegemonic processes. Thus it was only natural that the prevailing processes of producing commodified knowledge became the standard mode of operation in Turkey.
At present, think-tanks located in Turkey are also in the business of manufacturing far more useful and functional knowledge to serve both the government and financial capital in a more systematic and efficient fashion. Under these circumstances, it has, by definition, become futile to inquire how far such knowledge can take us in our pursuit of the knowledge of truth or knowledge that can be used to promote humanity’s common good. Challenges to and struggles against the ongoing injustice and subjugation are, fortunately, not totally absent. However, the development of alternative discourses that seek that sound and truthful knowledge in which these objections and actions on behalf of the unorganized wronged can be grounded are nowhere near sufficient.
As regards the specifics of the Muslims worldview and their particular historical experiences, it must be acknowledged that the endeavors to know (a-li-ma) and to comprehend (fa-qa-ha), both of which are, in essence, supposed to be dynamic and open to all, were co-opted by those with political and financial power at some point in history. As the knowledge production mechanisms are now firmly rooted in both the traditional madrasahs and modern institutions of learning, serious intellectual endeavors have become largely passive and dormant. The stratification and petrification of the so-called ulama class, on the other hand, has reinforced an elite reproduction mechanism, one that hands out knowledge to the general public only as needed and only in certain forms.
But despite these adversities, several contemporary attempts have been made to return the quest for knowledge to its original raison d’être: to draw on this legacy and to emancipate the knowledge production processes so that they can once again serve the ongoing struggle to benefit humanity. IDE embraces all such attempts, regardless of when and where they were launched.
IDE believes that this quest is not something new, but only the rejuvenation of a long and ongoing attempt to approach the dominant paradigms with a critical eye. We seek to rupture the hegemony of power-driven knowledge on behalf of the weak, oppressed, and justice-seekers on every possible level. IDE thus takes its place in the ongoing historical quest for the truth. Rather than imposing a ready-made and given truth, we invite all of those who aspire to side with truth and justice to join our journey. We believe that we can guard against power’s corruptive potential if we embrace this awareness and begin acting upon it. In our opinion, only this type of approach can provide non-commodified knowledge that will benefit everyone. IDE takes no credit for this claim or insight; we are merely holding ourselves responsible for producing such knowledge in the belief that the human assets necessary for doing so exist.
For more information about who and what we are, please contact us at: [email protected]
