Ibrahim Kuran | Istanbul Medeniyet University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ibrahim Kuran

Politik Ekonomik Kuram, 2024

This article aims to analyze the relevance of dependency theory and modern world-systems analysis... more This article aims to analyze the relevance of dependency theory and modern world-systems analysis in understanding the contemporary dynamics of global capitalism. Instead of discussing their epistemological validity, this study suggests tackling the dependency and world-systems approaches as analytical tools to explore recent political and economic developments. It assesses the applicability of these approaches through cases studies of primitive accumulation, unequal exchanges and financial subordination. The study initially examines the primitive accumulation in peripheral countries through extractive industries controlled by multinational corporations and the commodification and privatization of natural resources. Secondly, it analyzes the continuous transfer of surplus value from the periphery to the core through unequal exchanges in international trade. These exchanges stem from wage and resource price disparities between core and peripheral countries, perpetuating hierarchical trade relations and fostering uneven development. Thirdly, the study discusses the process of financial subordination, which entails debt-credit relations leading to perpetual debt traps for structurally fragile peripheral countries. It is shown that the global currency hierarchy and the volatility of capital flows exacerbate the vulnerability and peripheralization of developing and emerging economies. The analysis of these three cases confirms that the dependency and world-systems approach still offer valuable insights for interpreting contemporary dynamics in global capitalism.

New Perspectives on Turkey, 2024

Although there are numerous studies showing the significance of clientelism in the electoral mobi... more Although there are numerous studies showing the significance of clientelism in the electoral mobilization of the poor in Turkey, scant attention has been paid on the specific clientelistic strategies employed by the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) among the Kurdish population in İstanbul. Addressing this gap, this study focuses on the AKP's clientelist politics among Kurdish voters in Bagcılar, a lower-income district on the European side of İstanbul. Drawing on fieldwork, this study argues that the AKP successfully mobilizes Kurdish voters through machine politics and relational clientelism, which are facilitated by co-ethnic brokerage and intermediary linkages. By analyzing different modalities of Kurdish brokers-Kurdish (male) entrepreneurs, Kurdish housewives and Kurdish associationsthe study discloses the intricate dynamics of the AKP's clientelist-machine politics at the local level. It reveals that the AKP's co-ethnic brokers not only distribute material benefits but also cultivate enduring personal relationships with Kurdish voters, providing problem-solving networks for the Kurdish poor in everyday life. The AKP's co-ethnic brokerage relations foster trust, care, solidarity, and affectivity among Kurds. The study concludes that the AKP employs both material and symbolic dimensions of clientelism to mobilize the Kurdish electorate in İstanbul.

A Quest for Justice: Theoretical Insights, Challenges, and Pathways Forward, 2023

This study investigates various discourses and articulations of contesting actors/groups on unive... more This study investigates various discourses and articulations of contesting actors/groups on universal basic income (UBI). Specifically, it aims to compare and contrast the capitalist/regressive and anti-capitalist/progressive basic income modalities by addressing the techno-capitalist, libertarian/neoliberal, social democratic and socialist interpretations of UBI.

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi, Jun 20, 2023

This review article aims to investigate gender-based violence in wartime and post-war Bosnia.Whil... more This review article aims to investigate gender-based violence in wartime and post-war Bosnia.While the existing literature exclusively focuses on the relationship between gender and nationalism,this article rather addresses the psychological and economic violence against women in Bosnia. Byadopting a continuum approach, this study uncovers how different forms of violence against womeninteract with each other from the conflict to the post-conflict contexts. Through a literature survey, thisstudy depicts how gender-based violence has been reproduced from past to present in the case ofBosnia. In discussing gender-based violence, it dwells upon the intersections between mass rapes,forced pregnancy and traumatization. As the main argument, this article contends that sexual violenceduring the war triggered the spiral of violence and further led to stigmatization and marginalization ofthese women in the post-war context. It is especially argued that the persistent public stigma is the most blatant manifestation of psychological violence against female rape victims. In addition, it is shown thatthe overlapping processes of conflict, patriarchy and neoliberalization have led to a series of economicinjustices, such as, in the form of the dispossession, poverty and exclusion of women in Bosnia. Thisarticle overall suggests establishing linkages between sexual, psychological and economic violenceagainst women during the conflict and post-conflict processes.

Bu yazıda, David Grabe'ın Borç: İlk 5000 Yıl kitabı değerlendirilmektedir. Graeber’ın temel amacı... more Bu yazıda, David Grabe'ın Borç: İlk 5000 Yıl kitabı değerlendirilmektedir. Graeber’ın temel amacının, doğal görünen iktisadi kategorilerin yapısökümünü yapmak olduğunu söyleyebiliriz. Bu kitapta, Graeber bir yandan borç ve kredi uygulamalarının iktisat tarihindeki yerini tayin ederken, öte yandan borç ve borçluluk kavramlarının tarihsel soykütüğünü çıkarmaktadır. İktisat tarihi, antropolojisi ve sosyolojisi ile ilgilenen öğrenciler için çığır açıcı bir eser olduğunu söylemek mümkündür.

Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

Despite the extensive literature addressing the intersection of religion and suicide, a comprehen... more Despite the extensive literature addressing the intersection of religion and suicide, a comprehensive global-level examination of the relationship between religious affiliation and suicide rates remains notably absent. Furthermore, there exists a scarcity of empirical research delving into the influence of Islam, Christianity, and their respective denominations on suicide rates. To bridge these critical gaps, this article endeavors to investigate the intricate connection between religious affiliation and suicide rates on a worldwide scale. In pursuit of this objective, we construct an encompassing dataset by leveraging resources from the Association of Religion Data Archives and the World Health Organization. Through this dataset, we explore the dynamic between religiously affiliated populations and suicide rates, subsequently introducing the homogenized religious affiliation index (HRAI). The HRAI serves as a crucial metric to gauge the impact of religious affiliation on suicide rates at the country level. Our findings show that, first, as the Islamic population increases, a corresponding decrease in suicide rates is observed. In contrast, an increase in the Christian population aligns with an elevation in suicide rates. In addition, the HRAI demonstrates a negative correlation with suicide rates. Moreover, it is found that Catholicism is notably more effective in reducing suicide rates than Protestantism.

Eskişehir Osmangazi University Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

This study examines the relationship between political attitudes and individuals’ life satisfacti... more This study examines the relationship between political attitudes and individuals’ life satisfaction. While there is a massive body of literature on the political economy of subjective well-being, no study has focused directly on political engagement (interest in politics) and political orientation (ideology). To fill this gap in the current literature, the present study investigates the impact of political engagement and orientation on individual life satisfaction through regression analysis (OLS and 2SLS methods) using the European Social Survey dataset. Our initial findings (as well as the results of the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test) point out the endogeneity problem for political orientation. In order to overcome the endogeneity problem, the instrumental variable estimation and the StockWatson test were conducted. Our results show that political engagement and orientation have a statistically significant influence on personal life satisfaction. Accordingly, as individuals' political engagement increases, life satisfaction decreases. In addition, life satisfaction increases as one moves from left to right on the political spectrum.

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2023

This review article aims to investigate gender-based violence in wartime and post-war Bosnia. Whi... more This review article aims to investigate gender-based violence in wartime and post-war Bosnia. While the existing literature exclusively focuses on the relationship between gender and nationalism, this article rather addresses the psychological and economic violence against women in Bosnia. By adopting a continuum approach, this study uncovers how different forms of violence against women interact with each other from the conflict to the post-conflict contexts. Through a literature survey, this study depicts how gender-based violence has been reproduced from past to present in the case of Bosnia. In discussing gender-based violence, it dwells upon the intersections between mass rapes, forced pregnancy and traumatization. As the main argument, this article contends that sexual violence during the war triggered the spiral of violence and further led to stigmatization and marginalization of these women in the post-war context. It is especially argued that the persistent public stigma is the most blatant manifestation of psychological violence against female rape victims. In addition, it is shown that the overlapping processes of conflict, patriarchy and neoliberalization have led to a series of economic injustices, such as, in the form of the dispossession, poverty and exclusion of women in Bosnia. This article overall suggests establishing linkages between sexual, psychological and economic violence against women during the conflict and post-conflict processes.

