Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı | Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Univ. (original) (raw)

Book Reviews by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

Edited by Dane Kennedy, Reinterpreting Exploration: The West in the World sets out to provide rea... more Edited by Dane Kennedy, Reinterpreting Exploration: The West in the World sets out to provide readers with multifaceted narratives on exploration with a focus on a broad intellectual agenda. In the beginning, there was the word; however as well as the word, there was also the immediate urge to explore. The content of the concept of exploration has changed, and it has been reinterpreted over time, but, finding its place in almost all fields of life throughout the ages, exploration has maintained its dynamism and importance and has not ceased to alter the ways in which people perceive the world.

Güncel Avrupa Birliği (AB) gündemini, kendini farklı formlarda yeniden üretmiş ve üretmekte olan ... more Güncel Avrupa Birliği (AB) gündemini, kendini farklı formlarda yeniden üretmiş ve üretmekte olan ekonomik, politik ve sosyolojik bir takım krizler meşgul etmektedir. Pınar Gedikkaya Bal ve Rana İzci Connelly editörlüğünde özenle hazırlanmış olan Ekonomik Kriz ve AB başlıklı bu kitap, 2008 yılından günümüze ekonomik kriz ile mücadele etmekte olan AB ve üye ülkelerine, Popülizm ve Göç tartışmalarından, turizm endüstrisine kadar uzanan pek çok güncel ve önemli mevzu çerçevesinde odaklanmaktır. Ekonomik krizin etkileri hem AB genelinde hem de üye ülkeler özelinde siyasi bunalımlara yol açmış olup kitap, ele aldığı politika alanları açısından literatüre önemli bir katkı niteliğindedir. Kitap, AB kurumlarının, politikalarının ve AB'nin geleceğinin bu krizden hangi ana bağlamlarda ve nasıl etkilendiğini çeşitli bakış açılarıyla analiz etmeyi hedefleyip ekonomik krizin bütünleşme projesine yansımalarını farklı perspektiflerle ele alıp krize dair eklektik bir çerçeve sunmaktadır.

The increasing visibility of religion in Europe has rendered religiosity a controversial and deli... more The increasing visibility of religion in Europe has rendered religiosity a controversial and delicate issue, which should be analysed from different vantage points. This well-structured volume, aiming to explore institutional and non-institutional religious phenomena in Europe and their interactions and perennial constructions at European, national and local levels, offers a comprehensive literature on the possible complexities of religion. The interaction between politics and religion paves the way for stimulating studies, but it is equally challenging to achieve. By compiling cogently a wide range of strong arguments and observations in four parts, Foret and Itçaina in this volume accomplish the rigorous presentation of a discursively and methodologically strong framework for the politics of religion in Western Europe. The contributors offer multifaceted heuristic approaches supported by statistics to analyse the transformations of a wide range of religious issues, from voting preferences of Christian and Muslim electorates to religious discrimination. Within this broad scope, the first part of the book offers a nuanced reading of secularism and secularization through different theoretical lenses, while the following part sketches out European modernities on the axis of the EU and integration. The mosaic of religions in Europe – also considering the identity crisis the EU has been experiencing – is critically highlighted in the first two parts, which focus on the concept of religion within EU integration theory. Temporally contex-tualizing these issues, these chapters form the strongest part of the volume. Yet, a more in-depth analysis of the challenges posed by religious diversity and Turkey's candidature to the EU would have been more informative (pp. 14, 35). The book continues by discussing national levels of modernities in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Nordic countries and Luxembourg. This part analyses the subject by exemplifying alternative modernities with reference to Islam and Muslims in Europe. Excluding its theological dimension (pp. 9), shedding light on salient characteristics of religion and politics as well as providing the reader with multi-dimensional perspectives – ranging from Christian interest representation to multi-faith citizenship – are also among the strengths of this book. Current events and the increase in votes for right-wing parties across Europe once more show that religion can be instrumentalized negatively and that it therefore should be handled sensitively. Approaching the intertwined relation between religion and politics in order to 'develop a common tool box', the book addresses both academics and graduate students. Moreover, it contributes to the debates around the EU's current stance on the 'Christian Club' nomenclature. All in all, as academic works on the politics of religion in Europe and the EU are relatively scarce, this rich volume greatly contributes to the respective literature by presenting stimulating data and inspiring further analysis.

Book Chapters by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

The protracted Syrian crisis has had drastic worldwide repercussions. For the European Union (EU)... more The protracted Syrian crisis has had drastic worldwide repercussions. For the European Union (EU), the crisis is a multidimensional foreign policy issue with crucial implications given the imminent security challenges posed by violent non-state actors (VNSAs). Wherever the Syrian state has lost control, VNSAs like ISIS and YPG try to expand the territory under their control and sphere of influence, mainly aiming to change regional borders. This causes more suffering for Syrian people in the territorially disintegrated country and threatens both theirs and the EU’s security. This has forced the EU to reconsider its counterterrorism measures, particularly due to the threat of Islamic terrorist attacks in EU capitals. In order to investigate the EU’s actorness vis-à-vis its counterterrorism policy, this chapter analyzes the EU’s effectiveness in responding to rising threats from VNSAs (particularly ISIS). This analysis considers the frameworks the EU uses in dealing with VNSAs, whether it may contribute to building a new order in Syria in cooperation with other major powers and key regional countries, and how these patterns of relations may affect relations with Turkey, a candidate country to the EU and a neighbor of Syria. The chapter argues that the EU’s foreign policy especially regarding its priority of countering terrorism spreading out from the war in Syria demonstrates again that the EU’s actorness is highly contentious while its engagement with the developing world is often described as inconsistent.

In "The Politics of Translation in International Relations" by Capan, Zeynep Gulsah, dos Reis, Filipe, Grasten, Maj (Eds.), 2021

Drawing on the ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies, this chapter addresses the problem of equi... more Drawing on the ‘cultural turn’ in Translation Studies, this chapter addresses the problem of equivalence and symmetry in meaning. It problematises how the concept of anarchy was translated into ‘anarsṃi’ in the Turkish translation of Alexander Wendt’s seminal 1992 article ‘Anarchy Is What States Make of It’ and argues that the concept has a very particular meaning in the Turkish context which differs fundamentally from that intended by Wendt. The Turkish concept of anarchy was shaped amidst radical political changes in Turkey, in particular the coups d’etats in the 1970s and 1980s which resulted in the juxtaposition of anarchy with terror, and not merely the absence of rules. Theory-building in IR necessitates a more explicit focus on the translation of IR texts, which begins with problematising the idea of equivalence.

Articles by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

MIGRANTS AS FLOATING SIGNIFIERS IN AND THROUGH RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICAL STYLE: THE CASE OF THE AFD, 2021

This article focuses on how and in which ways migrants are taken into the right-wing populist age... more This article focuses on how and in which ways migrants are taken into the right-wing populist agendas, specifically analysing how migrants are represented in the right-populist style of Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Party. At a time when populism studies have increased gradually and attained maturity, the impact and contribution of the populist actors by means of their discourse and style on the representation of certain groups should not be neglected. In addition to this, the ways migrants have been represented by the populist actors can be ranked among the subjects which need to be investigated not only for Turkey which hosts millions of migrants and people with Turkish heritage living in Europe but also for the Turkey-European Union (EU) relations in the long-term. The relevant literature suggests that migrants are represented in Europe within negative frameworks rather than positive. This study is designed to ascertain the contributions of the right-wing populist parties to the existent discourses and representations, accordingly, analysed how and through which representation strategies migrants have been in the right-wing populist style. For this study, the AfD and its representation strategies concerning migrants have been chosen and the party campaign visuals of the AfD posted between 2013-2021 have been considered and the ones which are overtly related to the migrants have been focused on to reach the argument of the article with primary coding for an initial analysis. The key findings of the article suggest that negative representation of migrants has been sustained by the right-wing populist party AfD and the existent pejorative representations have been reinforced, moreover migrants have been constructed as floating signifiers in and through right-wing populist style with strategic usages.

