[Bilimsel Haber] CfP: Political alliances and identity formation in contemporary Turkey - deadline Dec 15, 2009

[Gonul Pultar]

From: Daniella Kuzmanovic <daniella at hum.ku.dk>


CALL FOR PAPERS

EMERGING FAULT LINES AND NEW PUBLIC SPHERES - POLITICAL ALLIANCES AND
IDENTITY FORMATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY TURKEY

The emphasis on social, cultural and ideological cleavages has
characterized academic studies on political and public culture in Turkey
for decades. Not least, such studies have focused on what they describe
as the deep-seated conflict between 'secularist' and 'religious'
sections of Turkish society.  The rapidly changing political, social,
and cultural environment in Turkey, as well as changing international
environment within which Turkey is embedded, however, call (yet again)
for a reassessment of these research perspectives. 'Emerging fault lines
and New Public Spheres' therefore aims at bringing together scholars on
Turkey from various disciplines in order to explore and reflect upon
features of shifting political identities and emerging fault lines in
contemporary Turkey, as well as the various contexts in which they are
produced, not least in the media.

Among the key themes that could be addressed at the conference are: What
are the features of the emerging fault lines of the past decade, which
subject matters are defined as critical in public debates in Turkey,
what imagined social spaces and audiences do various actors address, and
how are the fault lines that divide Turkish society articulated? How
does the shift of the status of the AKP from opposition to party in
power (iktidar partisi) reshape the way in which various civic and
political actors define themselves and relate to this (now) pro-Islamic
political establishment? In what socio-cultural contexts in as well as
outside Turkey are these fault lines produced, and in turn define new
features of what is the public and what is the political? How do various
media and media actors in and outside Turkey including newspapers,
television, publishing houses and the internet contribute to shaping
these newly emerging fault lines?

We invite proposals for papers from scholars from various disciplines.
We are particularly interested in contributions which are based upon
qualitative, in-depth studies from Turkey dealing with some of the above
mentioned issues or related topics. We furthermore invite presenters to
assist in developing analytical and conceptual frameworks, which enables
us to grasp aspects of contemporary political identity formation in
Turkey.


The conference is hosted by the research unit 'The New Islamic Public
Sphere' at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. It takes place in
Copenhagen March 19 - 21, 2010. The host institution will cover
transport, accommodations and meals.

Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, and information about
disciplinary background and academic affiliation to the organizers
Daniella Kuzmanovic <daniella at hum.ku.dk>
and Heiko Henkel <heiko.henkel at anthro.ku.dk>

The deadline for submitting abstracts is December 15, 2009.


Dr. Daniella Kuzmanovic
Institute for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of
Copenhagen

Dr. Heiko Henkel
Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen