Bilge YABANCI

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

I am a Global Marie Curie fellow at Northwestern University (USA) and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. My research is interdisciplinary and connects theoretical and conceptual borders of political science, sociology, and political psychology. Specifically, I am interested in social movements and civil society under autocratization, populism, and the role of affect and performance in political mobilization. I have expertise in site-intensive interpretive research methods that spans over a decade and across 7 countries.

In my current project, I investigate alternative communicative strategies that reframe migrants and refugees as ‘deserving’ and ‘rights-bearing agents’. Aiming to go beyond descriptive approaches that dominate social sciences in general, in my project I combine fieldwork, network analysis, surveys and online randomized experiments to predict how social change for more inclusive societies can be initiated. This research aims to offer policy-relevant alternatives to change racialized attitudes of various ideological, socio-economic, and psychographic groups as well as non-citizens (migrants and refugees).

Previously, I was a Swedish Institute post-doctoral fellow and an Open Society Fellow (human rights cohort).

EDUCATION
 
Ph.D. in Politics     10/2009 - 02/2014                                                                                  
University of Bath                                                                                
Bath, United Kingdom
Ph.D. Thesis: “Legitimation of EU Conflict Resolution through Local Actors: Cases of Kosovo and North Cyprus”

Master of Science in European Affairs       09/2007 - 06/2009                                                                 
Lund University
Lund, Sweden  
MSc Thesis: “Assessing the Impact of the European Union in Kosovo Conflict Resolution: Building States and Societies upon Tabula Rasa?”

Bachelor of Science in International Relations (Hons.)    09/2001 - 06/2006                                                           
Middle East Technical University (METU)
Ankara, Turkey                        
 
Minor Degree in Corporate Finance/Business Administration    09/2004 - 06/2007
Middle East Technical University (METU)
Ankara, Turkey 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT

2022-2024 Designing Resonant Frames:  How to Effectively Communicate about the Rights & Inclusion of Immigrants and Refugees?

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship (grant agreement signed, to be started)             
Northwestern University, USA & Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Project’s webpage: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101023843

RESEARCH GRANTS AND AWARDS

2019-2021 To Craft an Authoritarian Regime: Politicization of Civil Society and the Judiciary in Turkey 

Marie Curie European Fellowship
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Project’s Webpage: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/213984/factsheet/en

2020 Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Overseas Mobility Grant for Tokyo University, Japan (deferred due to COVID 19)     

2017 - 2019 Closing Civic Space in Turkey     
Open Society Fellow (non-resident fellowship)
Open Society Foundations, New York, USA

2017 - 2018 Building Authoritarianism from Below       
Postdoctoral researcher
Stockholm University, Institute for Turkish Studies, Sweden
Funded by Swedish Institute

2009-2014 University Research Fellowship for overseas Ph.D. students, U. of Bath

2007-2009 Scholarship for MSc, Swedish Institute & Consulate General of Sweden.

2006 Graduation with High Honor award, M. East Technical U., Turkey

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

2016 Visiting Researcher      
Institute of International Affairs (IAI)
Rome, Italy
Project title: FEUTURE - The future of EU-Turkey relations                
Funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020
Project’s Webpage: http://feuture.eu
 
2015-2017 Analyst/Deputy Editor      
Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey
London, UK
 
2015-2016 Visiting Research Fellow      
Centre for Southeast European Studies (CSEES)
University of Graz, Austria
 
2014 Research Fellow    
Luxembourg Institute of European and Intl. Studies
Luxembourg
 
2010-2013 Graduate Teaching Assistant      
University of Bath
Dept. of Politics, Languages and Intl. Studies (PoLIS)
Bath, United Kingdom
 
2011-2012 Master Programme Assistant    
University of Bath
Dept. of Politics, Languages and Intl. Studies (PoLIS)
Bath, United Kingdom
 
2008-2009 Project Researcher       
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Flensburg, Germany
Project Title: Representation of Minorities in the Executive, 1990-2008
I created a dataset and a codebook on the population, political representation, and social and economic information on ethnic minorities in the post-Soviet region. The dataset covers the years 1990-2008 and 26 countries from Central and Eastern Europe, former Yugoslavia, and the USSR, and Central Asia.

INVITED LECTURES & TALKS

• Roundtable "Transnational anti-genderism: how the attacks on “gender-ideology” affect different(ly) regions of the world", organized by the University of Coimbra Centre for Social Studies, Research Group on Sexualities, 22 September 2022.
• "Building Authoritarianism from Below: The role of youth and diaspora organizations in Turkey", Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionales (IBEI), 13 September 2022.
• Roundtable "Gezi Park a decade later: how Turkish civil society has changed?", organized by Loughborough University, 21 June 2022.
• Autocratization from Below: Government-Oriented Youth Organizations and Crafting Acceptable Citizenry in Turkey, Workshop on the Politics of Family and Youth in Contemporary Turkey organized by Leipzig University, 17-18 June 2022.
• Europe in a Changing World, 13th Dahrendorf Conference, Dahrendorf Conference, St. Antony’s Oxford University, UK, 28-30 April 2022.
• Roundtable ‘ 21st-century authoritarianism: Resilience, innovation, reconsolidation’, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy, 24 March 2022.
• Reversing the Tide of Autocratization? Civic Opposition and Democratic Resilience in an Electoral Autocracy, University of Cyprus workshop ‘Debating Regime Transformation in Turkey’, 6 November 2021.
• Politicized and Polarized Civil Society: Government-Oriented NGOs and New Contentious Activism in Turkey, University of Naples L'Orientale, Italy, 25 May 202
• Entanglements of Populism, Democratic Breakdown and Sacralization of Politics in Turkey, TOMidEast Summer School, University of Torino, Italy, 5 July 2021.
• Emerging Powers, Falling Stars: Brazil and Turkey in the 21st Century, Blickwechsel Contemporary Turkey Studies, 25 June 2020.
• At the intersection of nationalism and Islam: Justice and Development Party and Religious Reconfiguration of Populist Politics in Turkey, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, 22-24 August 2019.
• Politicized and Divided: Government-oriented Civil Society and New Contentious Activism in Turkey, Open Society Foundations, USA, 9 May 2019.
• AKP’s Diaspora Engagement and Government-Organized Civil Society, University of Graz, Austria, 8 April 2019.
• Turkey’s Tamed Civil Society, University of Graz, Austria. 22 January 2018.
• Strengthening the EU-Turkey Energy Dialogue: Common Goals and Challenges, Center for the Study of Democracy, Ankara, 26 April 2017.
• Turkey’s Turmoil and the West’s Turmoil: How should Europe and the US approach post-coup Turkey? University of Oxford, SEESOX, 6 December 2016.
• Three Facets of Rising Populism: Cases from Turkey, Europe, and the United States, Sabanci University, Istanbul Policy Centre (IPC), 7 June 2016.
• Constructing Islam from within and without: Discourses on European vs. other Islam in the Balkans, University of Graz, Austria, 4 December 2015

PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS 

• Politicization of Civil Society under Autocratic Pressure: Repression, Co-optation, and Contestation, Conference 'Civil Society and Democratic Backsliding organized by Society and Legal Research Foundation (TOHAV) and Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law (CISRUL), Aberdeen University, 23-24 May 2022.
• Democratic Opposition Strategies under Autocratization: Grassroots Mobilization and Coalition-Making in Turkey, Italian Political Science Association, Turin, 9-11 September 2021
• Breaking and Bridging the ‘us/them’ Divide: New Forms of Civic Mobilization under Authoritarian Pressure, The Eleventh Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland, 14-16 August 2019.
• New Forms of Civic Mobilization under Authoritarian Pressure: Women’s activism and dissident Islamist-conservative civil society in Turkey, Italian Political Science Association, Turin, 6-8 September 2018.
• Performing ‘New Turkey’: Sacralised Politics and Authoritarian Governance, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Hamburg, 22-25 August 2018.
• Building Authoritarianism from below: Strategic Repression and Co-optation of Civil Society in Turkey, 2017 Keyman Turkish Studies Conference ‘Law and Politics in Turkey’, Buffett Institute for Global Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States. 26-26 October 2017.
• Continuity and Change: Conservatism, Illiberal Governance and Reinvention of Populist Politics in Turkey under the AKP Rule, University of Graz, Austria, 12 January 2016.
• Nationalism, Statebuilding and Political Dissatisfaction: Lëvizja Vetëvendosje’s Populism and anti-Establishment Politics in Kosovo, Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Zagreb, 30-31 October 2014.
• EU Conflict Resolution in crisis between international norms and local perceptions?’ UACES 42nd Annual Conference, Passau, Germany, 3-5 September 2012.
• ‘Reluctant’ ‘Minorities’: Kosovo Serbs and Turkish Cypriots between EU Norms and Titular State Policies’, Assessing the Accession, 2012 Research Symposium, Tartu, Estonia, 14-15 June 2012.
• The EU and Secessionist Claims: Cases of Kosovo and TRNC, the European Union in International Affairs III, Brussels, Belgium, 3-5 May 2012.
• EU Conflict Resolution in Kosovo: Seeking Legitimacy on the Ground, UACES 41st Annual Conference, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 5-7 September 2011.
• EU Conflict Resolution: Lack of Legitimacy, Lack of Authority?, UACES Student Forum 12th Annual Conference, Surrey, United Kingdom,  30 July- 1 June 2011.
• Seeking (International) Legitimation: Beyond Authority and Power in the EU’s Foreign Policy (co-authored with Richard Whitman), ARENA Workshop, Oslo, Norway, 7-8 October 2010.

