Özyeğin Üniversitesi, Çekmeköy Kampüsü Nişantepe Mahallesi Orman Sokak 34794 Çekmeköy İstanbul

Telefon : +90 (216) 564 90 00

Fax : +90 (216) 564 99 99

info@ozyegin.edu.tr

02.04.2024 - 02.04.2024

Discussing Normative Conceptions On Democracy: The Case of Kırklareli

Özyeğin Üniversitesi
Orman Sk
Nişantepe Mahallesi, Çekmeköy, İstanbul 34794

 

The Department of International Relations cordially invites you to a discussion on conceptions of democracy with Dr. Cana Tülüş Türk.

Join us for a talk on the article "Discussing Normative Conceptions On Democracy: The Case of Kırklareli". Democracy has been in constant decline all over the world. However, people’s support for democracy remains stable or is even increasing. This paradox urges us to inquire how the global retreat of democracy manifests at the individual level. In this dissertation, Dr. Tülüş seeks to understand the comprehension, commitment, and expectations/aspirations of the people active in politics toward democracy. Using the short-term ethnography method, Dr. Tülüş ask how they conceptualize democracy, their narratives, practices, subjective evaluations of these practices, and expectations. To do so, Dr. Tülüş conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with people active in different political parties who live in the Merkez district of Kırklareli, Türkiye. The findings indicate that even if their support for democracy in the Przeworskian sense is hopeful, those self-proclaimed democrats do not internalize democracy and further possess a hypocritical and authoritarian understanding of it. Since politically active people’s judgments are indicators of the quality of democracy, a distorted understanding poses a threat to democracy itself. 

Dr. Cana Tülüş Türk

Cana Tülüş Türk has been working at Istanbul Policy Center as Research and Administrative Affairs Senior Specialist since January 2012. She completed her Ph.D. in Political Science at Istanbul Bilgi University in 2023 with her thesis titled "Discussing Normative Conceptions on Democracy: The Case of Kırklareli" at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of Political Science. She is a part-time lecturer at Okan and Medipol Universities and teaches comparative politics and contemporary issues in EU politics. Previously, she worked as a Projects Assistant and Assistant Projects Specialist at Tohum Autism Foundation. She received her MA in European Studies from Sabancı University and her BA in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a short-term intern at Cumhuriyet Newspaper, NTV and the Turkish Parliament.

Her research focuses on political theory, comparative politics, Turkish politics, European integration, populism and civil society in Turkey. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Turkey Europe Foundation, a member of the Women in Foreign Policy, an alumnus of the "Turkey Europe Future Forum," and Global Diplomacy Lab, United Europe and Robert Bosch Foundation program. She is the author of the literary blog Beğenmeyen Okumasın and a mentor at Boğaziçi University Alumni Association (BUMED), Young Women in Foreign Policy and Sabancı Foundation.

The event will take place at AB2 345 on the 2nd of April at 12:00.