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Historicizing Security in the Ottoman Empire

Vortrag des SFB „Dynamiken der Sicherheit. Formen der Versicherheitlichung in historischer Perspektive.“

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The paper addresses the idea of reform among Ottoman state elites and how it can be connected to conceptions of security during the late 19th century. The reform process of Ottoman Empire not only resulted in a fundamental change in the institutions of administrative and governmental bodies but also in the governing mentality during the 19th century. All these changes were articulated with the empire’s “repertoires of power,” which were created over the centuries and were connected to geographies. This paper will also try to explore the new security perceptions of the Ottoman state elite and their relational position with classical concepts such as emniyet (security, safety) and asayiş (public order, peace).

In exploring these relational conceptualisations, it is important to examine how state elites defined security concerns, how processes of securitisation were operated and legitimised with discursive methods, and how these discursive strategies were produced globally and implemented in the Ottoman Empire. The paper also seeks to historicise security in the late Ottoman Empire (1878-1914) by referring to inter-imperial connections of ideas and techniques of security.