OPINION PIECES & CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC DEBATE

2021: Populism at the Intersections of Religion and Nationalism, Istanbul Political Research Institute, https://en.istanpol.org/post/populism-at-the-intersection-of-religion-and-nationalism
2020: Politics on Women under Populism and Autocratization, Istanbul Political Research Institute. https://www.istanpol.org/post/politics-on-women-under-populism-and-autocratization ; Authoritarian Populism. Medyascope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn0L8fM2Gs ; Populism, Authoritarianism and Women. Medyascope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S8MKiSyTes ; Cultural Hegemony and the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Medyascope. 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wep7Xzeb6I8
2019: Youth Groups Cultivating Religious Nationalism. Turkey Book Talk. https://turkeybooktalk.podbean.com; Youth Organizations in the Building of Authoritarian Regimes. Medyascope; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXYzpA3ldm0
2018: Women of ‘New’ Turkey: Sacralised mothers and everyday feminists. 2018. Open Democracy; Political Violence, Civic Space and Human Rights Defence in the Era of Populism and Authoritarianism. Open Democracy.
2017: Turkey is getting more authoritarian. Here’s why funding nongovernmental organizations won’t help democracy. Washington Post Monkey Cage.
2016: What Could and Should the EU Do with Turkey? Open Democracy.

TEACHING
 
2021-2022 Qualitative Research Methodology
2011/3 Introduction to European Studies & Europe since 1945.      
2012 Qualitative Research Methods & Academic Writing.

ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
2021 Panel co-organizer, Oppositions in Hybrid Regimes, Italian Pol. Sci. Assoc.

2020 Workshop co-organizer, Unpacking the Opposition in Undemocratic Regimes (online).

2019 Panel Organizer, New Forms of Civic Mobilization under Authoritarian Pressure, 11th Nordic Conference on M. Eastern Stud., Helsinki.

2018 Panel Co-Organizer, Transcending the Secular-Religious Dichotomy: The AKP and the Blurred Edges of Politics and Religion in Turkey, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Hamburg.

2017 Co-organizer Consortium for European Symposia on Turkey Annual Conference, Stockholm.

2015 Organizer of international workshop Populist Parties in Europe, Luxembourg Inst. for Intl. Aff.

2014 Co-organizer of 2 conferences on 2014 European elections and far-right parties, Luxembourg Inst. for Intl. Aff. & European Commission

REVIEWING ACTIVITY
 
2015 – 2021    Democratization; Comparative Politics; Party Politics; Government & Opposition; South European Society & Politics; Politics, Religion & Identity; Ethnopolitics; Southeast European and Black Sea Studies; Religion, State & Society; Turkish Studies; European Societies; Women’s Studies International Forum; European J. of Turkish S.; J. of Contemporary Asia; Constellations; Politics & Gender; Problems of Post-Communism; Ethnicity & Nationalism, Intl. Social Sci. J.; Middle East Critique.

RESEARCH TRAINING

• Categorical Data Analysis, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, USA, 2021.
• Maximum Likelihood Estimation I & II, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, USA, 2021.
• R Statistical Computing Environment, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, USA, 23 June-31 July 2020.
• Statistics and Data Analysis I & II, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, USA, 22 June-14 August 2020.
• Regression Analysis II: Linear Models, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, USA, 21 July-14 August 2020.
• Math for Social Scientists, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, Jun 23 - Jul 10 2020.
• Matrix Algebra, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, 21-31 July 2020.
• Process Tracing in Qualitative and Mixed Methods, intensive workshop, ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative methods of Social Science Research, University of Michigan, 27-29 May 2020.
• Multiple Regression Analysis, Centre for Multilevel Modelling, University of Bristol, March 2012.

RESEARCH-RELEVANT SKILLS