How rigid were sectarian boundaries in the early modern Middle East? In this talk, Ayse Baltacıoglu-Brammer presents Boundaries of Belonging, a new study that reconsiders the Sunni–Shiʿi divide by focusing on the everyday practices of Ottoman governance during the long sixteenth century. Drawing on Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and European sources, the book explores a central paradox of the Ottoman Empire: a state that articulated uncompromising ideological discourses while simultaneously pursuing pragmatic and flexible policies on the ground.
Ayse Baltacıoglu-Brammer is an Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern History at New York University. Her research examines the entangled histories of the Middle East and its empires, with a focus on sectarianism, cross-border mobility, diplomacy, and the politics of belonging. Paying close attention to non-elite actors, her work highlights how imperial policies and communal boundaries were negotiated on the ground.
Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies, co-sponsored by the Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair of Modern Armenian History at UCLA