Nora Fisher Onar
University of San Francisco, International Studies, Faculty Member
- Nora Fisher-Onar is Associate Professor and Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. Her r... moreNora Fisher-Onar is Associate Professor and Chair of International Studies at the University of San Francisco. Her research interests include IR theory, foreign policy analysis, comparative politics/area studies (Middle East, Europe, Eurasia), religion and politics, gender, history/memory, and legacies of empire/colonialism. She is also increasingly interested in the impact of digital transformation on all of the above.
Fisher-Onar eceived a doctorate in IR from Oxford and holds masters and undergraduate degrees from Johns Hopkins (SAIS) and Georgetown universities, respectively.
She is the author of "Contesting Pluralism(s): Islamism, Liberalism and Nationalism" (Cambridge University Press, in-press/2024) and lead editor of the critically well-received volume, "Istanbul: Living With Difference in a Global City "(Rutgers University Press, 2018). She has published extensively in academic journals like the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS), Conflict and Cooperation, Millennium, Theory and Society, Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Women’s Studies International Forum, and Middle East Studies.
Fisher-Onar also contributes policy commentary to the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, the Guardian, and OpenDemocracy, and fora like Brookings, Carnegie, and the German Marshall Fund (GMF). At the GMF she has served as a Ronald Asmus Fellow, Transatlantic Academy Fellow, and Non-Residential Fellow. Fisher-Onar, who speaks five languages, has traveled to over 80, and lived in eight countries.edit
Research Interests:
This afterword to the special issue notes the persistent use of binary frames in conceptions of (European) security. Such frames reify and limit our ability to make sense of key security challenges, not least by occluding their gendered... more
This afterword to the special issue notes the persistent use of binary frames in conceptions of (European) security. Such frames reify and limit our ability to make sense of key security challenges, not least by occluding their gendered and racialised dimensions. Therefore, it asks: How to move beyond binaries towards a more nuanced, inclusive and impactful conception of (European) security? Developing an answer via synthetic engagement of the articles in this collection – and their sources in gender and postcolonial studies – it argues that we can begin to challenge binaries with a relational approach operationalised by linking three concepts: intersectional positionality, performativity and allyship. By thus acknowledging the plural and performative thrust of intersecting security stances, the pieces in this collection point to the promise of situationally appropriate forms of allyship across positions, bringing a broader range of voices and insights to security agendas.
Research Interests: European Studies, Gender Studies, International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, Postcolonial Studies, and 13 moreGender and Sexuality, Critical Security Studies, Feminism, Turkey, Migration Studies, European Union Politics, Ukraine, European Security, Tunisia, MENA region, Hungary, Diplomacy and international relations, and Sahel Region
This editorial / teaching resource for E-International Relations examines Turkey's elections and their lessons for right-wing populism globally. In a nutshell, the May elections were NOT about "Islamists vs. secularists" nor is Turkey's... more
This editorial / teaching resource for E-International Relations examines Turkey's elections and their lessons for right-wing populism globally.
In a nutshell, the May elections were NOT about "Islamists vs. secularists" nor is Turkey's illiberal turn something exceptional...
it was about would-be pluralizers vs. extreme nationalists, and anyone concerned about rising, populist / ultra-nationalist coalitions needs to pay attention to how and why the latter won.
Open access link & pdf included: https://www.e-ir.info/2023/05/31/pluralism-vs-ultra-nationalism-the-real-cleavage-behind-turkeys-elections-and-populisms-rise/
In a nutshell, the May elections were NOT about "Islamists vs. secularists" nor is Turkey's illiberal turn something exceptional...
it was about would-be pluralizers vs. extreme nationalists, and anyone concerned about rising, populist / ultra-nationalist coalitions needs to pay attention to how and why the latter won.
Open access link & pdf included: https://www.e-ir.info/2023/05/31/pluralism-vs-ultra-nationalism-the-real-cleavage-behind-turkeys-elections-and-populisms-rise/
Research Interests: European Studies, Economics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, International Studies, and 14 moreMiddle East Studies, Human Rights, Democratization, Politics, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Nationalism, Populism, National Identity, Turkey, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Democracy, Turkey in World Politics, Minority Rights, and Elections in Authoritarian states
This chapter explores the uses and abuses of imperial nostalgia. It proposes two categories: “civilizationalist nationalism” and “post-national pluralism.” The former is defined as a form of cultural nationalism which cites an imagined,... more
This chapter explores the uses and abuses of imperial nostalgia. It proposes two categories: “civilizationalist nationalism” and “post-national pluralism.” The former is defined as a form of cultural nationalism which cites an imagined, imperial golden age of religious and racial purity. This mode of remembering empire informs right-wing nationalist and violent extremist platforms in both the West and the Islamicate world. Post-national pluralism, on the other hand, invokes imperial cosmopolitanism as inspiration for managing diversity today. Less egregious than civilizationalist nationalism, it nonetheless can take hyperbolic forms which gloss over the shortcomings of Habsburg and Ottoman multiculturalism, violent patterns of transition from empire to nation-state, and their traumatic legacies. Offering a synthetic overview of this volume’s contributions as a corrective to these reductionist modes of remembrance, the chapter concludes with a plea for embrace of our complexity, past and present alike.