Journal of Medeniyet Politics, 2022

This article aims to analyze the relationship between the representations of banditry and everyda... more This article aims to analyze the relationship between the representations of banditry and everyday forms of resistance in the Ottoman-Turkish case. In order to frame the discussion of banditry and everyday resistance, Eric Hobsbawm's "noble bandit" and James Scott's "hidden transcripts" concepts are employed. This article first and foremost argues that the representations of banditry in folk tales and ballads imply the everyday resistance of the lower classes. In this context, folk tales and ballads on Ottoman-Turkish bandits will be discussed with regard to the everyday resistance of ordinary villagers. The close reading of the bandit tales and ballads shows that the while lower classes refrain from engaging an open confrontation they resort to disguised ways of rebellion. The anonymous character of the bandit tales and ballads is the most prominent feature of the clandestine resistance of lower classes. In addition, the mythical features such as heroism, invincibility and immortality attributed to the Turkish bandits in folk tales and ballads disclose how the lower classes honor their implicit resistance. The fact that the bandit narratives have more than one version and are reproduced through oral tradition indicate that the everyday resistance imprint the imaginations of ordinary people.

Journal of Medeniyet Politics, 2020

Universal basic income can be defined as a guaranteed income provided to all citizens without any... more Universal basic income can be defined as a guaranteed income provided to all citizens without any condition for at least bare minimum subsistence. Although the idea behind the universal basic income is very old, it has become very popular in recent years. In this article, the popular support of European citizens for a universal basic income propoosal will be examined mainly through the ESS (2016) dataset. Considering the fact that basic income and similar social policies are not constructed only by top-down interventions but also through bottom-up public pressure, the importance of this issue can be better understood. First, I investitagate the descriptive statistics and then I employ regression analysis in order to figure out the individual-level determinants of popular support for basic income. This article shows that the popular support for basic income in Europe is determined by the current welfare regime, age, gender, household income, unemployment, life and economy satisfaction, ideological position and religiosity parameters.

Bu yazıda, David Graeber'in Borç: İlk 5000 Yıl kitabı değerlendirilmektedir. Graeber’in temel ama... more Bu yazıda, David Graeber'in Borç: İlk 5000 Yıl kitabı değerlendirilmektedir. Graeber’in temel amacının, doğal görünen iktisadi kategorilerin yapısökümünü yapmak olduğu söylenebilir. Bu kitapta, Graeber bir yandan borç ve kredi uygulamalarının iktisat tarihindeki yerini tayin ederken, diğer yandan da borç ve borçluluk kavramlarının tarihsel-ahlaki temelde soykütüğünü çıkarır. İktisat tarihi, antropolojisi ve sosyolojisi ile ilgilenen öğrenciler için çığır açıcı bir eser olduğunu söylemek mümkündür.

Abstract: The paradigm of identity politics and the dual analysis of secularism and Islamism are ... more Abstract: The paradigm of identity politics and the dual analysis of secularism and Islamism are insufficient to contextualize the phenomenon of veiling in Turkey. The practice of veiling needs to be recontextualized considering the patterns of pragmatist consumerism and the influences of the neoliberal market environment on sociocultural milieus of the everyday life. This article attempts to explore the shifting and intermingling meanings of the veiling in its recent circumstances in Turkey. It is argued that the veiling is an indicator of lifestyle, social class and status; however, it also continues to be the discursive practice of Islamic faith.

