Ugur U. Üngör
Winner Dissertation Prize 2010
Dissertation
Young Turk Social Engineering. Mass Violence and the Nation State in Eastern Turkey, 1913-1950
Supervisors: Prof. dr J.Th.M. Houwink ten Cate, Prof. dr M.J. Wintle
Nomination: University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Humanities
Report by the selection committee
This book is an excellent example of a social-historical investigation with a cultural-anthropological and socio-geographical character. The subject is the ‘Turkization’ of a large area in eastern Turkey. It is a thrilling and horrifying story told with a well-balanced mixture of distance and involvement. The modernization of Turkey – with its nationalism and deliberate nation-building – goes hand in hand with forced migrations and genocide. The study has a broad scope, based on extensive source material and interviews and impresses by the description of the tragic downfall of great families.