Research Interests: History, Ethnic Studies, European Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and 15 moreMulticulturalism, Middle East Studies, Political Science, Ideology, Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Habsburg Studies, Populism, Ottoman Studies, Turkey, Empire, Philosophy of Religious Pluralism, Central and Eastern Europe, International Relations and European Studies, and Habsburg Empire
The Republic of Turkey continues to grapple with a foundational tension between isolationist impulses steeped in a nationalist, sovereigntist, i.e., realist outlook on the world, and what I call the "embedded liberalism" of the republican... more
The Republic of Turkey continues to grapple with a foundational tension between isolationist impulses steeped in a nationalist, sovereigntist, i.e., realist outlook on the world, and what I call the "embedded liberalism" of the republican project. Yet, neither realism nor liberalism are sufficient, I show, to explain Turkey's trajectory.
Invoking three visions of the international system as envisaged in realism (billiard balls), liberalism (concentric circles), and global IR (which I conceptualize as a Venn diagram), I argue that the last best captures (Turkey's) challenges and opportunities. My contention is that global IR incorporates constructivist claims regarding historical and social forces in world politics, but also decenters Eurocentric notions of history and society. A timely way to read multipolarity, the approach supports relational learning regarding our overlapping challenges as humanity.
Scholars in and of Turkey arguably have a comparative advantage in this space. This is due to their ability, albeit not always actualized, to read the world in plural terms-the epistemological equivalent of Turkey's proverbial bridging role in world politics.
Invoking three visions of the international system as envisaged in realism (billiard balls), liberalism (concentric circles), and global IR (which I conceptualize as a Venn diagram), I argue that the last best captures (Turkey's) challenges and opportunities. My contention is that global IR incorporates constructivist claims regarding historical and social forces in world politics, but also decenters Eurocentric notions of history and society. A timely way to read multipolarity, the approach supports relational learning regarding our overlapping challenges as humanity.
Scholars in and of Turkey arguably have a comparative advantage in this space. This is due to their ability, albeit not always actualized, to read the world in plural terms-the epistemological equivalent of Turkey's proverbial bridging role in world politics.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, History, Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics, and 15 moreInternational Relations, Historical Sociology, International Relations Theory, Globalization, Foreign Policy Analysis, Middle East Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Constructivism, Political Science, Liberalism, Politics, Realism (Political Science), Turkey, Turkish Foreign Policy, and Turkey in World Politics
The apparent transition underway from a trans-Atlantic, liberal world order to one of multiple, overlapping orders has caused much policy, scholarly, and public anxiety. In tandem with this structural development, in the field of... more
The apparent transition underway from a trans-Atlantic, liberal world order to one of multiple, overlapping orders has caused much policy, scholarly, and public anxiety. In tandem with this structural development, in the field of international relations (IR), heated contests are underway between alternative visions of how to read this transformation. In this introduction to the special forum, we outline an approach for grappling with these dynamics. Our overarching question is: How to make sense of emergent regional imaginaries, the ways that they interlock, and the implications for IR theory and practice? To begin answering, we first challenge the increasingly widespread view that the return of great power politics—or what we call the “great game” vision of multipolarity—is the only or best register with which to read emerging patterns. Instead, we propose the idea of “interlocking regional worlds,” a notion inspired by “Afro-Eur-Asia” as a site that evokes multiple meanings. A his...
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Sociology, Political Sociology, Area Studies, and 15 moreAfrican Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Philosophy of Science, Historical Sociology, International Security, Political Science, Turkish and Middle East Studies, European Union, China, Russia, IR Theory, India, Vision, and Diplomacy and international relations
From Trans-Atlantic Order to Afro-Eur-Asian Worlds? Reimagining International Relations as Interlocking Regional Worlds Global Studies Quarterly In this introduction to a special forum for Global Studies Quarterly, we push back against... more
From Trans-Atlantic Order to Afro-Eur-Asian Worlds? Reimagining International Relations as Interlocking Regional Worlds
Global Studies Quarterly
In this introduction to a special forum for Global Studies Quarterly, we push back against the combative view of nascent multipolarity as a new "great game", proposing instead the notion of "itenerant translation" as a framework for learning relationally across regional experiences.
The exercises in itinerant translation across the interlocking regional worlds of Afro-Eur-Asia on offer in this special forum likewise reveal the globe as a pluriversal space where multiple realities can and do coexist (and always have).
Global Studies Quarterly
In this introduction to a special forum for Global Studies Quarterly, we push back against the combative view of nascent multipolarity as a new "great game", proposing instead the notion of "itenerant translation" as a framework for learning relationally across regional experiences.
The exercises in itinerant translation across the interlocking regional worlds of Afro-Eur-Asia on offer in this special forum likewise reveal the globe as a pluriversal space where multiple realities can and do coexist (and always have).
