Osmanlı Toplum Yapısına Yeniden Bakış: Hikmet Kıvılcımlı’nın Tarih Tezi ve Asya Tipi Üretim Tarzı Üzerine Teorik Bir İnceleme

The Turkish socialist movement has viewed the analysis of the Ottoman social structure as an important area of study to understand the social transformation processes of history and to build socialist thought on this reality. In this context, issues such as property relations, control of the means of production, and the formation of social classes have been central to the socialist analysis of Ottoman society. In the 1960s, debates around the "Asiatic Mode of Production (AMP)" and "feudalism" were at the core of efforts to understand the class dynamics of Ottoman society. While AMP was often used to explain the economic and social structure of the Ottoman Empire, Dr. Hikmet Kıvılcımlı's History Thesis offered a different framework. Kıvılcımlı proposed examining Ottoman society not by imposing the fixed molds of historical materialism, but through its own internal dynamics and historical continuity. His History Thesis argues that the structure of Ottoman society was neither fully feudal nor entirely aligned with AMP. Kıvılcımlı highlighted the development of productive forces, the formation of property relations, and the unique character of class struggles within this structure. This unique perspective has been seen not only as a historical examination but also as an effort to strengthen the theoretical foundations of the Turkish socialist movement.