Contesting Pluralism(s) challenges a widespread tendency to limit studies of Turkish – and Muslim – politics to 'Islamist vs. secularist' or 'Islam vs. democracy' debates. Instead, Nora Fisher-Onar's innovative argument centers on coalitions for and against pluralism. Retelling Turkey's story from the late Ottoman Empire to the present as a tale of pluralizing vs. anti-pluralist coalitions, this book offers an alternative explanation for major outcomes from elections and coup d'etats to revolutions. Here, cross-camp alliances pit those who are willing to coexist with 'Other(s)' against those who champion a unitary, national project in which everyone speaks, believes, looks, and loves as they do. Drawing on a rich array of primary and secondary data, Fisher-Onar introduces an analytical framework for capturing causal complexity in political contestation. This study rejects Orientalist exceptionalism, rereading the relationship between political religion, pluralism, and populism via a framework that travels across and beyond the Muslim-majority world.

‘‘Contesting Pluralism(s)’ fills a long-standing intellectual gap by offering a fresh and original approach that moves decisively beyond entrenched binaries. The book thus paves the way for future studies that analyze political change through shifting alignments among political actors across divergent ideological orientations.’

Banu Eligür Source: Perspectives on Politics

‘Fisher-Onar’s work is significant for its ambitious attempt to develop a long durée theoretical framework for Turkish politics. By reinterpreting Mardin’s center-periphery thesis as a dynamic contest between pluralizers and anti-pluralists, the book opens a critical space for rethinking the formation and dissolution of coalitions across different historical eras. At a time when the complexities of pluralism and anti-pluralism continue to shape Turkey’s political landscape, the study not only maps past alignments but also invites future scholarship to further refine and expand the analytical framework, encouraging continued debate on pluralist and anti-pluralist dynamics within and beyond Turkey.’

Özgenur Korlu Source: Turkish Studies

‘Contesting Pluralism(s) fills a long-standing intellectual gap by offering a fresh and original approach that moves decisively beyond entrenched binaries. The book thus paves the way for future studies that analyze political change through shifting alignments among political actors across divergent ideological orientations.’

Banu Eligür Source: Perspectives on Politics

'Nora Fisher-Onar’s Contesting Pluralism(s) is an ambitious and intellectually rigor- ous contribution to comparative politics and international studies. The book chal- lenges scholars to abandon the persistent binary of Islamism versus secularism—and by extension, the deeper civilizational logic that frames Muslim-majority societies as exceptional cases—in favor of a framework that illuminates how political change actually occurs: through shifting coalitions of pluralizing and anti-pluralist actors that cut across ideological camps. Written with considerable historical depth and theoretical sophistication, the book arrives at a moment when democratic backslid- ing is no longer a regional anomaly but a global pattern, making its analytical toolkit urgently relevant far beyond Turkey.'

Miranda Loli Source: International Studies Review

‘Contesting Pluralism(s) offers a new ‘key’ depicting Turkish democratic contestations and perhaps those of many other societies. Its dual-axis toolkit and historical scope unveil how coalitions emerge, split, and re-align, encompassing pluralism. For scholars of International Relations, political religion, and comparative politics, the book sets a rigorous benchmark, prompting readers to move past binary paradigms and trace the developing alliances that shape politics. Both conceptually and empirically, this contribution stands as a landmark reference for years to come.’

Aiman Urooj Source: Contemporary Review of the Middle East