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Sociology, Political Sociology, Area Studies, and 15 moreAfrican Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Philosophy of Science, Historical Sociology, International Security, Political Science, Turkish and Middle East Studies, European Union, China, Russia, IR Theory, India, Emerging powers of Global South: Rising BRICS Countries, and Diplomacy and international relations
This article for a Special Forum of Global Studies Quarterly, confronts a puzzle regarding revisionist powers: How to make sense of states whose behavior combines "postcolonial" critique of Western hegemony with "post-imperial" projects... more
This article for a Special Forum of Global Studies Quarterly, confronts a puzzle regarding revisionist powers: How to make sense of states whose behavior combines "postcolonial" critique of Western hegemony with "post-imperial" projects at home and in near abroadsGl? Answers to this question are often informed by realist notions of great power competition that tend to read revisionist critique of the West as either epiphenomenal or due to intrinsic enmity. This piece proposes an alternative-the "capitulations syndrome"-which is developed via the Ottoman/Turkish experience and the literature on ontological insecurity. The syndrome combines "moral injury" at subordination to the West with attempts to elevate a state's status within Western-dominated international society. Anxieties produced by this paradox are managed via state narratives that celebrate select glories and traumas. This results in an exceptionalist sense of national "Self" that-when confronted-can lead to outrage at "Others" of the state story. The syndrome, I argue, both shapes broad imaginaries and is instrumentalized by policymakers. Thus, calls for global justice vis-à-vis Western hegemony can coexist with hegemonic projects nearer home.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Historical Sociology, and 15 moreOttoman History, Middle East Studies, History and Memory, Political Science, Iranian Studies, Colonialism, Eurasia, Turkish and Middle East Studies, China, Turkish Foreign Policy, Empire, Russia, IR Theory, Ontological Security, and Great Power Politics
Abstract: EU foreign policy including relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is often characterized as liberal with an emphasis on democracy and human rights promotion, aid and trade through multilateral fora. Yet, many... more
Abstract:
EU foreign policy including relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is often characterized as liberal with an emphasis on democracy and human rights promotion, aid and trade through multilateral fora. Yet, many MENA-watchers question this framing, noting the preference for stability over freedom which informs much EU and member states policies—an approach commensurate with realism. In this chapter, I suggest that while both reflexes are present in EU-Middle East relations, liberalism and realism alike are informed by legacies of colonialism. Engaging an interdisciplinary reservoir of postcolonial thought, I offer tools with which to conceptualize colonial inheritances and the (violent and asymmetrical) co-constitution of ‘Europe’ and the ‘Middle East’. I then apply Fisher-Onar and Nicolaïdis’s (2013) three analytical moves—provincializing, engagement, and reconstruction—which are also inspired by postcolonial theory. The argument is that relations can be improved by provincializing liberalism and realism, and engaging alternative perspectives which are mindful of colonial legacies of co-constitution.
Keywords: EU, Europe, Middle East, MENA, colonialism, postcolonialism, decoloniality, créolité, hybridity, labor, women, Islamists
EU foreign policy including relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is often characterized as liberal with an emphasis on democracy and human rights promotion, aid and trade through multilateral fora. Yet, many MENA-watchers question this framing, noting the preference for stability over freedom which informs much EU and member states policies—an approach commensurate with realism. In this chapter, I suggest that while both reflexes are present in EU-Middle East relations, liberalism and realism alike are informed by legacies of colonialism. Engaging an interdisciplinary reservoir of postcolonial thought, I offer tools with which to conceptualize colonial inheritances and the (violent and asymmetrical) co-constitution of ‘Europe’ and the ‘Middle East’. I then apply Fisher-Onar and Nicolaïdis’s (2013) three analytical moves—provincializing, engagement, and reconstruction—which are also inspired by postcolonial theory. The argument is that relations can be improved by provincializing liberalism and realism, and engaging alternative perspectives which are mindful of colonial legacies of co-constitution.
Keywords: EU, Europe, Middle East, MENA, colonialism, postcolonialism, decoloniality, créolité, hybridity, labor, women, Islamists
Research Interests: History, European Studies, International Relations, Women's Studies, International Relations Theory, and 15 moreForeign Policy Analysis, Postcolonial Studies, History and Memory, Political Science, Liberalism, International Political Economy, Realism (Political Science), European Union, Labor History and Studies, Islamism, Middle East, Modernity/coloniality/decoloniality, Colonialism and Imperialism, Global and International Studies, and Middel eastern studies
In this introduction to the edited volume, I argue that there are two versions of neo-Ottoman nostalgia which inform contests over city spaces: "Belle Epoque Istanbul" (which emanates from a liberal, cosmopolitan imaginary) and... more
In this introduction to the edited volume, I argue that there are two versions of neo-Ottoman nostalgia which inform contests over city spaces: "Belle Epoque Istanbul" (which emanates from a liberal, cosmopolitan imaginary) and "Ottoman-Islamic Istanbul" (which emanates from an imperial-religious, but also multicultural imaginary). Comparaing and contrasting these projects, I further probe sites of subaltern Istanbul, gendered Istanbul and other variations as I gesture to the interdisciplinary contributions to the edited volume. I conclude by arguing that even though "Ottoman-Islamic Istanbul" can support diversity, a militaristic/nationalist variant of Ottoman-Islamic nostalgia has gained salience at the national level in recent years.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, European Studies, Gender Studies, and 15 moreAnthropology, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Migration, Politics, Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Urban Studies, Turkey, Islamism, Global South, Middle East, Social Movements in/and the Global South, Istanbul, and Global and International Studies
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In this chapter for a collection on the theme "Religion and the Liberal Order", I investigated whether Turkey is Islamicizing. I argue that it is, but this is neither new nor always a source of illiberal politics. Nevertheless, today, the... more
In this chapter for a collection on the theme "Religion and the Liberal Order", I investigated whether Turkey is Islamicizing. I argue that it is, but this is neither new nor always a source of illiberal politics. Nevertheless, today, the Turkish leadership is pursuing a policy of polarization with Islamist overtones. This is part of a short-term strategy to win elections, a medium-term strategy to police dissent, and a long-term strategy of raising a presumptively compliant “devout generation” - a process I document empirically via changes to the education system. The danger of the approach is that by suppressing Turkey’s intrinsic diversity it creates fertile ground for ethno-sectarian tensions.
