Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogues for Global Peacebuilding and Stability
Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have be... more Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have been experiencing or on how refugee identities have been unilaterally transformed during their interaction with the host culture. Drawing on the literature on identity and politics of recognition, this chapter argues that intercultural encounters transform the identities, values, and norms of both host communities and refugees. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with non-camp Syrian refugees and local citizens in the cities of Mersin and Adana to uncover the interactions of refugees and the host society, focusing on intercultural encounters at diverse settings, including classrooms, schools, campuses, hospitals, and neighborhoods. The chapter reveals that recognition of diverse cultures, respect, empathy, and social support influence intercultural interactions in a positive way. It also shows that reflexivity and the willingness to interact on the part of both refugees and...
This paper analyzes the lack of progress and the breakdown of the Doha Round talks in world trade... more This paper analyzes the lack of progress and the breakdown of the Doha Round talks in world trade since 2001 from a neo-Gramscian perspective. The failure to conclude multilateral trade negotiations reflect an emerging new architecture of power politics in the world political-economic order. Major economic powers, including the United States (US), the European Union (EU), Japan and Canada as well as leading transnational companies used to have a significant impact on guiding the agenda of the multilateral trade negotiations as well as defining the outcomes. However, in the context of the WTO, emerging powers such as India, Brazil, and China and several non-governmental organizations critical of neoliberal globalization began to confront the former groups' dominance. Developing and developed countries have contending views on the agenda issues, marked by confrontation on the former's insistence for the liberalization of agricultural markets by industrialized states and the latter's pressure for the liberalization of non-agricultural markets. Both sides employ certain strategies and discourses to coerce or to persuade the opposing parties. Hence, the paper argues that the multilateral trade negotiations emerge as zones of exercising hegemony rather than being an area to produce common norms, values and policies for the well-being of all members in the world trade regime.
Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have be... more Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have been experiencing or on how refugee identities have been unilaterally transformed during their interaction with the host culture. Drawing on the literature on identity and politics of recognition, this chapter argues that intercultural encounters transform the identities, values, and norms of both host communities and refugees. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with non-camp Syrian refugees and local citizens in the cities of Mersin and Adana to uncover the interactions of refugees and the host society, focusing on intercultural encounters at diverse settings, including classrooms, schools, campuses, hospitals, and neighborhoods. The chapter reveals that recognition of diverse cultures, respect, empathy, and social support influence intercultural interactions in a positive way. It also shows that reflexivity and the willingness to interact on the part of both refugees and the host culture facilitate interactions and negotiations between them.
This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated "e... more This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated "economic growth" and "competitiveness" discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a function of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish political economy since the 1980s. Based on an engagement between the neo-Gramscian approach and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper shows how the nuclear project in Turkey is historically situated and discursively constructed. Analysing the Parliamentary Records and statements of state officials, the paper has highlighted how the AKP exercises power through hegemonic discourses in terms of the legitimisation of the nuclear energy in Turkey.
This paper explores the privatization of state owned enterprises in Turkey as a function of an al... more This paper explores the privatization of state owned enterprises in Turkey as a function of an alliance of diverse social forces composed of market-oriented capital groups, mainstream media, national bureaucracies, and government officials. It highlights that these actors emerged in the post-1980 period because of dramatic transformations in Turkish society and the economy initiated by the process of neo-liberal globalization. The unification of diverse identities and interests around the strategy of further integrating with the global economy were crucial in the recent acceleration of the privatization process in Turkey. The paper also shows that market-oriented social forces sidelined resistant groups through a discourse that emphasized that privatization would bring material and other benefits to all and that the alternatives were worse. Such a communicative process played a crucial role in generating consent/hegemony for privatization in the 2000s.
The Turkish state has been going through a neo-liberal transformation resulting from the strategi... more The Turkish state has been going through a neo-liberal transformation resulting from the strategic reorientation of state institutions in ways that enhance and facilitate the strategies pursued by market-oriented social forces. The reform that granted legal independence to the Turkish Central Bank (TCMB) in 2001 was an institutional turning point within the state structure in Turkey; this policy shift prohibited TCMB’s granting of credits to the Treasury and other public institutions. Institutionalization of an anti-inflationary approach to macro-economic policy altered the power balance not only between different state agencies, but also between social groups in favour of financial interests that benefited from monetary stabilization. Rooted in a neo-Gramscian framework, this article explores the legal independence of the TCMB as a function of the market-oriented domestic social forces that emerged as a result of the process of neo-liberal globalization initiated in the 1980s. The article also emphasizes how the hegemonic unification of diverse identities and interests around the strategy of achieving price stability was crucial in the autonomy of the TCMB.
Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogues for Global Peacebuilding and Stability
Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have be... more Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have been experiencing or on how refugee identities have been unilaterally transformed during their interaction with the host culture. Drawing on the literature on identity and politics of recognition, this chapter argues that intercultural encounters transform the identities, values, and norms of both host communities and refugees. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with non-camp Syrian refugees and local citizens in the cities of Mersin and Adana to uncover the interactions of refugees and the host society, focusing on intercultural encounters at diverse settings, including classrooms, schools, campuses, hospitals, and neighborhoods. The chapter reveals that recognition of diverse cultures, respect, empathy, and social support influence intercultural interactions in a positive way. It also shows that reflexivity and the willingness to interact on the part of both refugees and...
This paper analyzes the lack of progress and the breakdown of the Doha Round talks in world trade... more This paper analyzes the lack of progress and the breakdown of the Doha Round talks in world trade since 2001 from a neo-Gramscian perspective. The failure to conclude multilateral trade negotiations reflect an emerging new architecture of power politics in the world political-economic order. Major economic powers, including the United States (US), the European Union (EU), Japan and Canada as well as leading transnational companies used to have a significant impact on guiding the agenda of the multilateral trade negotiations as well as defining the outcomes. However, in the context of the WTO, emerging powers such as India, Brazil, and China and several non-governmental organizations critical of neoliberal globalization began to confront the former groups' dominance. Developing and developed countries have contending views on the agenda issues, marked by confrontation on the former's insistence for the liberalization of agricultural markets by industrialized states and the latter's pressure for the liberalization of non-agricultural markets. Both sides employ certain strategies and discourses to coerce or to persuade the opposing parties. Hence, the paper argues that the multilateral trade negotiations emerge as zones of exercising hegemony rather than being an area to produce common norms, values and policies for the well-being of all members in the world trade regime.
Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have be... more Existing studies on Syrian refugees in Turkey focused either on the difficulties refugees have been experiencing or on how refugee identities have been unilaterally transformed during their interaction with the host culture. Drawing on the literature on identity and politics of recognition, this chapter argues that intercultural encounters transform the identities, values, and norms of both host communities and refugees. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with non-camp Syrian refugees and local citizens in the cities of Mersin and Adana to uncover the interactions of refugees and the host society, focusing on intercultural encounters at diverse settings, including classrooms, schools, campuses, hospitals, and neighborhoods. The chapter reveals that recognition of diverse cultures, respect, empathy, and social support influence intercultural interactions in a positive way. It also shows that reflexivity and the willingness to interact on the part of both refugees and the host culture facilitate interactions and negotiations between them.
This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated "e... more This paper examines the revival of the nuclear energy initiatives in Turkey and the associated "economic growth" and "competitiveness" discourse of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a function of the neoliberal transformation of the Turkish political economy since the 1980s. Based on an engagement between the neo-Gramscian approach and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper shows how the nuclear project in Turkey is historically situated and discursively constructed. Analysing the Parliamentary Records and statements of state officials, the paper has highlighted how the AKP exercises power through hegemonic discourses in terms of the legitimisation of the nuclear energy in Turkey.
This paper explores the privatization of state owned enterprises in Turkey as a function of an al... more This paper explores the privatization of state owned enterprises in Turkey as a function of an alliance of diverse social forces composed of market-oriented capital groups, mainstream media, national bureaucracies, and government officials. It highlights that these actors emerged in the post-1980 period because of dramatic transformations in Turkish society and the economy initiated by the process of neo-liberal globalization. The unification of diverse identities and interests around the strategy of further integrating with the global economy were crucial in the recent acceleration of the privatization process in Turkey. The paper also shows that market-oriented social forces sidelined resistant groups through a discourse that emphasized that privatization would bring material and other benefits to all and that the alternatives were worse. Such a communicative process played a crucial role in generating consent/hegemony for privatization in the 2000s.
The Turkish state has been going through a neo-liberal transformation resulting from the strategi... more The Turkish state has been going through a neo-liberal transformation resulting from the strategic reorientation of state institutions in ways that enhance and facilitate the strategies pursued by market-oriented social forces. The reform that granted legal independence to the Turkish Central Bank (TCMB) in 2001 was an institutional turning point within the state structure in Turkey; this policy shift prohibited TCMB’s granting of credits to the Treasury and other public institutions. Institutionalization of an anti-inflationary approach to macro-economic policy altered the power balance not only between different state agencies, but also between social groups in favour of financial interests that benefited from monetary stabilization. Rooted in a neo-Gramscian framework, this article explores the legal independence of the TCMB as a function of the market-oriented domestic social forces that emerged as a result of the process of neo-liberal globalization initiated in the 1980s. The article also emphasizes how the hegemonic unification of diverse identities and interests around the strategy of achieving price stability was crucial in the autonomy of the TCMB.
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