Beyond the Colonial Lens: A Critical Assessment of Orientalism, Colonialism and Imperialism in the 19th-Century Ottoman Arab Provinces

Abstract

The exploitation of the non-western world by western powers was a multidimensional process that established political, economic, and, crucially, epistemic dependence. Through the ‘civilizing mission’ and Orientalist discourse, the West legitimized its colonial order by framing the ‘other’ as inherently backward. While post-colonial studies have provided robust frameworks to critique these power dynamics since the 1970s—influencing disciplines from historical sociology to anthropology—their application to the 19th-century Ottoman Middle East (especially Ottoman Arab provinces) requires careful nuance. This article evaluates whether 19th-century Ottoman modernization and centralization can be accurately categorized as ‘Ottoman Colonialism’ or ‘Ottoman Orientalism’. Analyzing the critical perspectives of Thomas Kühn and Ussama Makdisi, the study advises against conflating Ottoman administrative discourses with western colonial paradigms based solely on superficial similarities. Unlike the rigid, ethno-centric, and legal 'fixity’ inherent in western imperialism, the Ottoman ‘civilized-bedouin’ (medeni-bedevi) dichotomy stems from pre-modern traditional categories. Ottoman ruling elites deployed an identical discursive framework in their efforts to implement the sedentariness of Turkish and Kurdish tribes throughout Anatolia. The research concludes that Ottoman elites utilized these existing distinctions to facilitate centralization rather than to impose the absolute segregation characteristic of colonial hegemony.