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As the West retrenches and new powers emerge, students of international relations are well positioned to address an outstanding question: <em>How to thrive in a multipolar world</em>? The question—and the answers which we... more
As the West retrenches and new powers emerge, students of international relations are well positioned to address an outstanding question: <em>How to thrive in a multipolar world</em>? The question—and the answers which we bring to bear—resonate beyond geopolitics. This is because the task of living together in diversity is arguably the greatest analytical as well as normative challenge facing world politics more broadly (Fisher-Onar, Pearce, and Keyman 2018).
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Political Geography and Geopolitics, Area Studies, Asian Studies, Russian Studies, and 15 moreComparative Politics, International Relations, Political Economy, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Social Sciences, Foreign Policy Analysis, Critical Geopolitics, Research Methodology, Chinese Studies, Political Science, Iranian Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Qualitative Research, Middle Eastern Studies, and Empire
I argue that while public Islam has gained salience in contemporary Turkey, much of what seems novel is actually reappropriation of a project dating back 40 years to the post-1980 coup regime. At that time, the putatively secularist... more
I argue that while public Islam has gained salience in contemporary Turkey, much of what seems novel is actually reappropriation of a project dating back 40 years to the post-1980 coup regime. At that time, the putatively secularist military endorsed a Turkish-Islamic Synthesis (TIS) as national project. The TIS was and is: an anti-pluralist alignment of ethno- and ethno-religious nationalists who seek to inscribe the power of the state over society in the name of Turkish-Muslim values and unity. The TIS is associated, moreover, with antagonism towards those deemed to be “Other,” both domestically and internationally.
Today’s TIS 2.0, the piece shows, emerged in 2015 out of the AKP’s contingent electoral alliance with the right-wing Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi MHP). This marriage of convenience nonetheless informed key outcomes like the switch from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency, and a revisionist foreign policy. I then identify the core ideological features of the TIS 2.0 and their domestic, cultural and foreign policy implications. Next, I excavate antecedents in the TIS 1.0 of the 1980s, and the authoritarian, ethno-nationalist regime of the early 1940s.
Recognizing such continuities, in turn, opens the eye to an important historical pattern and the key takeaway from this article: the ascendance of assertive Turco-Muslim nationalism also engenders oppositional coalitions across the heterogeneous country which, given the right conditions, reinstate more pluralist policies.
Today’s TIS 2.0, the piece shows, emerged in 2015 out of the AKP’s contingent electoral alliance with the right-wing Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi MHP). This marriage of convenience nonetheless informed key outcomes like the switch from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency, and a revisionist foreign policy. I then identify the core ideological features of the TIS 2.0 and their domestic, cultural and foreign policy implications. Next, I excavate antecedents in the TIS 1.0 of the 1980s, and the authoritarian, ethno-nationalist regime of the early 1940s.
Recognizing such continuities, in turn, opens the eye to an important historical pattern and the key takeaway from this article: the ascendance of assertive Turco-Muslim nationalism also engenders oppositional coalitions across the heterogeneous country which, given the right conditions, reinstate more pluralist policies.
Research Interests: Religion, Area Studies, European Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and 15 moreForeign Policy Analysis, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Political Science, Nationalism, Religious Pluralism, Turkish Nationalism, Populism, European Foreign Policy, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Turkey, Culture and Politics, Islam in Turkey, Political Islam, and Nagorno Karabakh
This article develops a timely new model for EU foreign policy by advancing the call for a 'decentring agenda', focused on the challenge of inclusive 'reconstruction'. It does so by first staking out an ontological space at the... more
This article develops a timely new model for EU foreign policy by advancing the call for a 'decentring agenda', focused on the challenge of inclusive 'reconstruction'. It does so by first staking out an ontological space at the intersection of empirical multiplexity and normative pluriversality. Within this space, it proposes an ethically informed methodological tool: the contrapuntal negotiation of dissonant perspectives on common governance challenges. It then suggests ways to reconstruct analytical and policy-making processes and outcomes on the basis of mutuality and local empowerment. Using three scales of 'contrapuntality' (micro, meso and macro) to read key empirical sites at the intersection of the EU's internal and external policies (migration, religious and neighbourhood governance), it argues that by decentring in these and further arenas, the EU can seek to become a more reflexive global actor in sync with the ethical and practical demands of our multiplex world.
