PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group is inviting you to its virtual book launch event in which Dr Sevgi Adak will present her new bookAnti-Veiling Campaigns in Turkey: State, Society and Gender in the Early Republic published by I.B. Tauris and Bloomsbury.
The event will take place on Zoom on Monday, 6 June, between 17:00 – 19:00 BST.
The book will be discussed by Dr Nazanin Shahrokni, Assistant Professor of Gender and Globalisation, at the London School of Economics and Dr Gavin Brockett, Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of Arts, Wilfrid Laurier.
The event will be chaired by Professor Yaprak Gürsoy, European Institute, LSE.
The presentations will be followed by feedback from discussants and a Q&A session. Registration for the event can be made on Eventbrite.
About the Book
Adak’s new book adopts a historical approach to examining the context and formation of the meanings of veiling and unveiling during interwar Turkey. In this book, Adak reveals how the interwar period marks a moment that the way women’s dress turned into an issue of national mobilisation. She uncovers the complexities of the Kemalist modernisation project by presenting unpublished archival data and investigating how women responded to anti-veiling campaigns. The book shifts the focus from the high politics of the elite to the implementation of state policies and situates the anti-veiling campaigns as a space where the Kemalist reforms were negotiated, compromised and resisted by societal actors.
As PSA’s specialist group for Turkish Politics, we are hosting four panels on Turkish Politics at the 2022 PSA Annual Conference. Please find below the programme of our panels that focus on multiple and timely issues on Turkish politics. The conference is taking place both at the University of York and digitally. There is still time to register and join the discussion even if you are not presenting a paper.
PANEL 1 – State Formation, Identity and Emotions in Turkish Politics
Summary of Panel: A specific state identity, drawing on a specific vision of Turkish nationalism, was institutionalised at the foundation of the Turkish state. This process set a path that embedded certain emotions into Turkish politics and ensured that the Turkish state represented itself, and understood itself, in a particular way. This panel examines how the process of state formation led to particular visions of the Turkish state, often relying on a sense of Otherness, and how deeply embedded emotions around Turkish political identity play out in politics today.
Chair: Matthew Whiting
PAPER 1 – State Formation and Civil War on the European Periphery 1917-1923: an essay on Turkish exceptionalism Bill Kissane PAPER 2 – Continuity in Change: Anxiety in Turkish Politics Through Sèvres and Lausanne Syndromes Erman Ermihan and İrem Karamık PAPER 3 – “Victorious Victims”: The Analysis of the Nationalist Poems Which Are Written by the Ordinary People Tuğçe Erçetin PAPER 4 – Ontological Security, Emotions, and the Turkish-Israeli Rapprochement Özlem Kayhan Pusane and Aslı Ilgıt PAPER 5 – Political Agency in Agonistic Contexts: Turkey and Politics of Disaster Senem Yıldırım Özdem
Summary of Panel: The importance of the “local” is often overlooked given the prominence of the central state to Turkish politics. This panel reasserts the importance of the local level by examining how local dynamics, local identities and local politics have been an important aspect of Turkish politics, both at the foundation of the state and today.
Chair: Matthew Whiting
PAPER 1 – ‘Hybridity by Design’: Between Liberal Norms and Illiberal Peace in Turkey Esra Dilek PAPER 2 – Can intervoter contact reduce support for electoral violence? A survey experiment from Turkey Buğra Güngör PAPER 3 – State-building and Borderlands: Control of the Turkish State on an Everyday Level Dilan Okçuoğlu
PANEL 3 – The State and Women’s Rights in Turkey
Photo by Beyza Kaplan
12 APRIL 2022, TUESDAY, 15:30-17:00 SLB106
Summary of Panel: The AKP has an ambivalent relationship with women’s rights and women’s political participation. After initially supporting women’s rights as part of the EU accession process, more recently the position of women has become increasingly precarious under the AKP. This was further compounded when Turkey withdrew from the ‘Istanbul Convention’ on combatting violence against women and domestic violence. Support from women has been an important component of the AKP’s populist strategy, while the AKP has generally promoted a traditional and conservative view of women’s position within society and encouraged a patriarchal vision of the family. This panel explores the AKP’s policies towards women throughout its time in power, its approach t women’s rights, and its framing of a traditional understanding of family through the state’s institutions.
