Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)

Explaining and Comparing the Views of Ziya Gökalp and Max Weber on the Formation of National Identity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Seyed Mehdi Hosseini Taghiabad 1
Hosein Habibzade 2

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Regional Studies, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 MA in Muslim Social Studies, Department of Islamic Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences,University of Tehran , Tehran, Iran

10.22034/chs.2026.573024.1159
Abstract
Examining the experiences of Muslim thinkers in facing a concept such as "national identity", which still engages Muslim societies at various social levels, is essential. In this article, an effort has been made to study the manner in which Ziya Gökalp – one of the most important thinkers of the Anatolian region – engages with this issue, in comparison with the views of Max Weber, who himself was involved in a similar challenge, so as to achieve a deeper explanation of the type of intellectual formulation of Gökalp on this subject. In this article, using the document-library study method, the collected data and information have been compared and descriptively analyzed. The findings show that one of the most obvious points of difference between these two aforementioned thinkers is that, according to Weber, the most important aspect of nationality is political action and nationality is a new political construct, but according to Gökalp, nations have always existed and the national spirit has been unconsciously tangible among them. In terms of common points, both thinkers have sought a cultural-linguistic explanation of the issue of national identity and have emphasized the role of the state and political action, but in practice, this cultural-linguistic aspect takes on a hostile and violent aspect in the face of political challenges.

Keywords

Ziya Gokalp
Max Weber
Comparison
National identity
Turkism
 
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Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)
Volume 17, Issue 66 - Serial Number 66
winter 2026
Winter 2026
Pages 25-56

  • Receive Date 30 January 2026
  • Revise Date 11 April 2026
  • Accept Date 23 April 2026
  • Publish Date 20 February 2026

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