The paradigm of identity politics and the dual anal ysis of secularism and Islamism are insuffici... more The paradigm of identity politics and the dual anal ysis of secularism and Islamism are insufficient to context ualize the phenomenon of veiling in Turkey. The practice of veiling needs to be recontextualized considering the patterns of pragmatist consumerism and the influences of the neoliberal market environment on sociocultural milieus of the everyday life. This article attempts to explore the shifting and intermingling meanings of the veiling in its recent circumstances in Turkey. It is argued that the veiling is an indicator of lifestyle, social class and status; however, it also continues to be the di scursive practice of Islamic faith.

Birikim, 2018

Son dönemde yaygınlık kazanan, neoklasik iktisat disiplininin reformasyonu çağrılarının (Rethinki... more Son dönemde yaygınlık kazanan, neoklasik iktisat disiplininin reformasyonu çağrılarının (Rethinking Economics grubunun deklarasyonu başta olmak üzere) eleştirel bir değerlendirmesi yapılmaktadır.

aurum - Istanbul Kemerburgaz Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2017

Bu makale, genellikle 16.yüzyılda başladığı iddia edilen ve Osmanlı İmparatorluk ömrünün neredeys... more Bu makale, genellikle 16.yüzyılda başladığı iddia edilen ve Osmanlı İmparatorluk ömrünün neredeyse yarısına tekabül eden "gerileme dönemi" söylemini sorunsallaştırmaktadır. Bu makalede, Osmanlı tarihini dönemselleştirme çabaları ile modernleşme teorisi ve İbn Halduncu perspektif arasındaki ilişkiler göz önüne alınarak gerileme paradigmasının yapısökümcü analizi yapılacak ve Osmanlı tarihyazımında alternatifler değerlendirilecektir.

A Contribution to Deconstructivist Analysis of the Ottoman Decline Paradigm

Abstract: This article problematizes the discourse on “the period of decline” of Ottoman Empire, which is generally claimed to be started at the 16th century and almost corresponds to half time of the Ottoman’s life cycle. Considering the relationships between the modernization theory, Ibn Khaldun’s perspective and the attempts of periodization of Ottoman history, this article strives for the deconstructivist analysis of the decline paradigm and explores alternative Ottoman historiographies.

Book Reviews by Ibrahim Kuran

Kitap İncelemesi: Andre Gunder Frank, Yeniden Doğu: Asya Çağında Küresel Ekomomi, 2010, 2018

Andre Gunder Frank, Yeniden Doğu: Asya Çağında Küresel Ekonomi ("ReOrient: Global Economy in the ... more Andre Gunder Frank, Yeniden Doğu: Asya Çağında Küresel Ekonomi ("ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age") başlıklı çalışmasında, onlarca yıldır tarihyazımında ve sosyal bilimlerde hâkim olan Avrupa-merkezci ("Eurocentric") paradigmaya karşı, "küresel tarih" perspektifi içerisinden bir eleştiri geliştirir. Frank, Avrupa deneyimine odaklanan beşeri ve sosyal bilimler geleneği karşısında, dünyanın tüm bölgelerine eş zamanlı olarak bakan yatay olarak bütünleştirilmiş bir tarih anlayışı geliştirmeyi önerir. Örneğin, hâkim iktisat tarihi perspektifleri, 15.yüzyıldan itibaren Avrupa'da ilksel sermaye birikimi, coğrafi keşifler vb. süreçler üzerinden kapitalizmin yükselişine odaklanırken, aynı dönemde dünyanın diğer bölgelerinde yaşanan iktisadi gelişmeleri ihmal ederler. Buna karşı, Frank, tarihsel merceğini "bölgesel" ölçekten "küresel" ölçeğe kaydırarak, "yatay olarak bütünleştirilmiş bir makrotarih" anlatısı inşa etmenin gereğini savunur (Denemark 2009, 236). Zira Frank'a göre, en azından 16.yüzyıla ve hatta 18.yüzyıla kadar, özellikle ticari ağların yoğunluğu, ticaret akışı ve hacmi göz önüne alındığında, Avrupa ülkeleri yerine (Doğu) Asya ülkeleri dünyanın ekonomik merkez üssü konumundadır.

