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Books by Volkan Aytar

While ethnic neighborhoods are usually associated with poverty, crime and social problems, they h... more While ethnic neighborhoods are usually associated with poverty, crime and social problems, they have also emerged as places of leisure and consumption, providing opportunities for numerous entrepreneurs and employees. Local and national governments and other regulatory actors, as well as the media, have started to see and promote these neighborhoods as urban attractions for tourists, city dwellers and others. This book aims to analyze the roles of ethnic entrepreneurs and their associations and governments, and - by extension - of consumers and other actors in the rise of ethnic neighborhoods as places of leisure and consumption. Through case studies, it situates those neighborhoods at the edge of different theoretical debates about urban political economy and the politics of culture, and seeks a dynamic synergy between both.

Democratic Oversight of the Security Sector: Turkey and the World

This book is the first in a “Series in Security Sector Studies” initiated by DCAF (Geneva Centre ... more This book is the first in a “Series in Security Sector Studies” initiated by DCAF (Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces) and TESEV (Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation), and represents a humble effort towards building up the Turkish contribution to the international literature on the field. Chapters and Case Studies by: Volkan Aytar, Willem F. Van Eekelen, Philipp Fluri, Alain Faupin, Ümit Cizre and others

Civil Society and Security Sector Oversight: Boundaries and Opportunities

Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited v... more Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited volume brings together chapters and case-studies of best -and worst- practices of civil society's oversight on the security sector in Turkey and other countries. Chapters and Case Studies by: Volkan Aytar, Yılmaz Ensaroğlu, Hakan Ataman, Özlem Dalkıran, Feray Salman, Tim Parrit, Özlem Ülker, Başak Er, Sezen Yalçın, Nora Bengisun, Aytekin Yılmaz, Şanar Yurdatapan, KESK, Dİlaver Demirağ, Özgül Erdemli Mutlu

Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited v... more Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited volume brings together chapters and case-studies of best -and worst- practices of media's oversight on the security sector in Turkey and other countries.
Chapters and Case Studies by: Volkan Aytar, Ayşe Çavdar, Yasemin İnceoğlu, Esra Arsan, Ragıp Duran, İsmail Saymaz; Can Naiboğlu, Nihan Paralı, Ferda Balancar; Alper Görmüş, Sezen Yalçın, İrfan Aktan, Koray Löker and Erol Önderoğlu

Published as part of "Istanbul's Cultural Inventory Project," book series which was commissioned ... more Published as part of "Istanbul's Cultural Inventory Project," book series which was commissioned and funded by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA), Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA, Istanbul), this edited volume brings together 20 original academic articles chapters ranging from those analyzing the history of entertainment and leisure in Istanbul in terms of continuties and break among the Byzantine, Ottoman and Republican forms, Ottoman gender-crossing dancers' and Roma musicians' important contributions, Republican entertainment and the elite forms since 1980s, dance initiatives, entertainment establishments such as "gazinos," Rock, Jazz, and "Ballad" Bars (Türkü Bar) and Electronic Dance Clubs, as well as some select neighborhoods (Cihangir, Asmalımescit and Galata). Other articles deal with particular groups of consumers ("White Turks", Islamic conservatives and others) as well as the music media, festivals and the construction of Istanbul as a neo-liberal and "cool" global city.
Chapters by:
Volkan Aytar, Kübra Parmaksızoğlu, Ş. Şehvar Beşiroğlu, Murat Meriç, Münir N. Beken, Zeynep Günsur Yüceil, Orhan Tekelioğlu, Merve Erol, Özgür Akgül, Nihal Bengisu Karaca, Nuray Mert, Haydar Ergülen, Ayça İnce, Ahmet Uhri, Ceren Mert, Eray Aytimur and Derya Özkan
(in Turkish, currently in the market for English-language translation)

Papers by Volkan Aytar

Following a brief overview of social and demographic change and urban transformation in Istanbul ... more Following a brief overview of social and demographic change and urban transformation in Istanbul and Turkey since 1980, this chapter analyses the process of social bifurcation and "ethnicization" of the "labourscape" in Istanbul's globalizing urban tourism and entertainment sector ...

Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010

The power of water In this article, the authors evaluate the growing importance of water and the ... more The power of water In this article, the authors evaluate the growing importance of water and the so-called "water wars" especially in light of the 5th World Water Forum organized in Istanbul, Turkey. For Turkey and its surrounding region, water has long been a source for geostrategic power, a maker and breaker of peace, as well as an important socio-economic developmental lever. The authors also concentrate on the ways in which water has recently become an arena for neoliberal economic policies and a way to further weaken public economies.

This PhD thesis attempts to make sense of Istanbul's leisure consumption and entertainment fr... more This PhD thesis attempts to make sense of Istanbul's leisure consumption and entertainment from within a historical sociological perspective simultaneously learning from Braudel's longue duree and from Rath & Kloosterman's "embeddedness" of actors & processes. From Byzantine carnivals, via Ottoman meyhâne as well as early Republican ballroom dances, up until 1970s gazino and pavyon and finally towards 2010s chic roof-top terraces with chillout-electronica in "Istanbul the Global City" or the "Cool Metropolis"; this book aims to connect the consumers to the producers and the cultural mediators to the governmental (as well as non-governmental) regulators of entertainment and leisure consumption. It also identifies the mechanisms of socio-cultural and ethnic diversity as among the main parameters of the workings of these various actors within highly complex processes.

Selling Ethnic Neighborhoods, 2012

Democratic Oversight of the Security Sector: Turkey and the World

Civil Society and Security Sector Oversight: Boundaries and Opportunities

Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited v... more Published as part of the European Commission-funded Security Sector Reform Project, this edited volume brings together chapters and case-studies of best -and worst- practices of media's oversight on the security sector in Turkey and other countries.
Chapters and Case Studies by: Volkan Aytar, Ayşe Çavdar, Yasemin İnceoğlu, Esra Arsan, Ragıp Duran, İsmail Saymaz; Can Naiboğlu, Nihan Paralı, Ferda Balancar; Alper Görmüş, Sezen Yalçın, İrfan Aktan, Koray Löker and Erol Önderoğlu

Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010

Selling Ethnic Neighborhoods, 2012

Tourism, Ethnic Diversity and the City, 2007

Toplumsal Tarih, Issue Number 312, December, 2019

An attempt at de-constructing multiculturalism into / within several fields: - The ethics and po... more An attempt at de-constructing multiculturalism into / within several fields:

- The ethics and politics of multiculturalism: A need for re-conceptualization or post-mortem examination?

- Multiculturalism and urban civility: A modern panacea for postmodern problems?

- The politics and poetics of immigrant art in multicultural civilities?

In line with Turkey’s macroeconomic policy direction change from import-substitution to market pr... more In line with Turkey’s macroeconomic policy direction change from import-substitution to market promotion since 1980s, Istanbul has been subject to various neoliberal waves of transformation. National Government and the Greater Municipality of Istanbul cooperating with the international institutions such as the World Bank, corporate and business groups and other actors, undertook major projects to transform the infrastructure and appearance of the city in order to make it more ‘attractive’ for a global audience, be them foreign investors or international tourists. Such major actors try to represent Istanbul both as a global city with skyscrapers, high-class amenities, entertainment centers, as well as a historical heritage city with local ‘exotic’ characteristics. This presentation will discuss the associated human costs and damage to the heritage which are overshadowed by the cold logic of this ‘double promotion’.

14:00 Opening and welcome by Fokke Gerritsen, director NIT 14:05 Introduction to the theme of t... more 14:00 Opening and welcome
by Fokke Gerritsen, director NIT

14:05 Introduction to the theme of the workshop
by Jan Rath (University of Amsterdam) and Volkan Aytar (Bahçeşehir University)

14:15 Tophane: Introduction to NIT research project
by Karin Schuitema (NIT)

14:20 Istanbul—Local Flavors and the Global City: ‘Get Two for the Price of One’
by Volkan Aytar (Bahçeşehir University)
In line with Turkey’s macroeconomic policy direction change from import-substitution to market promotion since 1980s, Istanbul has been subject to various neoliberal waves of transformation. National Government and the Greater Municipality of Istanbul cooperating with the international institutions such as the World Bank, corporate and business groups and other actors, undertook major projects to transform the infrastructure and appearance of the city in order to make it more ‘attractive’ for a global audience, be them foreign investors or international tourists. Such major actors try to represent Istanbul both as a global city with skyscrapers, high-class amenities, entertainment centers, as well as a historical heritage city with local ‘exotic’ characteristics. This presentation will discuss the associated human costs and damage to the heritage which are overshadowed by the cold logic of this ‘double promotion’.