Research Interests: Religion, Sociology, Political Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics, and 15 moreInternational Relations, Ethics, Globalization, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Research Methodology, Postcolonial Studies, Qualitative methodology, Migration, Politics, Migration Studies, European Union Politics, Eurocentrism, and International Relations and European Studies
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This chapter recognizes that in emerging Eurasian powers, imperial pasts are celebrated to harness present political and economic energies. It advances a novel unit of analysis—“former empires/rising powers” (FERPs)—which addresses the... more
This chapter recognizes that in emerging Eurasian powers, imperial pasts are celebrated to harness present political and economic energies. It advances a novel unit of analysis—“former empires/rising powers” (FERPs)—which addresses the Western-centric bias of much international relations (IR), and exceptionalism of much area studies scholarship. Examining Turkey’s neo-Ottomanism, it considers lessons for other FERPs, especially China’s new Silk Road. Recognizing the difference in magnitude between these neo-imperial projects, it nevertheless notes that China leaves behind its “short twentieth century” as a middle power to (re)claim great power status in an age of heightened uncertainty. China therefore might note from Turkey’s experience as an ambitious middle power that neo-imperialist rhetoric can obscure the challenges facing its realization.
The chapter develops an original theoretical framework to capture how traumatic memories are collectivized and transmitted inter-generationally. It does so by focusing on evolving contests over the transition from Ottoman Empire to... more
The chapter develops an original theoretical framework to capture how traumatic memories are collectivized and transmitted inter-generationally. It does so by focusing on evolving contests over the transition from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic, tracing how three schools of historiography - Kemalist, critical, and Islamist read the transition differently. The chapter is part of a rich volume edited by Nicolaidis, Sebe and Maas that brings together imperial historians and IR scholars to assess Echoes of Empire.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and 15 moreHistorical Sociology, Ottoman History, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Historiography, History and Memory, Politics, Colonialism, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Memory Studies, Empire, Comparative and historical sociology, IR Theory, Imperialism, and Post Colonialism
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ABSTRACT
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The article draws on speech act theory to argue that Turkey&#x27;s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wields a discursive repertoire that consists of four main narratives: a democratization, a (post-)Islamist, an Ottomanist... more
The article draws on speech act theory to argue that Turkey&#x27;s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wields a discursive repertoire that consists of four main narratives: a democratization, a (post-)Islamist, an Ottomanist and a Turkey Inc. story. It examines the illocutionary intent, that is, the ways in which discourses are used to co-ordinate policy and strategically project appeals to
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While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse, others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy between the 19th-century standard of... more
While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse, others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy between the 19th-century standard of civilisation and the EU’s narratives and modes of actions today? In this essay, we address the question by developing a ‘new standards typology’ articulated around two axes: agency denial and hierarchy. These refer respectively to the unilateral shaping of standards applicable to others, and to the salience of Eurocentricism in the way the standards are enforced and structure the international system. Ultimately, we argue that in transforming their ‘continent’ from a metropolis to a microcosmos – from a cluster of colonial capitals to an EU that contains many of the world’s tensions within itself – Europeans have only partially succeeded in transcending their colonial impulses. We conclude by suggesting that the EU’s relevance is grounded in its ability to ...
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The chapter develops a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between "memory, history, and historiography" via contestation over Ottoman legacies in Turkey. It then provides a schematic survey of these contests over the... more
The chapter develops a theoretical framework to understand the relationship between "memory, history, and historiography" via contestation over Ottoman legacies in Turkey. It then provides a schematic survey of these contests over the past century. It is part of a new volume edited by Nicolaidis et al that brings together imperial historians and IR scholars to assess "Echoes of Empire."
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This chapter explores the uses and abuses of imperial nostalgia. It proposes two categories: “civilizational nationalism” and “post-national pluralism.” The former is defined as a form of cultural nationalism which cites an imagined,... more
This chapter explores the uses and abuses of imperial nostalgia. It proposes two categories: “civilizational nationalism” and “post-national pluralism.” The former is defined as a form of cultural nationalism which cites an imagined, imperial golden age of religious and racial purity. This mode of remembering empire informs right-wing nationalist and violent extremist platforms in both the West and the Islamicate world. Post-national pluralism, on the other hand, invokes imperial cosmopolitanism as inspiration for managing diversity today. Less egregious than civilizational nationalism, it nonetheless can take hyperbolic forms which gloss over the shortcomings of Habsburg and Ottoman multiculturalism, violent patterns of transition from empire to nation-state, and their traumatic legacies. Offering a synthetic overview of this volume’s contributions as a corrective to these reductionist modes of remembrance, the chapter concludes with a plea for embrace of our complexity, past and present alike.
