No. Political action and community service are different. Political groups with different political outlooks, worldviews and goals, work for their distinction, separateness and superiority over others.

They work self-righteously for positions in a political environment, to be seen and elected. Their separateness and superiority should not be confused with service-networks, which operate altruistically to offer what is lacking in a society, and in which people or groups efface themselves and work without being named or acknowledged. The intention is not to be seen or elected. Quite the contrary, people contribute anonymously.

Compared to political action, the type of community service and the various orientations of the Gülen Movement involve the high degree of flexibility of a very adaptable organizational form and the elasticity of interpersonal relationships. This lets the networks simultaneously fulfill self-reflective functions and produce cultural codes. It enables an easy shift or ‘bridging’ from one function over to another. This collective identity structure with adaptable networks and self-reflective resources supports public mobilization and provides the energy for projects. That in turn feeds the networks with new participants, trains new skills and redefines issues and the public space. It is one of the reasons why the Gülen Movement has been acknowledged transnationally.

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