Bilimevi İktisat , 2018

Borç, kapitalist ekonominin -en önemli- kurucu unsurlarından biri; borcun arkasında ise bir şidde... more Borç, kapitalist ekonominin -en önemli- kurucu unsurlarından biri; borcun arkasında ise bir şiddet tarihi gizli. Bu yazıda, Graeber'in borç kitabının kısa bir değerlendirmesini yapmaya çalıştım.

Politik Ekonomik Kuram, 2024

New Perspectives on Turkey, 2024

A Quest for Justice: Theoretical Insights, Challenges, and Pathways Forward, 2023

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi, Jun 20, 2023

Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

Eskişehir Osmangazi University Journal of Social Sciences, 2023

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2023

Journal of Medeniyet Politics, 2022

Journal of Medeniyet Politics, 2020

Birikim, 2018

aurum - Istanbul Kemerburgaz Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2017

A Contribution to Deconstructivist Analysis of the Ottoman Decline Paradigm

Kitap İncelemesi: Andre Gunder Frank, Yeniden Doğu: Asya Çağında Küresel Ekomomi, 2010, 2018

Bilimevi İktisat , 2018

A Qest for Justice: Theoretical Insights, Challenges, and Pathways Forward, 2023

Diverse Perspectives and Issues on Inequality, 2023

This work strives to examine the transition from the deficit to the asset framing in the study of... more This work strives to examine the transition from the deficit to the asset framing in the study of ethnic migrants in contemporary Turkey. It aims to contribute to the literature on the nexus between ethnicity, migration and inequality. Originally derived from the discipline of psychology, the terminology of deficit- and asset-framing take new meanings in urban sociology. Basically, the deficit
frame refers to structural constraints, whereas the asset frame denotes agency, resilience, and resistance of urban migrants. In analyzing the case of African Americans in the US, Hunter and
Robinson (2016: 385) argue that the deficit frame corresponds to the socio-economic structures (or structural factors) that “negatively affect Black urban life” or “the cultural ‘deficits’” that disempower
and stigmatize “Black Americans” in urban space, while the asset frame corresponds to the “agency and cultural contributions of urban Black Americans,” including social movement, spacemaking,
everyday resistance and formal political action. The asset frame looks at “how Black Americans survive, challenge, and remake the circumstances structural changes cause, highlighting patterns of resiliency and persistence in spite of structure. This perspective assumes that resistance practices and strategies are a beneficial specialized knowledge that accrued to Black Americans (or other marginalized groups) over multiple generations” (Hunter and Robinson, 2016: 387). Drawing on Hunter and Robinson’s conceptualization of deficit and asset frames, this work compares and contrasts the previous studies dwelling on the deficit frame and recent studies emphasizing the asset dimension in analyzing urban Kurdish migrants in Turkey.

The Practice of Renaming Places in Turkey: Memory, Space, Identity, 2012

This study explores how the practice of renaming places in Turkey serves the discursive formation... more This study explores how the practice of renaming places in Turkey serves the discursive formation of the nation state and the national territorialization of space by creating the hegemonic spatio-temporal regime and by intervening into the collective memory. This is a brief attempt to rehistoricise the modernization experience in Turkey by reading through a particular governmentalization technique, i.e. the renaming of settlement and natural places. With the establishment of The Expert Commission on Name Changes under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior in 1957, the renaming practice was transformed into an entrenched bureaucratic project. This study, therefore, explores the formations, strategies and performances of the Expert Commission. It especially focuses on the renaming operations that were conducted by the Commission between 1957 and 1980. This study also inquires into the appropriation and contestation of the renaming policy from below. Based on a field work conducted in Diyarbakr and Batman, it uncovers the fragments of memory suppressed under the Turkified place names.