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Area Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Multiculturalism, and 15 moreHistorical Sociology, Ottoman History, Middle East Studies, History and Memory, Political Science, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Religious Pluralism, Turkish Nationalism, Populism, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Ottoman Balkans, Comparative study of the Ottoman, habsburg, and Romanov Empires, Empire, Imperialism, and Inter-civilization contact and conflict
As the West retrenches, students of international relations (IR) comparative politics (CP) are confronted with the rise of a revisionist former empires across Eurasia: China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. How might we learn to better live... more
As the West retrenches, students of international relations (IR) comparative politics (CP) are confronted with the rise of a revisionist former empires across Eurasia: China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. How might we learn to better live together? In this intervention, I suggest that approaches like realism and liberalism, which favor Western-centric categories and large-N data, fail to capture important dynamics across Eurasia's revisionist empires. I then make the case for family resemblances as a method of cross-regional comparison which enables the analyst to examine cases typically boxed into different area studies compartments. Finally, I operationalize the approach towards a baseline for comparison across revisionist former empires. I argue that by thus establishing a basis for comparison, we uncover patterns relevant to prospects for cooperation as well as conflict in a post-Western world.
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Political Geography and Geopolitics, Area Studies, Asian Studies, Russian Studies, and 15 moreComparative Politics, International Relations, Political Economy, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Social Sciences, Foreign Policy Analysis, Critical Geopolitics, Research Methodology, Chinese Studies, Political Science, Iranian Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Qualitative Research, Middle Eastern Studies, and Empire
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In a piece for the LSE Religion and Global Society blog, we argue that by reading the rise of ethno-religious populists as a post-modern rather than a regressive phenomenon we can better confront its toxic forms. The framework helps to... more
In a piece for the LSE Religion and Global Society blog, we argue that by reading the rise of ethno-religious populists as a post-modern rather than a regressive phenomenon we can better confront its toxic forms. The framework helps to think outside the box of the "secularization thesis" which discounts the transitive power of religion as a tool of political mobilization. The approach aims to help make comparative sense of the recent rise of right-wing religious populists across the globe, from Trump's Bible-brandishing and the re-election of Poland's right-wing government on a platform of "sacred tradition", to the re-conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
Research Interests: Religion, Political Sociology, Social Theory, Sociology of Religion, European Studies, and 15 moreLatin American Studies, American Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Philosophy Of Religion, Middle East Studies, Religion and Politics, Political Science, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Nationalism, Populism, Turkey, Islamic Studies, Secularization, and Minority Rights
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ABSTRACT
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Recensé : Nora Fisher-Onar, Susan C. Pearce, E. Fuat Keyman (dir.) - Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City, Rutgers, Rutgers University Press, 2018, 212 p.
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This article develops a timely new model for EU foreign policy by advancing the call for a &#39;decentring agenda&#39;, focused on the challenge of inclusive &#39;reconstruction&#39;. It does so by first staking out an... more
This article develops a timely new model for EU foreign policy by advancing the call for a &#39;decentring agenda&#39;, focused on the challenge of inclusive &#39;reconstruction&#39;. It does so by first staking out an ontological space at the intersection of empirical multiplexity and normative pluriversality. Within this space, it proposes an ethically informed methodological tool: the contrapuntal negotiation of dissonant perspectives on common governance challenges. It then suggests ways to reconstruct analytical and policy-making processes and outcomes on the basis of mutuality and local empowerment. Using three scales of &#39;contrapuntality&#39; (micro, meso and macro) to read key empirical sites at the intersection of the EU&#39;s internal and external policies (migration, religious and neighbourhood governance), it argues that by decentring in these and further arenas, the EU can seek to become a more reflexive global actor in sync with the ethical and practical demands of our multiplex world.
Research Interests: Political Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Ethics, and 15 moreGlobalization, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Corporate Governance, Migration, Politics, European Neighbourhood Policy, Cognitive Dissonance, Negotiation, Migration Studies, European Union Politics, Eurocentrism, Normative, and International Relations and European Studies
Nora Fisher Onar and Ahmet Evin trace continuity and changes in several schools of thought on Europe from the inception of Ottoman Westernization to the present. They then turn to key moments in the 1999 to 2009 period during which... more
Nora Fisher Onar and Ahmet Evin trace continuity and changes in several schools of thought on Europe from the inception of Ottoman Westernization to the present. They then turn to key moments in the 1999 to 2009 period during which debates on Turkey's place in Europe were particularly intense in light of acquisition of EU candidate status in 1999 and the ensuing accession debate over Islam and secularism. Fisher Onar and Evin argue that certain features of Turkish discourse are constant both over time and across the political spectrum at any given time. These include a tendency to see the "European experience" as a menu à la carte, and a sense of Turkish exceptionalism. Other aspects of intellectuals' engagement of Europe, however, appear contingent upon evolving domestic and international contexts. Views thus span from those who advocate a selective engagement to those who call for unequivocal convergence with that which they understand Europe to represent.
