Compelling Pluralism: Personal Religiosity in Izmir Beyond Post-Secularism

Berger’s concept of pluralism describes an era that favors experimentation and experiences, as pluralism is not only ‘enabling’ but more importantly ‘compelling’ individuals to keep choosing among diverse secular and religious discourses. This concept is strengthened on the personal level by Berger’s ‘pluralism in the mind’, and Taylor’s ‘paradigmatically Jamesian era,’ capturing universal shifts while allowing the incorporation of local contexts. Therefore, the narratives about personal religiosity in the private sphere, employed in this paper, shift from decline to experimentation, authenticity, and constant meaning-making within the context of Türkiye’s religious-political landscape. The diverse personal practices, gathered through twelve interviews, show the transformation of an Alevi group’s attitudes toward religions in Izmir, the third largest city in Türkiye. Based on these cases, the paper proposes a four-tiered framework of engagement with various religious and secular discourses: identity, experimentation, connection, and awareness.