Yeni İnsan, 2020

Modernleşme olgusu, 19. Yüzyıldan itibaren, diğer bilim alanlarını olduğu gibi tarihçiliği de der... more Modernleşme olgusu, 19. Yüzyıldan itibaren, diğer bilim alanlarını olduğu gibi tarihçiliği de derinden etkiledi ve yeniden inşa etti. Yüzlerce yıllık bir tarihçilik geleneğine sahip bu topraklarda, modernleşme süreçlerine bağlı olarak belirginleşen ideolojilerin kendi değerler dünyası çerçevesinde icat ettikleri tarih düşünceleri, dönemin tarihçilerini doğrudan ya da dolaylı olarak biçimlendirdi.

Modern Türk tarihçiliğinin ivme kazandığı Osmanlı’nın son dönemlerinde başlayan, cumhuriyetin kurulmasıyla daha netlik kazanan süreç içerisinde tarihçiler, kaçınılmaz olarak ideolojilerin yan ürünleri olan tarih düşüncelerinden, tezlerinden ve de perspektiflerinden farklı şekilde etkilendi.

“Türk Tarih Tezi”, tarihçiler arasında Cumhuriyetin erken dönemlerinde kabul gördü. Yıllar içinde (ağırlıklı olarak 1940 ve 1950’lerde) bu teze karşı çıkarak sırasıyla, “Mavi Anadolucu Tarih Tezi”ni ya da “Muhafazakâr Anadolucu Tarih Tezi”ni benimseyenler oldu. Ağırlıklı olarak 1950-1970’lerde ise Marksizmin doğu halklarının tarihine ilişkin geliştirdiği “Asya Tipi Üretim Tarzı” tartışmalarına ilgi duyanlar çıktı. Aynı yıllarda bu kez siyasallaşmış Müslüman Türk milliyetçilerinin geliştirdiği Türk İslam Sentezi’nin bir söylemi olarak ortaya çıkan, “Türk Cihan Hâkimiyeti Mefkûresi” bazı tarihçilerce benimsendi. Bütün bu tez ve teorilerin Türk tarihçiliği için ne anlama geldiği ise neredeyse hiç konuşulmadı.

Bu kitapta, Türk Tarih Tezi’nden, teritoryal temelli tarih görüşüne, Marksist bir tarih yaklaşımı olarak Asya Tipi Üretim Tarzı’ndan, geri kalmışlığın ya da az gelişmişliğin tarihine, Türk-İslam Sentezi’nden Garbiyatçılık’a kadar pek çok tez ve teori ilk defa derinlemesine tartışmaya açılıyor.

This introductory course takes an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to delve into promine... more This introductory course takes an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to delve into prominent scholars, pivotal topics, overarching themes, and central agendas within the realm of social sciences. A particular emphasis is placed on the emergence, establishment, and institutionalization of modern social sciences. Moreover, the course scrutinizes significant transformations and paradigmatic shifts across all subfields of social sciences. This course has been designed for first-year undergraduate students enrolled in economics, management, political science, public administration, and international relations programs at IMU.

Bu seminer dersinde, bir yandan, kapitalist sistemin geçmişten günümüze evrimini, öte yandan, kap... more Bu seminer dersinde, bir yandan, kapitalist sistemin geçmişten günümüze evrimini, öte yandan, kapitalist ekonominin dinamiklerini ele alacağız. Bu ders, anaakım-neoklasik iktisat paradigmasının, Keynesçi ve Marksçı teorileri ile karşılaştırarak, eleştirel analizini yapmayı hedeflemektedir. Bunun yanı sıra, derste, iktisat disiplininin 1970ler sonrası geçirdiği neoliberal dönüşümünü analiz edilecektir. Son olarak, neoliberal iktisat politikaların son yıllardaki toplumsal tahribatına bakmaya çalışacağız.

In this seminar course, we will examine the evolution of the capitalist system from the past to t... more In this seminar course, we will examine the evolution of the capitalist system from the past to the present, on the one hand, the current dynamics of the capitalist economy, on the other hand. The course aims to critically analyze the mainstream-neoclassical economic paradigm, comparing it with Keynesian and Marxian theories. In addition, the course will address the neoliberal transformation of the economics discipline after the 1970s. Finally, the course will explore the social destruction of neoliberal economic policies in recent years.