Research Interests: History, Intellectual History, Sociology, European Studies, Comparative Politics, and 15 moreInternational Relations, Political Philosophy, Historical Sociology, International Studies, Religion and Politics, Politics, Ideology, Global Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, European Union, Global History, Narrative Analysis, Comparative Historical Analysis, Secularism, and World Politics
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
My op-ed for the Washington Post / Monkey Cage (July 2018) emanating from our edited volume Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City (Rutgers University Press, 2018). I argue that (re-)emerging global cities like Istanbul offer a... more
My op-ed for the Washington Post / Monkey Cage (July 2018) emanating from our edited volume Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City (Rutgers University Press, 2018). I argue that (re-)emerging global cities like Istanbul offer a site for a comparative conversation about pluralism. After all, from Istanbul and Tehran to Moscow and Hong Kong, citizens develop ingenious strategies for sharing space with the “Other” despite illiberal, national regimes.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, European Studies, Gender Studies, and 15 moreAnthropology, International Relations, Political Philosophy, Globalization, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Global cities, Political Science, Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism, Urban Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Post-Colonialism, Neoliberalism, and Migration Studies
The chapter, co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaidis, explores the nature of what we call Europe's "post-imperial condition," i.e., the EU and certain member states inability to divest themselves of imperial logics both within the Union but... more
The chapter, co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaidis, explores the nature of what we call Europe's "post-imperial condition," i.e., the EU and certain member states inability to divest themselves of imperial logics both within the Union but especially in its external relations. We argue that inability to do so undermines EU foreign policy vis-a-vis emerging powers to the Union's east and south. It appears in the volume Revisiting the European Union as Empire edited by Hartmut Behr and Yiannis Stivachtis.
Research Interests: European History, European Studies, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Middle East Studies, and 13 morePostcolonial Studies, Political Science, European Foreign Policy, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Turkish Foreign Policy, Middle East Politics, European Union Politics, Regional Integration, Subaltern Studies, International political sociology, IR Theory, Politics and International relations, and Global (North/South) Environmental Politics
Research Interests: Cultural Studies and Law
It is often assumed that Turkey’s chance of accession to the EU would be enhanced were the European project to move in an inclusive, cosmopolitan direction. However, the inclusion of women’s rights and post-sexual revolution sexuality in... more
It is often assumed that Turkey’s chance of accession to the EU would be enhanced were the European project to move in an inclusive, cosmopolitan direction. However, the inclusion of women’s rights and post-sexual revolution sexuality in the battery of ‘EU-niversal’ values could still represent an obstacle from the perspective of pro-religious actors in Turkey. This paper examines to what extent Turkish views converge with those expressed in the EU/Europe with regard to two recent debates over criminalisation of adultery, and veiling in public institutions. Based on extensive primary research, it shows that whilst secularists of all ideological backgrounds agree with the EU/European position, there is some ambivalence in Islamist perspectives. This was evident only in a limited fashion with the adultery debate. However, European Court of Human Rights verdicts upholding a secularist ban on veiling engendered deep disappointment in many Islamists, spurring some to conclude that ‘EU-ni...
Research Interests:
In this co-authored chapter with Emiliano Alessandri, we explore the potential of economic engagement as a way to reset Turkey's relations with Transatlantic partners. We suggest that an economic approach has some promise. At the least,... more
In this co-authored chapter with Emiliano Alessandri, we explore the potential of economic engagement as a way to reset Turkey's relations with Transatlantic partners. We suggest that an economic approach has some promise. At the least, the economy is a rare arena where otherwise polarized camps in Turkey display by and large convergent preferences vis-a-vis Transatlantic relations. Initiatives could include a revamped Customs Union with the EU, or economic policy coordination towards development in the MENA region. Realistically, however, economic rapprochement will confront significant internal and external challenges from concerns over rule of law and crony capitalism in Turkey, to the tense international trade climate. Economic rapprochement, as such, is no panacea and any economic frame for bi- and multi-lateral engagement will ultimately confront thorny political challenges.
Research Interests:
Abstract While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse, others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy between the 19th-century standard... more
Abstract
While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse,
others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy
between the 19th-century standard of civilisation and the EU’s narratives and modes of actions
today? In this essay, we address the question by developing a ‘new standards typology’ articulated
around two axes: agency denial and hierarchy. These refer respectively to the unilateral shaping of
standards applicable to others, and to the salience of Eurocentricism in the way the standards are
enforced and structure the international system. Ultimately, we argue that in transforming their
‘continent’ from a metropolis to a microcosmos – from a cluster of colonial capitals to an EU
that contains many of the world’s tensions within itself – Europeans have only partially succeeded
in transcending their colonial impulses. We conclude by suggesting that the EU’s relevance is
grounded in its ability to become a post-colonial power, and that to achieve this, those acting in
its name need to remember historical legacies and reflect upon the ‘standards’ that inspire their
action.
While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse,
others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy
between the 19th-century standard of civilisation and the EU’s narratives and modes of actions
today? In this essay, we address the question by developing a ‘new standards typology’ articulated
around two axes: agency denial and hierarchy. These refer respectively to the unilateral shaping of
standards applicable to others, and to the salience of Eurocentricism in the way the standards are
enforced and structure the international system. Ultimately, we argue that in transforming their
‘continent’ from a metropolis to a microcosmos – from a cluster of colonial capitals to an EU
that contains many of the world’s tensions within itself – Europeans have only partially succeeded
in transcending their colonial impulses. We conclude by suggesting that the EU’s relevance is
grounded in its ability to become a post-colonial power, and that to achieve this, those acting in
its name need to remember historical legacies and reflect upon the ‘standards’ that inspire their
action.
