01/07/2026 09:00 - 11:10

HALL: Pola - A206a

Contact: Yildirim R.

Chair: Yildirim R.

This panel explores the diverse and evolving forms of religious authority within the Alevi tradition from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Alevism has historically articulated multiple forms of authority through a plurality of figures, institutions, and practices, including hereditary lineages (ocak and dede), ritual specialists, saintly charisma, sacred genealogies, poetry and music, and mechanisms of communal recognition and consensus. These forms of authority have been continuously negotiated in relation to changing political, social, and religious contexts.
The panel brings together contributions that examine how religious authority forms and structures have been constructed, legitimized, contested, and transformed from the pre-modern period to the present. Papers address topics such as the historical role of ocak lineages and initiation systems; the role of charisma, spiritual bonds with saintly figures, genealogy, and moral authority in the formation and maintenance of Alevi socioreligious order; the impact of premodern (Safavid and Ottoman) and modern state formations on Alevi religious leadership; and the reconfiguration of authority in contemporary settings shaped by migration, urbanization, institutionalization, and transnational networks. Particular attention is paid to tensions between inherited and acquired authority, oral tradition and textualization, and local practice and standardized representations of Alevism.
By combining theological, historical, anthropological, sociological, and ethnomusicological approaches, the panel aims to contribute to broader discussions on religious authority beyond normative models centered on clerical institutions. It highlights Alevism as a compelling case for understanding how authority operates in non-hierarchical and community-based religious systems, and how such systems respond to modern challenges while drawing on traditions.