Chair: Yaprak Gürsoy
PAPER 1 – “Strengthening the Family” through Education in Turkey Ayça Günaydın Kaymakçıoğlu PAPER 2 – From Liberalism to Conservatism: Turkey’s Women Policies after 2011 Çağlar Ezikoğlu PAPER 3 – The Puzzle of International Norm Transfer: Exploration of Women’s Rights in Turkey Sebahat Derin Atışkan PAPER 4 – “Uncooperation” for Women’s Rights: Turkey’s Withdrawal from Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention Tuğba Bayar PAPER 5 – How AKP Meets with Women: Politics of Party’s Women’s Branch Nur Sinem Kourou
PANEL 4 – Democracy, Autocratization and Party Politics in Turkey
AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE
13 APRIL 2022, WEDNESDAY, 9:30-11:00 SLB006
Summary of Panel: Turkey is a vital case for understanding the recent trend of autocratization and populism observable in some hybrid regimes. Over its 20 years in power, the AKP has become increasingly centred around its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Yet the longer the AKP and Erdoğan remain in power, the more it raises under-examined questions around how the party maintains its support and how manages challenges from opposition groups that threaten its dominance. This panel examines the populist strategies of the AKP, ongoing autocratization in Turkey, and government-opposition dynamics in this political landscape.
Chair: Yaprak Gürsoy
PAPER 1 – Politicization of Corruption in Turkey: Populists and their Rivals Seda Demiralp PAPER 2 – The news media as a conduit and target of “disinformation” in Turkey Natalie Martin PAPER 3 – What is in a Bridge? Developmentalist Economic Imaginaries and Partisanship Under Competitive Authoritarianism Aykut Öztürk PAPER 4 – Oppositional Unity in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes: A Comparison of Turkey and Hungary Pelin Ayan Musil
A new book from our member Sevgi Adak titled “Anti-Veiling Campaigns in Turkey State, Society and Gender in the Early Republic” has been published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Sevgi Adak’s new book adopts a historical approach to examine the context and the formation of the meanings of veiling and unveiling during interwar Turkey. In this book, Adak reveals how the interwar period marks a moment that the way women dress turned into an issue of national mobilisation. She uncovers the complexities of the Kemalist modernisation project by presenting unpublished archival data and investigating how women responded to anti-veiling campaigns.
According to Bloomsbury Publishing the book: “shifts the focus from the high politics of the elite to the implementation of state policies” and “situates the anti-veiling campaigns as a space where the Kemalist reforms were negotiated, compromised and resisted by societal actors”.
To read an extract of the book please click on this link.
The PSA’s Annual Conference 2022 will be held in partnership with University of York and Sage Publishing.
The conference theme this year, under the title “Politics from the Margins” is inviting a reflection on shifting centres of power in the global, regional, national and subnational political order.
Once again, this year the Turkish Politics Specialist Group will be organising four panels for the conference. Whilst the theme for the conference is ‘Politics from the Margins’, we are happy to receive quality abstracts on any aspect of Turkish politics, broadly defined.
The conference plans to combine both in-person presentations and digital presentations. Therefore, we welcome papers and panels which will be presented digitally as well as those which will be presented in-person (please state which format you would prefer in your abstract).
If you would like to be considered for inclusion in one of these panels, please email us a 200-word abstract by the 4th of October 2021 to the email addresses turkishpoliticspsa@gmail.com
Should you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) COMPASS project, hosted by the University of Kent in partnership with the University of Cambridge (UK), ADA University (Azerbaijan), Belarusian State University (Belarus), TNU (Tajikistan) and the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (Uzbekistan), has been shortlisted for the International Collaboration of the Year at the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2021.
The project has been recognised by the judge’s panel of THE Awards 2021 for its creative collaborations, imaginative communication of research results, and tremendous achievements in difficult circumstances of war, conflict, uprisings, Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project team helped its partners, both in the UK and the region, to nurture signature specialisms to become global hubs in resilience (Kent and Cambridge), migration (Belarus), connectivity (Azerbaijan), regional security (Uzbekistan) and cultural diplomacy (Tajikistan). The project has produced 9 monographs and edited volumes; 6 Special Issues; over 100 journal articles and policy briefs.
The THE Awards 2021 ceremony takes place on 25 November 2021.
PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group has hosted its first virtual book launch event in which Dr Ayse Güneş and Dr Çağlar Ezikoğlu presented their new books on Turkish politics. Now, their presentations are available to view online.
PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group is inviting you to its first virtual book launch event in which Dr Ayse Güneş and Dr Çağlar Ezikoğlu will present their timely books on Turkish Politics.
The event is on 30 June 2021, 14:00 – 15:45 BST, and will take place on Zoom.
The PSA 2021 Annual Conference is starting on Monday, in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast and SAGE Publishing. This years theme “Resilience, Expertise and Hope” focuses on our ability to “adapt and respond in the wake of fundamental disruption” and aims to create a better understanding of issues like the global economy, global ecosystems and the climate, public health, international security.
As the Turkish Politics Specialist Group we have organised multiple panels that dominantly focus on foreign policy, power-society relations, and the electoral dynamics of Turkey.
Here is the whole list of our panels:
MONday 29th March 09:30-11:00
Panel 120: The Changing Dynamics of Power and Society in Turkey Today
Chair: Matthew Whiting (University of Reading)
9:30 am – 9:45 am
Understanding the Moral Economy of State-Civil Society Relationships: Islam, Women’s NGOs and Rights-Based Advocacy in Turkey
Dr. Nazlı Kazanoğlu (Koç University) and Dr. Markus Ketola (Edinburgh University)
9:45 am – 10:00 am
Grassroots Familialism? Conservative Civil Society Organizations and the Politics of Family in Turkey Under AKP Rule
Dr. Sevgi Adak (Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations)
10:00 am – 10:15 am
Rescaling and Bordering: Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Turkey’s Kurdish Regions
Dr. Imren Borsuk Eroglu (EUME-EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST-MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE) and Mr. Diren Tas (Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich)
10:15 am – 10:30 am
Biopolitics of Security and National Security Vetting Practices in Turkey
Dr. Seckin Sertdemir Ozdemir (University of Turku)
10:30 am – 10:45 am
Refugee Evictions and the Spread of Refugee-Native Clashes: Evidence from Turkey
Dr. Kerim Can Kavakli (Bocconi University)
Monday 29th March 11:15-12:45
Panel 220: Turkey’s Foreign Policy
Chair: Yaprak Gürsoy (Aston University)
11:15 am – 11:30 am
Explaining China’s Influence in Turkey
Dr. Eyüp Ersoy (Ahi Evran University)
11:30 am – 11:45 am
Emotions and Foreign Policy Change: An Alternative Affective Account of Turkey-KRG Relations
Dr. Asli Ilgıt (Cukurova University) and Dr. Özlem Pusane (Isik University)
11:45 am – 12:00am
From De-Europeanization to Anti-Westernism: Turkish Foreign Policy in Flux
Prof. Alper Kaliber (Altinbas University)
12:00 pm – 12:15 pm
Leftist Migrant Workers and Political Activism: Turkish Workers’ Associations in Germany
Ms. Irem Yildirim (McGill University)
Monday 29th March 13:00-14:45
Panel 320: Populist Rule and Opposition in Turkey: Mobilization, Policies and Strategies
Chair: Ms. Tuğçe Erçetin (İstanbul Bilgi University) and Ms. Begüm Zorlu (City, University of London)
1:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Understanding the “we-ness” in Populism: From Leaders to Voters”
Ms. Tuğçe Erçetin (İstanbul Bilgi University)
1:15 pm – 1:30pm
The New Populism in Turkey: The Marriage of Islamism and Nationalism under AKP Rule
Dr. Çağlar Ezikoğlu(Çankırı Karatekin University)
1:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Populist Alliances: The Increasing Convergence of the Governments of Turkey and Venezuela
Ms. Begüm Zorlu (City, University of London)
1:45 pm – 2:00pm
Anti-Populism in Turkey: Its Roots and Current Embodiments
Dr. Toygar Sinan Baykan (Kırklareli University)
2:00 pm – 2:15 pm
Defeating Populists: The Case of 2019 Elections
Dr. Seda Demiralp (Isik University) and Dr. Evren Balta (Özyeğin University)
Monday 29th March 15:45-17:15
Panel 420: Turning COVID-19 into a Political Opportunity: Policy and Propaganda in Turkey
Chair: Prof. Rabia Karakaya Polat (Isik University)
3:45 pm – 4:00 pm
Foreign aid during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Turkey
Mr. Bugra Güngör(Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies)
4:00 pm – 4:15 pm
The AKP’s Anti-Westernism in Turkey’s Covid-19 Response
Dr. Çağlar Ezikoğlu(Çankırı Karatekin University)
4:15 pm – 4:30 pm
The Media Representation of Coronavirus as a Tool of Discredit and Praise: The Cases of Sözcü and Sabah
Dr. Begüm Burak (French Institute of Anatolian Studies)
4:30 pm – 4:45 pm
Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Turkey’s Public Bank Actions and Crisis Management