Article , 2021

This paper studies how emotional expressions of enmity and their meanings conveyed by negative em... more This paper studies how emotional expressions of enmity and their meanings conveyed by negative emotions against migrants are used by right-wing populists to provide the emotional pattern that makes their potential electorates unite around them. It takes Germany and its Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as its case study and focuses on the AfD’s emotional expressions of enmity towards migrants/refugees -like labelling all of them as “terrorists” and “criminals”- in its party campaign visuals including catchy slogans along with disturbing visuals. The paper argues that these visuals are used to reinforce and complement the emotion norms of amity like solidarity and unity between “pure Germans” and the AfD as their claimed representative against the “others”. The analysis conducted here suggests that the AfD instrumentalizes migrants both in domestic politics as perpetrators of economic, societal, and security-related threats and in relations with non-EU countries as objects of fear and terror.

With the culture and identity-related events in Europe such as the Charlie Hebdo case, the need t... more With the culture and identity-related events in Europe such as the Charlie Hebdo case, the need to reconsider the situation of Turkish people in Europe and their Muslim identity has (re)emerged. As it has been long acknowledged, culture is a socially and historically constructed term, which has been shaped by a number of common components including a shared history, language, and religion. During the construction process of culture, certain factors play initial roles to construct and maintain a culture repertoire to be presented to the society. Itamar-Even Zohar terms this process of choosing what to be presented to the society as " making of a culture repertoire ". By referring to his theory, this paper aims to discuss the perception/identity of being Turkish in Europe as a part of the process of constructing a specific " culture repertoire ". Within this brief background, the movies directed by European directors such as Die Fremde by Feo Aladag and Takiye: Allah Yolunda by Ben Verbong; and the movies directed by Turkish directors, namely Kuma by Umut Dağ and Gegen die Wand by Fatih Akın dealing with Turkish migrants in Europe are interpreted. It is possible to argue that deliberate actions, choices, and bias play crucial roles in representing and narrating a specific culture to another cultural majority and shape the perception regarding the represented culture. Moreover, when the tragic events overlap with fiction, the " culture repertoire " presented to a target audience becomes reinforced through repeated narratives. Keywords Constructivism, Culture Repertoire, Turkish Migrants in Europe, Movies as Cultural goods and tools.

Türkiye – Almanya Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2017

Kökenleri yüz yıllar öncesine uzansa da popülizm kavramı çağdaş siyasette belirli aralıklarla nük... more Kökenleri yüz yıllar öncesine uzansa da popülizm kavramı çağdaş siyasette belirli aralıklarla nüksedip belirli aralıklarla arka planda kalmıştır. AB Parlamentosu başkanlık seçimleri gibi ulusüstü seçimlerden ulusal seçimlere pek çok seçimin gerçekleşmesi bakımından 2017 yılını, merakla beklenen seçimlerin yapıldığı ve popülizm kavramının yerli ya da yersiz sıkça gündeme geldiği bir yıl olarak nitelendirmek mümkün olmuştur. Sırasıyla, bu seçimleri önce Mart ayında yapılan Hollanda genel seçimleri, ardından Nisan ve Mayıs ayında yapılan Fransa Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimleri ve Eylül ayında gerçekleşen Almanya Federal Parlamento seçimleri oluşturmuştur. Hollanda'da Başbakan Mark Rutte'nin liderliğini yaptığı Halkların Özgürlük ve Demokrasi Partisi (VVD) seçimin kazananı olup İslam, göç ve AB karşıtlığı ile birlikte aşırı sağ popülist söylemleriyle dikkatleri çeken Geert Wilders'in Özgürlük Partisi'ni (PvV) geride bırakmış ve AB'nin bir nebze de olsa rahatlamasını sağlamıştır. Bununla birlikte, aşırı sağcı Ulusal Cephe (FN) Partisi lideri Marine Le Pen'in, merkez siyaseti ve liberalleri temsil eden Emmanuel Macron'a yenilmiş olması nispeten de olsa Avrupa için umut kaynağı olmuştur. Fakat, aşırı sağ ve dahası popülizm perspektifinden, bu seçimlerden farklı sayılabilecek 2017 Almanya Federal Parlamento (Bundestag) seçimleri, her ne kadar dördüncü kez CDU ve Merkel'in kazanmasıyla sonuçlansa da sağ popülizm kategorisinde nitelendirilen, Euro, İslam ve göçmen karşıtı olan Almanya için Alternatif