PSP 111 - Introduction to Social Sciences Syllabus, 2021

By adopting an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective, this introductory course aims to exp... more By adopting an integrated and interdisciplinary perspective, this introductory course aims to explore key thinkers, issues, themes and agendas in social sciences. The course pays special attention to the rise, establishment and institutionalization of modern social sciences. In addition, this course focuses on the major transformations and paradigmatic shifts in all-related disciplines of social sciences. It is necessary to underline that this course is especially designed for the firstyear undergraduate students in economics, management, political science, public administration and international relations programs at Istanbul Medeniyet University.

İKT 333 - Politik Ekonomi Ders İzlencesi 2021-2022 Güz Dönemi, 2021

Bu seminer dersinde, bir yandan, bir sosyal bilimler disiplini olan politik-ekonominin doğuşunu v... more Bu seminer dersinde, bir yandan, bir sosyal bilimler disiplini olan politik-ekonominin doğuşunu ve değişimini, öte yandan, kapitalist sistemin geçmişten günümüze evrimini ele alacağız. Ders kapsamında, bilhassa, iktisat disiplininin 1970ler sonrasındaki neoliberal dönüşümünü analiz edeceğiz. Heterodoks temellere dayanan bu ders, disiplinin ana-akımını oluşturan neoklasik paradigmaya karşı, Keynesçi ve Marksçı teorileri de dikkate almaktadır. Son olarak, neoliberal iktisat politikaların son on yıllardaki toplumsal tahribatına bakmaya çalışacağız.

PSP 420 Political Economy Syllabus, 2021

Designed for the political science students, this course intends to introduce key concepts and th... more Designed for the political science students, this course intends to introduce key concepts and thinkers, critical processes, and major theories and methodologies in the interdisciplinary field of political economy. We will begin with the classical political economy tradition-Smith and Marxand continue to discuss various political economy schools-Polanyi, Keynes, Hayek, and Friedman. Some of the issues/subjects that we will address are the origins of capitalism, development and underdevelopment, imperialism, transition from Keynesianism to neoliberalism, interactions between states and markets, institutionalism and institutional change, various forms of capitalism and global inequalities.

This seminar course in political economy aims at analyzing different economic theories and tradit... more This seminar course in political economy aims at analyzing different economic theories and traditions. It also strives to scrutinize the rise and evolution of the contemporary capitalist system. It is widely recognized that the neoclassical school of thought with its diverse branches and modalities has dominated the discipline of economics in the last 50 years. This pattern can be attributed to the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism, which basically defends the superiority of free-market ideology vis-à-vis the decline of social protectionism, since the early 1970s. Against this background, we will seek, compare and contrast alternative political-economic explanations beyond mainstrem economic paradigms.

MA Thesis, 2010

This thesis explores how the practice of renaming places in Turkey serves the discursive formatio... more This thesis explores how the practice of renaming places in Turkey serves the discursive formation of the nation state and the national territorialization of space by creating the hegemonic spatio-temporal regime and by intervening into the collective memory. This is a brief attempt to rehistoricise the modernization experience in Turkey by reading through a particular governmentalization technique, i.e. the renaming of settlement and natural places. With the establishment of the Expert Commission on Name Changes under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior in 1957, the renaming practice was transformed into an entrenched bureaucratic project. This thesis explores the very formations, strategies, and performances of the Expert Commission. This study especially focuses on the renaming operations that were conducted by the Commission between 1957 and 1978. This thesis also inquires into the appropriation and contestation of the renaming policy “from below.” Based on a field work conducted in Diyarbakır and Batman, the study uncovers fragments of memory suppressed under the standardized-Turkified place names. By utilizing the tools of ethnography, the unwritten and negated histories of the replaced Kurdish and Armenian place names are explored.