14:40 From Street Trading to an Icon: the Silk Market in Beijing: A Critical Assessment
by Ching Lin Pang (Catholic University of Leuven)
In the paper we are retracing the rapid transformation of a street market into a iconic tourist spot in Beijing. First the larger canvas of the geopolitical development within the context of the rise of China is discussed: the annual double digit economic growth in the past two decades, the entrance of China to the WTO in 2001 and the organization of the Olympics in 2008 all have deep repercussions on this at first sight humble street market in terms of representation from above. Secondly the 'sociality' or the intricate webs of social relations in this market among the different actors are critically assessed in order to problematize and nuance the branding of a tourist icon from above.

15:00 Ethnic Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption: The Case of Chinatown on the Zeedijk (Amsterdam)
by Jan Rath (University of Amsterdam)
This presentation is about the establishment of ‘ethnic shopping malls’ or ‘commercial precincts’, such as Chinatown, the Balti Quarter or Klein Türkei, with their specific shop windows, street furniture, smellscapes, soundscapes etcetera. This development it is-at least partly-driven by commercial intentions and ties in with the emerging service economy and the role of cities as sites of consumption on the one hand, and the attempts by the local state and the private sector to revitalize run-down neighborhoods on the other hand. The commodification and marketing of diversity, i.e. the commercial use of the presence of the ethnic Others or their symbols in the urban streetscape, also touches upon all sorts heritage issues

15:20 Middle Class Remaking of Neighborhoods: Revitalization or Exclusion?
by Iris Hagemans (University of Amsterdam)
Concerns about working class residents who are displaced from gentrifying neighborhoods are increasingly contrasted with the assumed benefits for those who are able to remain in an 'upgrading' area. The remaking of the commercial and public spaces as well as social order according to middle class tastes and values is often considered an objective improvement, even though it is rarely viewed from the perspective of long-time, working class residents. Their views will be central in two case studies, comparing the experiences of working class residents who have been able to remain in gentrifying neighborhoods in Melbourne and Amsterdam.

15:40 Discussion with the public

16:00 Health break

16:20 Converting Heritage Sites via Culture: New Venues for Culture in Istanbul
by Ayca İnce (Bilgi University)
In addition to real-estate development and regeneration projects, heritage sites of Istanbul have gone under rapid transformation, leading to so called culture-led regeneration. Hosting international known events or festivals, commissioning the construction of museums or cultural centers to star architects are few of the well- known recipes. Istanbul has been applying all. Conversion projects are most common among them, as they are more visible and supported via new cultural polices. The role of new actors in the cultural field as well as the proliferation of issues around cultural policy and management will be demonstrated with examples such as santralistanbul, ayazaga cultural centre, feshane etc.

16:40 Islamic modernity replaces Kemalist modernity and Ottoman/Byzantine history: the case of Sulukule
by Semra Somersan (Istanbul Bilgi University)
Sulukule is the oldest and most continuous Roma settlement in this part of the world according to historians; a neighborhood along the historical Byzantine city walls where a group of Romans lived over the centuries, a significant number of whom had made a profession of playing, singing and dancing to the middle classes in Istanbul. Though largely peripheral to the life of the city within whose borders they lived and worked, and largely ignored if not discriminated against by the city dwellers, occasionally they ‘attracted the attention’ of the local politicians, the military and/or the municipalities. A ‘stigmatized territory’, at least for the last 70-80 years of its recent (known) history when it was considered to be in the city periphery, the ‘ghetto’ has now been reached by the center and is currently subject to the demolition/ ‘restoration’ project of the local Fatih municipality.