Avrupa Birliği (AB), temelleri yüzyıllar öncesine uzanan ve siyasi anlamda barışı sağlamak adına ... more Avrupa Birliği (AB), temelleri yüzyıllar öncesine uzanan ve siyasi anlamda barışı sağlamak adına ekonomik hedeflerle yola çıkan bir projedir. Kolay tanımlanamayan, sui generis yani nevi şahsına münhasır bir yapıdır. Kendisine atfedilen birtakım özellikler ile birlikte söylemleri ve politikaları göz önüne alındığında AB, literatürde hem normatif hem sivil hem de medenileştirici güç gibi çeşitli tanımlamalarla karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Zaman zaman ise, atfedilen bu sıfatlarla üstlendiği misyonları gerçekleştirme aşamasında başarısızlıklarıyla eleştirilmektedir. 2012 yılında verilen Nobel Barış Ödülü, Afrika'ya yaptığı ekonomik ve insani yardımlar ya da Arap Baharı'nda uyguladığı ambargolar gibi bazı durumlar düşünüldüğünde AB'yi sınırlı da olsa, normatif güç olarak değerlendirenler çoğunluktadır. Ancak ortaya çıkan yeni küresel krizler ve bölgesel sorunlar bu misyonların sorgulanmasını ve güncelliğine dair tartışmaları beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu durum yeni bir kavramsal tartışmayı da gerekli kılmaktadır. Bu çalışma ile AB'nin normatif gücü, güncel gelişmeler ışığında sorgulanacak ve tartışılacaktır. ABSTRACT Having its philosophical roots dating back to centuries ago, and setting out its journey with economy-related objectives, the European Union (EU) is a peace project in political terms. Difficult to define and categorize, the EU has a sui generis structure. When certain characteristics and discourses attributed to it is considered, the EU appears with various nomenclatures describing it as a normative, civilian or civilizing power. nomenclatures. Occasionally, the powers attributed to the EU might emerge as criticisms

As the social role and visibility of the religion in the public sphere has been increased since t... more As the social role and visibility of the religion in the public sphere has been increased since the late 1990s, the issues of multiculturalism and religious freedoms become more important. Debates on multiculturalism have further pushed the international actors as well as nation states to search for common standards. At this point, the European Union (EU) emerges as an important actor which tries to protect the freedom of religion within its borders as an intrinsic element of its " unity in diversity " motto. Nevertheless, it appears that EU has not been very successful to prevent problems originating from the implementation of the freedom of religion in its Member States. This area proves to be even more problematic in its relations with candidate countries. The study argues that unless problems stemming from the implementation of freedom of religion in Turkey-EU relations are being examined within the greater picture of multiculturalism debates, they will create further obstacles both for Turkey's EU candidacy and religious freedoms in European integration. Accordingly, the aim of this study is threefold: to problematize freedom of religion in the EU's multicultural fabric, to discuss the EU's attitude on this issue and to analyze how the freedom of religion appears in Turkey-EU relations.