Dr. Ali Riza Gungen (York University)
4:45 pm– 5:00 pm
Repercussions of the Covid-19 on Turkish Politics
Dr. Jülide Karakoç (Altınbaş University) Dr. Duygu Ersoy (Altınbaş University), Dr. Tuba Turan(University of Essex)
Tuesday 30th March 11:15-12:45
Panel 620: Elections and Turkey’s Political Regime
Chairs: Dr. Natalie Martin (University of Nottingham) and Ms. Zeynep Özge Iğdır (Sabancı University)
11:15 am – 11:30am
Centre-Periphery Clash within the Context of Turkish Modernization: Sociological Phenomenon or Institutional Change
Mr. Fırat Efe (University of Wroclaw)
11:30 am – 11:45 am
Measuring Political Polarization in Turkey: Religion, Identity, and Space
Dr. Fırat Gündem (Dokuz Eylül University)
11:45 am – 12:00 pm
Politics of Electoral Reform in Turkey: Actors, Motivations, Success and Failure
Ms. Zeynep Özge Iğdır (Sabancı University)
12:00 pm – 12:15 pm
Twitter Usage and Electoral Success: The Case of 2019 Turkish Local Elections
Dr. Ugur Ozdemir (University of Edinburgh) and Mr. Berke Çaplı(University of Edinburgh)
12:15 pm – 12:30 pm
The securitisation of news in Turkey: Journalism as political opposition
Our member Begüm Burak has launched a Youtube channel on Ottoman-Turkish History through which she presents literature review and academic comments on Ottoman-Turkish History. She has commented to us that with this channel she aims to reach to young scholars studying Turkish politics in particular.
About Begüm Burak
Begüm Burak is an Istanbul-based independent researcher. In 2015, Ms. Burak got her PhD degree. The main areas of her academic interest include Turkish Politics, Civil-Military Relations in Turkey, Secularism Discussions in Turkey, Discourse Analysis Methodology, Media-Politics Relations and Political Culture.
Between 2010 and 2015, during her occupation as a research assistant, she got engaged in short-term academic activities in Italy, United Kingdom, Bosnia and Spain. In 2018, she became one of the founding members of http://ilkmade.com. She currently writes in her own blog in English and for some web sites besides writing columns regularly for two Turkish websites.
In this latest video Burak discusses the National Independence War and the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
You can follow Begüm on Twitter and see some of her academic work on Academia.
The German Politics, Greek Politics, French Politics, Italian Politics, Nordic Politics and Turkish Politics Specialist Groups of the PSA invite paper proposals for joint panels which seek to explore the first reactions to the economic and political challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic by governments across Europe. Papers discussing the EU response and implications for EU member states are also of interest to this call. We welcome single case studies, comparative papers, and theoretical explorations. The joint panels have the objective of bringing together different perspectives and to create a dialogue between the involved Specialist Groups.
The Covid-19 pandemic found Europe still recovering from a decade of crisis including the Eurozone crisis, the migration crisis and Brexit. Governments across Europe reacted in different ways to the pandemic, but they were all challenged on multiple fronts: public health and health systems, the lockdown of economic, social and cultural life, new on-line working patterns and on-line education, restriction of civil liberties, and closure of borders are just a few examples. This call is looking for papers discussing policies across Europe in response to the Covid-19 emergency and their implementation. What lessons can be learned about crisis management from the different national responses? What has been the role of experts and of evidence informed policymaking? How has the political landscape of different countries been affected by the new crisis? What future avenues for research has this universal crisis opened-up for political science?
Please address all enquiries and e-mail your paper proposal (paper title, 200-word max abstract, institutional affiliation and full contact details) to our Panel Convenors, Matthew Whiting (M.Whiting.1@bham.ac.uk) and Yaprak Gürsoy (y.gursoy@aston.ac.uk). until 28 September 2020.
We specifically encourage doctoral students and early career researchers to contribute to the joint panel.
Applicants will be notified whether they have been included in the joint panel proposals ahead of the final PSA deadline.
Full details of the conference can be found on the PSA website here
PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group 