17:00 Landscapes of Heritage in Change: Conservation and Renewal in Tarlabaşı
by Özlem Ünsal (City University of London)
Tarlabaşı, an inner-city poverty zone and urban conservation site in central Istanbul, has been the subject of a much debated renewal project since 2006 and is currently exposed to large-scale demolitions on the given grounds. Discussions around the case of Tarlabaşı revolve mainly focus on two issues: the historical character of the neighborhood as represented in its built environment, and the living conditions of its socio-economically challenged residents. What does the renewal project choose to keep and erase in both material and immaterial terms? In doing so, how does the project make an impact both on the built environment and the demographic composition of the area, and finally, what sort of questions do these impacts raise with respect to the tangible and intangible historicity of Tarlabaşı?

17:20 Discussion with the public

18:00 Adjourn & Closing Cocktail

Live interview on my co-edited book, "Entertainment in Istanbul" on TRT Radio, 14 December 2011

Beğeni ve Ritmin Göçleri Paneli 28 Ekim Cuma 13.30-15.30 Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi, Beşiktaş ... more Beğeni ve Ritmin Göçleri Paneli
28 Ekim Cuma 13.30-15.30
Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi, Beşiktaş

Almanya ile Türkiye arasında yalnızca 1960’larda başlayan emek göçüne indirgenemeyecek ve aslında tarihi çok daha eskiye giden karşılıklı etkileşimler söz konusu. Bu irtibatları Osmanlı dönemine dek geri götürmek de mümkün. Panelimizde, bu karşılıklı etkileşimlerin kültürel ayağında yer alan, müzik, beğeni ve eğlence formlarının “göç” süreç ve pratiklerinin son dönemlerine göz atmaya çalışacağız. Bu yeni dönemde, iki toplum arasındaki karşılıklı geçişlerin yanı sıra, yalnızca iki taraflı işlemekle kalmayan, çok yönlü, ulus-aşırı ve küresel akışların da etkisiyle biçimlenen melez ve karma formlardan bahsetmemiz gerekiyor belki de… Panelde, bu çerçevede, beğeni ve ritimlerin nasıl “göç” ettiğini ve “göç” edilen her yerin ve “göç” eden her tür pratiğin nasıl yeniden biçimlendiğini anlamaya çalışacağız.

Moderatör ve Tartışmacı:
Volkan Aytar, Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi
Kültür, müzik, eğlencenin ulus-aşırı dolaşımı ve beğeniyle ritmin göçleri

Konuşmacılar:
Orhan Tekelioğlu, Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi
“Alamancı”dan “Almanyalı”ya, “Göçer”den “Melez” Beğeniye

Sedat Türüç, Müzisyen
“Müzik nereye, ben oraya”: Ulus-aşırı bir kültür profesyonelinin öyküsü

Martin Greve, Rotterdam Konservatuarı ve İstanbul Orient-Institut
“İki sene geçtikten sonra saymayı bırakıyorlar...”: Almanlar ve Türkiyeliler'de ritm

İmran Ayata, Siyasi İletişim Uzmanı
“Istanbul, My Melody” - Almanya rap'in ilk yılları

Murat Meriç Ankara Üniversitesi’nde Kimya Mühendisliği eğitimi alırken dinlediği müziğin geçmişin... more Murat Meriç Ankara Üniversitesi’nde Kimya Mühendisliği eğitimi alırken dinlediği müziğin geçmişine merak saldı. Arkadaşlarıyla Müzük adlı dergiyi çıkarttı, sonrasında Roll mürettebatına katıldı. Birikim, Mürekkep, Milliyet Sanat, Vizyon, Bant gibi dergilerde yazıları yayınlandı. Üniversitelerde seminerler verdi, yurt içinde ve yurt dışında düzenlenen gecelerde eski şarkılar dinletti. Hazırladığı ve sunduğu “Kırkbeşlik” adlı televizyon programı TRT’de yayımlandı. Kalan Müzik için bir Tülay German albümü (“Burçak Tarlası 64 – 87”, 2001) hazırladı, pek çok albüme yazar ve danışman olarak katkıda bulundu. Tarih Vakfı’nın 1999’da yayımladığı Cumhuriyet Modaları ve Cumhuriyet’in Sesleri adlı kitaplarda makaleleri kullanıldı. Pop Dedik: Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Batı Müziği (İletişim, 2006) adlı bir kitabı ve üzerinde çalıştığı projeleri var. Bir+Bir ve Express’te düzenli, Radikal’de düzensiz yazmakta, TRT-FM’de program hazırlamaktadır.