Research Interests:
By Gülçin Erdi - Book review of Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City (Nora Fisher-Onar, Susan C. Pearce, E. Fuat Keyman (eds..)
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Geography, European Studies, Anthropology, and 15 moreComparative Politics, Political Theory, Environmental Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Politics, International Political Economy, Urban Studies, Ottoman Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Minority Studies, International Politics, Memory Studies, Migration Studies, Istanbul, and Urban Studies: Constantinople/Istanbul
Book review by Suheir Abu Oksa Daoud of Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City ed. by Nora Fisher-Onar, Susan C. Pearce, E. Fuat Keyman. The Middle East Journal 73, no. 3 (2019): 507-509. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/736474.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, European Studies, and 15 moreComparative Literature, Gender Studies, Anthropology, Globalization, Political Theory, Postcolonial Studies, Environmental Studies, Cosmopolitanism, Urban Studies, Ottoman Studies, Memory Studies, Neoliberalism, Migration Studies, Cities, and Turkey and the Middle East
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, European Studies, and 15 moreGender Studies, Anthropology, Comparative Politics, Historical Sociology, Political Theory, Postcolonial Studies, South East European Studies, Environmental Studies, Cosmopolitanism, Urban Studies, Ottoman Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Memory Studies, Migration Studies, and Cities
This book examines the role of imperial narratives of multinationalism as alternative ideologies to nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East from the revolutions of 1848 up to the defeat and subsequent... more
This book examines the role of imperial narratives of multinationalism as alternative ideologies to nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East from the revolutions of 1848 up to the defeat and subsequent downfall of the Habsburg and Ottoman empires in 1918. During this period, both empires struggled against a rising tide of nationalism to legitimize their own diversity of ethnicities, languages and religions. Contributors scrutinize the various narratives of identity that they developed, supported, encouraged or unwittingly created and left behind for posterity as they tried to keep up with the changing political realities of modernity.
Beyond simplified notions of enforced harmony or dynamic dissonance, this book aims at a more polyphonic analysis of the various voices of Habsburg and Ottoman multinationalism: from the imperial centres and in the closest proximity to sovereigns, to provinces and minorities, among intellectuals and state servants, through novels and newspapers. Combining insights from history, literary studies and political sciences, it further explores the lasting legacy of the empires in post-imperial narratives of loss, nostalgia, hope and redemption. It shows why the two dynasties keep haunting the twenty-first century with fears and promises of conflict, coexistence, and reborn greatness.
Beyond simplified notions of enforced harmony or dynamic dissonance, this book aims at a more polyphonic analysis of the various voices of Habsburg and Ottoman multinationalism: from the imperial centres and in the closest proximity to sovereigns, to provinces and minorities, among intellectuals and state servants, through novels and newspapers. Combining insights from history, literary studies and political sciences, it further explores the lasting legacy of the empires in post-imperial narratives of loss, nostalgia, hope and redemption. It shows why the two dynasties keep haunting the twenty-first century with fears and promises of conflict, coexistence, and reborn greatness.
Research Interests:
This is the introduction to my new book ISTANBUL: LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE IN A GLOBAL CITY (co-edited with Fuat Keyman and Susan Pearce, Rutgers University Press) which is out next week. The interdisciplinary group of contributors were... more
This is the introduction to my new book ISTANBUL: LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE IN A GLOBAL CITY (co-edited with Fuat Keyman and Susan Pearce, Rutgers University Press) which is out next week. The interdisciplinary group of contributors were asked to address the question: "What does Istanbul teach us, for better or for worse, about living with the Other?" Contributors include Caglar Keyder, Sami Zubaida, Fezyi Baban, Charles King, Ilay Roman Ors, Amy Mills, Anna Bigelow, Kristen Biehl, and Hande Paker. The attached file is my introduction "Between Neo-Ottomanism and Neo-Liberalism: The Politics of Imagining Istanbul"
Research Interests: Religion, History, Sociology, Political Sociology, Sociology of Religion, and 25 moreEuropean Studies, Gender Studies, Anthropology, Historical Sociology, Ottoman History, Globalization, Political Theory, International Studies, Middle East Studies, Diversity, Refugee Studies, Global cities, Political Science, Gender and Sexuality, Cosmopolitanism, LGBT Issues, Global Studies, Urban Studies, Ottoman Studies, Turkish and Middle East Studies, Globalization And Postcolonial Studies, Memory Studies, Migration Studies, Religious Studies, and Cities
Conference (PROGRAM-Abstract-pdf)
Myths and Narratives of Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism 1848–1918
1–3 November 2018, Copenhagen
Myths and Narratives of Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism 1848–1918
1–3 November 2018, Copenhagen
Research Interests:
Program and abstracts from a conference comparing the late Ottoman and Hapsburg projects and their legacies - real and imagined - today. A book gathering the interdisciplinary chapters from history, politics, international relations,... more
Program and abstracts from a conference comparing the late Ottoman and Hapsburg projects and their legacies - real and imagined - today. A book gathering the interdisciplinary chapters from history, politics, international relations, sociology, comparative literature, and cultural studies is forthcoming.