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ArticlePublication Metadata only When elites polarize over polarization: Framing the polarization debate in Turkey(Cambridge University Press, 2018-11) Aydin-Duzgit, S.; Paker, Evren Balta; International Relations; BALTA, EvrenThis article aims to explore the views of the Turkish elite on the state of polarization in Turkey. By identifying four political frames-namely, harmony, continuity/decline, conspiracy, and conflict-that selected Turkish political and civil society elites use in discussing the phenomenon of polarization in the country through their contributions to a workshop and in-depth qualitative interviews, the article finds that there is a considerable degree of polarization among the Turkish elite regarding their views on the presence of polarization in Turkey. Moreover, this overlaps with the divide between the government and the opposition in the country. An analysis of the justificatory arguments employed in constituting the aforementioned frames shows that, while those elites who deny the existence of polarization seek its absence in essentialist characteristics of society, in reductionist comparisons with history, or in internal/external enemies, those who acknowledge polarization's presence look for its roots in political and institutional factors and processes. The article highlights how, given the denial of polarization by the pro-government elite and the substantial gap between the two camps' justificatory narratives, the currently reported high rates of polarization in Turkey can, at best, be expected to remain as is in the near future, barring a radical change in political constellations.ReviewPublication Metadata only Aerial aftermaths: Wartime from above(Taylor & Francis, 2020-05-26) Ghosh, Samarjit; International Relations; GHOSH, SamarjıtN/AArticlePublication Metadata only From skill translation to devaluation: the de-qualification of migrants in Turkey(Cambridge University Press, 2016-05) Sert, Deniz Şenol; International Relations; SERT, DenizWithin the context of the transformation of Turkey from a country of emigration to an immigration and transit country, the migration scene is becoming more heterogeneous, with both the formal and informal labor markets being increasingly internationalized. This paper focuses on de-qualification, defined as migrants taking on jobs that do not match their skills, which is a neglected issue within the migration literature on Turkey with the potential for further research. Based on open-ended interviews and participant observation in İstanbul, the paper elaborates on the different instruments of de-qualification. De-qualification is considered here as an important element of precariousness in the labor market, with different mechanisms functioning simultaneously; namely, accreditation problems, a language disadvantage, lack of information, and identity-based discrimination.ArticlePublication Metadata only Stepping into the global: Turkish professionals, employment in transnational corporations, and aspiration to transnational forms of cultural capital(Sage, 2018-05) Erkmen, Tülay Deniz; International Relations; ERKMEN, Tülay DenizThis article explores the narratives of professionals from Turkey working in transnational corporations to contribute to discussions of new middle classes and global stratification focusing on emerging forms of cultural capital in the domain of the transnational business field. Analyzing respondents’ narratives about their careers, it argues that as these professionals try to differentiate themselves within the neoliberal market, transnational corporations structure the access to transnational forms of social and cultural capital, including a cosmopolitan self-narrative, and work as a means of institutionalizing distinction at the global level. As such, this article contributes to discussions on emerging cultural capitals as well as cosmopolitanism as cultural capital and emphasizes the transnationalization of class distinction strategies of the new middle classes in Turkey as it situates these strategies within a stratified neoliberal global market.ArticlePublication Metadata only From competitive to multidirectional memory: a literary tool for comparison(Taylor & Francis, 2018) Günay-Erkol, Çimen; Sert, Deniz Şenol; International Relations; Humanities and Social Sciences; ERKOL, Çimen Günay; SERT, DenizRecent research shows that Turkish society is very polarized and that different identities and ideological perspectives are in constant struggle with each other. In a multicultural society such as Turkey’s, the question of how to think about the relationship between different social groups’ histories of victimization becomes crucial. Following Michael Rothberg’s conceptualization of multi-directional memory – beyond competitive memory, this article presents an archive for comparative work through a data set of novels on the military coups in Turkey. The major argument here is that while these novels are promoting the idea of competitive memory as a zero-sum game, if it is looked at more closely, there are traces of multi-directionality, of ongoing negotiation, cross-referencing, and borrowing. Doing so, it is argued, would help to reframe justice in the society, where different victimizations are not competing with each other, but start to talk to each other. This article is an attempt to create a literary tool of comparison on different stories of victimization as a first step towards transitional justice in a polarized society.ArticlePublication Open Access Alienated imagination through a mega development project in Turkey: the case of the Osman Gazi Bridge(Cambridge University Press, 2022-05) Sert, Deniz Şenol; Kuruüzüm, U.; International Relations; SERT, DenizSince the rise of the ruling Justice and Development Party in the early 2000s, Turkey has invested in several mega transport and infrastructure projects for the purposes of economic transformation, growth, and development. This article explores the impact of a recently completed mega-project - the Osman Gazi Bridge - on material change and popular imagination about the future. It claims that, while the Bridge created a colossal material change that can be observed by everyone, it also animated an imagined post-industrial transition and inclusive development in the industrial town of Dilovasl. Although the dream of a better future serves as a medium for the industrial town's underprivileged inhabitants to connect and socialize, along with the current marginalizing conditions, it also has the potential to fuel future resistance, if imagination is unable to be transformed into reality.ArticlePublication Metadata only Dynamics of mobility-stasis in refugee journeys: Case of resettlement from Turkey to Canada(Oxford University Press, 2021-06) Yıldız, U.; Sert, Deniz Şenol; International Relations; SERT, DenizThe refugee Odyssey is often not a linear, straightforward movement from point A to point B, from sending country to receiving one. Rather, it involves multiple paths, gateways, entry and exit points, and territories en route to the country of resettlement. Crucially, the journey involves not only mobility but also immobility and/or periods of stasis—breaks that are, in many cases, a natural part of the journey. Alongside this diversity of paths and movements, the refugee experience—understood in terms of the practices and acts of refugees en route—is also far from homogeneous. Each journey may well have an episodic character, where the course, direction, and periods of waiting for one asylum traveller can differ significantly from those of previous and/or future travellers—even if the departure point and destination are the same. Within this context, this article examines the breaks or periods of stasis that punctuate the refugee Odyssey, which we call mobistasis. We base our empirical findings on research conducted with people en route to resettlement in Canada via Turkey where they initially seek asylum and await resettlement. Drawing on fieldwork in Turkey and Canada between April 2014 and October 2016 and semi-structured interviews conducted with asylum travellers from non-European countries, the article illustrates how Turkey as the country of asylum is more than a space of mere ‘transit’. It rather constitutes a space of mobistasis—stasis within movement—in the asylum voyage towards countries of resettlement.ArticlePublication Open Access Securitization of disinformation in NATO’s lexicon: A computational text analysis(Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research, İhsan Doğramacı Peace Foundation, 2022-07) Ünver, Hamid Akın; Kurnaz, A.; International Relations; ÜNVER, Hamid AkınFollowing the Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections, disinformation and fake news became popular terms to help generate domestic awareness against foreign information operations globally. Today, a large number of politicians, diplomats, and civil society leaders identify disinformation and fake news as primary problems in both domestic and foreign policy contexts. But how do security institutions define disinformation and fake news in foreign and security policies, and how do their securitization strategies change over years? Using computational methods, this article explores 238,452 tweets from official NATO and affiliated accounts, as well as more than 2,000 NATO texts, news statements, and publications since January 2014, presenting an unsupervised structural topic model (stm) analysis to investigate the main thematic and discursive contexts of these texts. The study finds that NATO’s threat discourse and securitization strategies are heavily influenced by the US’ political lexicon, and that the organization’s word choice changes based on their likelihood of mobilizing alliance resources and cohesion. In addition, the study suggests that the recent disinformation agenda is, in fact, a continuity of NATO’s long-standing Russiafocused securitization strategy and their attempt to mobilize the Baltic states and Poland in support of NATO’s mission.ArticlePublication Open Access The composition of descriptive representation(Cambridge University Press, 2023) Gerring, J.; Jerzak, C. T.; Öncel, Erzen; International Relations; YÜKLEYEN, Erzen ÖncelHow well do governments represent the societies they serve? A key aspect of this question concerns the extent to which leaders reflect the demographic features of the population they represent. To address this important issue in a systematic manner, we propose a unified approach for measuring descriptive representation. We apply this approach to newly collected data describing the ethnic, linguistic, religious, and gender identities of over fifty thousand leaders serving in 1,552 political bodies across 156 countries. Strikingly, no country represents social groups in rough proportion to their share of the population. To explain this shortfall, we focus on compositional factors - the size of political bodies as well as the number and relative size of social groups. We investigate these factors using a simple model based on random sampling and the original data described above. Our analyses demonstrate that roughly half of the variability in descriptive representation is attributable to compositional factors.ArticlePublication Open Access Collective discussion: Movement and carceral spatiality in the pandemic(Oxford University Press, 2023-07-04) Shindo, R.; Altan-Olcay, Ö.; Paker, Evren Balta; Van Houtum, H.; Van Uden, A.; Rajaram, P. K.; Coward, M.; Pellander, S.; Huysmans, J.; International Relations; BALTA, EvrenVarious measures of mobility restrictions were introduced since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This collective discussion examines them in relation to six different carceral techniques that govern movement: citizenship, nativism, colonialism, infrastructure, gender, and borders. We investigate how these spatializing techniques of carcerality have been modified and strengthened in the pandemic and their implications for how we conceptualize migration. Our conversation revolves around the relationality between movement and confinement to argue that they are not in opposition but work in tandem: Their meanings become interchangeable, and their relationship is reconfigured. In this collective discussion, we are interested in how to analyze movement/migration in ways that do not define the pandemic through temporal boundaries to mark its beginning and ending.