In this excellent book, Sofos critically explores the ways the notion of the people, and the allied notions of the national and the plebeian/vernacular have been shaped by the history of the Turkish republic. He elegantly shows us how these very notions have informed ways of envisaging society and politics in Turkey by taking us on a journey through Turkish political history from the end of the Ottoman era to the reign of the AKP. He meticulously elucidates the transformations of the people during one hundred years of republican politics and gauges the ramifications of the populist turn in Turkey’s political trajectories. The book situates Turkey’s experience with populism in broader literatures by showing its unique aspects as well as commonalities with other cases all around the world. No one has shown us the continuities and changes in Turkish populism from this perspective before – Bahar Baser, Associate Professor in Middle East Politics, Durham University

This is an impressive volume, one that documents that while much has changed in Turkey over the past century, the country has come “full circle” (p. 218) with respect to democratization and state-society relations. Although it covers some well-trodden ground, it weaves together a consistent and powerful narrative on how discourse regarding “the people” has been systematically used and abused by politicians that is fundamental to understand the limitations of Turkey’s democratic development … there is no doubt this is a rich work and an impressive piece of scholarship, one that deserves and will acquire a wide readership among those interested in Turkey’s political development. – Paul Kubicek, Turkish Studies

Spyros Sofos’s book, Turkish Politics and ‘The People’: Mass Mobilisation and Populism, emerges as a compelling interdisciplinary work historicizing populism in modern Turkey. While earlier works traced populism in Turkey back to the early years of the republic focusing on the infamous center-periphery cleavage, Sofos goes beyond this cleavage to explain how populism actually emerged in the country. In this regard, Sofos’s meticulous examination of the uses and constructions of “the people” from the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 until the present serves as a pivotal framework for understanding the dynamics of populism within Turkish politics. – Selin Bengi Gumrukcu, Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association

Spyros Sofos’ Turkish Politics and ‘the People’ – Mass Mobilization and Populism is the first comprehensive account in English language problematizing the lack of historical depth in studies on the nexus between populism and Turkish politics. In Sofos’ account, the reader can see the deep-rooted historical and intellectual factors facilitating the extraordinary centrality of populist ideas and practices in Turkish politics in a time frame stretching from the end of the Ottoman Empire to contemporary Turkey under the AKP rule. … Turkish Politics and ‘the People’ is a very exceptional scholarly enterprise illustrating the historical links between intellectual realms and practical politics that facilitated the extraordinary importance of populism in Turkey, especially throughout the republican period. – Toygar Sinan Baykan, Populism

Sofos’s emphasis on the distinction between “the people” and “the nation” and its impact on Turkish politics and society is a welcome addition to the discussion and is recommended to students of Turkish politics and nation-building in general.– H. Shambayati, CHOICE