Conference Presentations by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely l... more The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely limit to one particular kind of power. Accordingly, the discourses of the EU as a normative power, a civilian power, or a civilizing or democratizing power can all be attributed to the EU and, simultaneously, they can be all criticized on their own merits with specific examples. However, the EU has still been regarded as a normative power in many circles in terms of its acts to promote democracy despite the criticisms levied against it. Even considering its failures or ineffectiveness in global issues, the EU has been seen as a positive factor that can solve a wide range of problems, especially with regard to those related to democracy. Within this context, it can be argued that as a candidate country to
the EU, Turkey’s fluctuating democratization process, especially during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) period of control might be a relevant consideration. The AKP government had accomplished certain EU reforms quite willingly and successfully until 2007. However, the pace of the reforms declined drastically after 2007. By analyzing primary sources, the views of the veto players, and reform supporters, this paper aims to question the processes and reasons behind the “democratization pendulum” experienced in Turkey in the AKP period of control with a view to analyze Turkey’s candidacy to the EU.

Drafts by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely l... more The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely limit to one specific kind of power. Accordingly, the discourses of the EU as a normative power, civilian power or civilizing power can all be attributed to the EU and simultaneously they can be all criticized in their own merits. However, the EU has still been regarded as a normative power, despite the criticisms against it. In addition to its representation as a power or as a positive factor in holistic terms in a fallacious way, the EU is also honored with Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. Despite its failures or ineffectiveness in global issues, the EU is seen as a positive factor or as a deus ex machina that solves all the problems at once. It should be underlined that the EU is a power but not such a prominent one as it is claimed. The EU represents itself as a responsible neighbor; yet where this responsibility ends remains as an essential question. This paper claims that the EU's representation as such a powerful or normative entity laden with values accentuates the differences between the EU and the countries, which have relations with the EU as in the case of Egypt. The Union's relations with Egypt; its role and power – if there is any-in the process of Arab Uprisings can be taken as a case to show how the EU's representation as a deus ex machina is fallacious.

Books by Fatmanur Kaçar Aşcı

TÜRKİYE’S VISUAL REPRESENTATION IN RIGHT-WING POPULIST DISCOURSE, 2022

Analysis Chapter of the Book: TÜRKİYE’S VISUAL REPRESENTATION IN RIGHT-WING POPULIST DISCOURSE

EU/Turkey Relations in the Shadows of Crisis: A Break-Up or Revival?, 2021

In "The Politics of Translation in International Relations" by Capan, Zeynep Gulsah, dos Reis, Filipe, Grasten, Maj (Eds.), 2021

MIGRANTS AS FLOATING SIGNIFIERS IN AND THROUGH RIGHT-WING POPULIST POLITICAL STYLE: THE CASE OF THE AFD, 2021

Article , 2021

Türkiye – Almanya Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2017

The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely l... more The EU is a sui generis power in international relations that is difficult to specify or merely limit to one specific kind of power. Accordingly, the discourses of the EU as a normative power, civilian power or civilizing power can all be attributed to the EU and simultaneously they can be all criticized in their own merits. However, the EU has still been regarded as a normative power, despite the criticisms against it. In addition to its representation as a power or as a positive factor in holistic terms in a fallacious way, the EU is also honored with Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. Despite its failures or ineffectiveness in global issues, the EU is seen as a positive factor or as a deus ex machina that solves all the problems at once. It should be underlined that the EU is a power but not such a prominent one as it is claimed. The EU represents itself as a responsible neighbor; yet where this responsibility ends remains as an essential question. This paper claims that the EU's representation as such a powerful or normative entity laden with values accentuates the differences between the EU and the countries, which have relations with the EU as in the case of Egypt. The Union's relations with Egypt; its role and power – if there is any-in the process of Arab Uprisings can be taken as a case to show how the EU's representation as a deus ex machina is fallacious.

TÜRKİYE’S VISUAL REPRESENTATION IN RIGHT-WING POPULIST DISCOURSE, 2022

Analysis Chapter of the Book: TÜRKİYE’S VISUAL REPRESENTATION IN RIGHT-WING POPULIST DISCOURSE

EU/Turkey Relations in the Shadows of Crisis: A Break-Up or Revival?, 2021