Interview on Neoliberal Transformation of Beyoglu and Entertainment Life during "Açık Dergi" (Ope... more Interview on Neoliberal Transformation of Beyoglu and Entertainment Life during "Açık Dergi" (Open Magazine) Program of "Açık Radyo" (Open Radio) 94.9 FM Istanbul

Leading up to “The Making Of Emek Cinema” workshop at SALT Beyoğlu Volkan Aytar will discuss İsta... more Leading up to “The Making Of Emek Cinema” workshop at SALT Beyoğlu Volkan Aytar will discuss İstanbul and Pera/Beyoğlu's entertainment/consumption culture and economy from a historical and sociological perspective.

Volkan Aytar received a BA in Political Science from Bilkent University, Ankara. As a Fulbright scholar, he earned a MA degree in Sociology and a Certificate in Global Studies from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. He was formerly an assistant editor for Political Handbook of the World (CSA Publications, New York) and an administrator and researcher at the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). He continued his PhD work at the University of Amsterdam and was a guest researcher at the German Max Planck Institute. Aytar’s urban sociology book Metropol was published in 2005 (L&M Publications). He co-edited İstanbul’da Eğlence [Entertainment in İstanbul] with Kübra Parmaksızoğlu (İstanbul Bilgi University Press, 2011), and his article “Caterers of the Consumed Metropolis: ‘Ethnicized’ Tourism and Entertainment Laborscapes in Istanbul” was published in Tourism, Ethnic Diversity and the City (Ed. Jan Rath, Routledge, 2007). His co-edited book with Jan Rath, Sellling Ethnic Neighborhoods: The Rise of Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption will be published in 2011 (Routledge, New York). Currently teaching in the Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Communication’s Department of New Media, Aytar is also an advisor for the European Media and Cultural Studies (EMCS) MA Program, established jointly with Bahçeşehir University, Potsdam University and Potsdam Technology University.

15 Ekim’de SALT Beyoğlu’nda gerçekleştirilecek “Yapım Aşaması: Emek Sineması” atölyesi öncesinde ... more 15 Ekim’de SALT Beyoğlu’nda gerçekleştirilecek “Yapım Aşaması: Emek Sineması” atölyesi öncesinde Volkan Aytar, tarihsel ve sosyolojik bir perspektiften İstanbul ve Pera/Beyoğlu'nun eğlence ve tüketim kültürüyle ekonomisi üzerine konuşacak..

Fulbright burslusu olarak gittiği New York Eyalet Üniversitesi’nden Sosyoloji alanında yüksek lisans derecesi ile Küresel Çalışmalar sertifikası aldı. New York’ta yayımlanan Political Handbook of the World adlı referans kitabının yardımcı editörlüğünü üstlendi, Türkiye Ekonomik ve Sosyal Etüdler Vakfı’nda (TESEV) program yöneticiliği yaptı. Amsterdam Üniversitesi’nde Sosyoloji alanında doktora çalışmalarını yürüttü ve Almanya’daki Max Planck Enstitüsü’nde misafir araştırmacı olarak bulundu. Metropol adlı kent sosyolojisi kitabı 2005’te (L&M Yayınları) ve Kübra Parmaksızoğlu ile birlikte derlediği İstanbul’da Eğlence adlı kitabı bu yıl içerisinde (İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları) yayımlandı. “Caterers of the Consumed Metropolis: ‘Ethnicized’ Tourism and Entertainment Laborscapes in Istanbul” adlı makalesi, Jan Rath tarafından derlenen Tourism, Ethnic Diversity and the City (Routledge, 2007) kitabında yer aldı. Editörlüğünü Rath ile birlikte yaptığı Sellling Ethnic Neighborhoods: The Rise of Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption adlı kitap Kasım 2011’de (Routledge, New York) yayımlanacak olan Aytar, hâlen Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Yeni Medya Bölümü’nde ders vermekte ve aynı fakültenin Potsdam Üniversitesi ve Potsdam Teknoloji Üniversitesi ile ortaklaşa yürüttüğü Avrupa Medya ve Kültür Çalışmaları Yüksek Lisans Programı’nda danışmanlık yapmaktadır.