Journal Articles by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Toplum ve Bilim, 2023
Toplumsal bellek, devletlerin yüzleşmekten ve hesaplaşmaktan kaçındıkları sakıncalı geçmişleri il... more Toplumsal bellek, devletlerin yüzleşmekten ve hesaplaşmaktan kaçındıkları sakıncalı geçmişleri ile karanlık miraslarına meydan okuyan mücadele alanları sunmaktadır. Bu açıdan bellek, özellikle devletlerin ötekileri olarak konumlanan toplumsal grupların karşı karşıya kaldıkları insan kaynaklı felaketlerin kamuoyuna aktarımında merkezî bir rol oynamaktadır. Makalede, geçmişteki felaketlere ilişkin doğrudan deneyimi veya tanıklığı olmayan bireylerin aracılı bellek aktarımı olarak tanımlanan “protez bellek” yoluyla nasıl dolaylı tanıklar haline gelebileceği tartışılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, belleğin gerçek deneyimden ve tanıklıktan kopabileceği ön kabulüyle hafıza aktivizminin dolaylı tanıklığın sınırlarını genişletebilme yolları ele alınmaktadır. İhtilaflı geçmişlere yönelik devletlerin resmî hafızasızlaştırma söylemlerine ve uygulamalarına karşıt bir alan olarak hafıza aktivizmi, dolaylı tanık haline getirdiği bireylere hem bir siyasi yükümlülük yüklemekte hem de suç ortaklığının ihtimallerini hatırlatmaktadır. Bunu inceleyebilmek için Türkiye’deki bir hafıza aktivizmi örneği olarak Hakikat, Adalet ve Hafıza Merkezi seçilmiştir. Makale, bu örnek üzerinden dolaylı tanıklık alanının protez bellek inşasıyla beraber nasıl kurulduğuna odaklanmaktadır.
Moment Dergi, 2022
Bu çalışma Türk milliyetçiliğinin söylem alanında nasıl inşa edildiğini ve yeniden üretildiğini ‘... more Bu çalışma Türk milliyetçiliğinin söylem alanında nasıl inşa edildiğini ve yeniden üretildiğini ‘Ermeni sorunu’ ile yeniden karşılaşması üzerinden incelemektedir. 24 Nisan 2011 tarihinde gerçekleşen Sevag Balıkçı cinayeti vakasına odaklanılarak bu yüzleşmenin ulusal gazetelerde günlük olarak hangi söylemsel stratejiler aracılığıyla sunulduğu gösterilmektedir. Araştırmada seçilen üç ulusal gazetenin bu olayı nasıl haberleştirdiği eleştirel söylem analizi yöntemi kullanılarak tespit edilmiştir. Araştırma bulgularına göre vakanın medya temsillerinde maktulün etnik kökeni, şehitlik durumu ve ulus için fedakârlık yapması öne çıkan temalar olarak belirlenmiştir. Böylece millet olma halinin sürekli imlenmesi ve hatırlatılması ile milliyetçi söylemlerin haber söylemlerine gündelik olarak nasıl eklemlenebildiği tartışılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda ulusal gazetelerin Balıkçı cinayetini tarihsel ve politik arka planından soyutlayarak ve ‘Ermeni sorunu’ ile bağlantısını kopararak, Türk milliyetçiliğinin söylemsel, temsili ve dışlayıcı yönlerini açığa çıkarır şekilde konumlandırdığı ortaya çıkarılmıştır.
European Journal of Women's Studies, 2019
Since the official history-writing is a defining aspect for the formation and consolidation of na... more Since the official history-writing is a defining aspect for the formation and consolidation of nation-states, it is crucial to explore the attempts to legitimize particular discourses regarding historical atrocities. The selective representations of the past, in this regard, contradict counter-memories and propagate hegemonic patterns of remembrance and/or forgetting of past crimes. This article accordingly addresses how the representations of counter-memories as threats to national security and the silencing of gender-specific experiences and remembrances by sanctioned historical narratives become manifest in the history-making of the Turkish nation-state. By focusing on the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide as two cases of crimes against humanity, it is intended to discuss the shifting positions and roles that the Turkish state adopts in the remembering and forgetting of historical offences. The article argues that through prioritizing national security and national interests, the securitization of memory reconstructs collective traumas of distinct ethnic and religious groups on the basis of a nation-state’s perceived internal and external threats. It also claims that the competing voices of women and their distinct experiences and patterns of remembrance and forgetting past atrocities are suppressed for the sake of the preservation of national security. By incorporating the issue of gender into the debate on the securitization of memory, this article elucidates the mismatch between positions of femininity and masculinity within the official national historiography of the Turkish state.
Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2022
Bu çalışma Demokrasi ve Özgürlükler Adası olarak düzenlenen Yassıada ile UNESCO Dünya Mirası List... more Bu çalışma Demokrasi ve Özgürlükler Adası olarak düzenlenen Yassıada ile UNESCO Dünya Mirası Listesi’nde bulunan Güney Afrika’daki Robben Adası’nın hafıza mekânları olarak nasıl kurgulandıklarını karanlık miras konusu bağlamında tartışmaktadır. Farklı coğrafyalarda kendilerine özgü tarihsel, politik ve toplumsal geçmişe sahip ve tarihsel olarak cezalandırma, tecrit etme, acı çekme ve ölümle özdeş düşünülen bu iki mekânın yaşadığı dönüşüm dikkate değerdir. Adaların benzer ve/veya farklı temalar ekseninde hem maddi hem de maddi olmayan müdahalelerle yeniden düzenlenmesi ve ziyarete açılması incelenmektedir. Bu bağlamda ulus-devletlerin karanlık geçmişleriyle yüzleştikleri yerlerden biri olarak inşa edilen hafıza mekânlarının politik amaçlar doğrultusunda toplumsal belleğe nasıl eklemlenmeye çalıştığı sorunsallaştırılmaktadır. Aynı zamanda karanlık miras yönetimi ile hafıza mekânlarının ticari kaygılar güden turizm merkezleri olarak sunulması arasındaki ilişki ele alınmaktadır. Bu çalışma ayrıca hafıza mekânlarının karanlık mirasın sergilendiği ve belli söylemlerle desteklendiği alanlar olarak farklı toplumsal aktörlerin hak ve katılım taleplerini ne kadar gözettiğini sorgulamaktadır.
Sosyoloji Dergisi, Nov 2021
Bu çalışma COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde daha görünür hâle gelen kadın emeği konusunu ücretli emek... more Bu çalışma COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde daha görünür hâle gelen kadın emeği konusunu ücretli emek ve bakım emeği ekseninde tartışmaktadır. Toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin önemli noktalarından olan kadınların ücretli ve karşılıksız emeği üzerinde pandemi koşullarının etkilerini incelemektedir. İlk olarak kadınların salgın süresince işgücüne katılımı, toplumsal cinsiyete bağlı gelişen istihdam modelleri ile ekonomilerdeki istihdam açıklarının eşitsiz emek koşullarıyla karşılanması ele alınmaktadır. İkinci olarak ev içi emeğin birincil toplumsal aktörleri olarak görülen kadınların bakım ekonomisinde üstlendikleri roller pandemi dönemine özgü koşullar bağlamında değerlendirilmektedir. Bu bağlamda COVID-19 pandemisi bir yandan ücretli kadın emeği ile bakım emeği üzerindeki baskın ataerkil denetimi bir kez daha gözlemlemek açısından turnusol kâğıdı işlevi üstlenmiştir. Diğer yandan salgın koşulları kapitalizm ile ataerkilliği kendilerine özgü eşitsizlikler yaratan ve farklı etki alanları olan iki ayrı sistem gibi düşünmenin ve bu doğrultuda analiz etmenin yeterli olmayacağını yeniden hatırlatmıştır. Kapitalizm ve ataerkillik krizi olarak da tanımlanabilen COVID-19 pandemisi hem ücretli hem de ücretsiz kadın emeğinin nasıl gözden çıkarılabildiği, değersizleştirildiği ve güvencesiz hale getirildiğini anlamak açısından kapitalist sistem ile ataerkil tahakküm ilişkileri arasındaki iş birliğini açığa çıkarmaktadır. Bu noktalardan hareketle bu çalışma, COVID-19 pandemisi sırasında belirginleşen ve derinleşen toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliği sorununa kamusal ve özel alandaki kadın emeğinin konumlandırılışı üzerinden ışık tutmayı amaçlamaktadır.
Book Chapters by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Diasporas, 2022
This chapter explores Turkey’s diaspora engagement politics concerning the Turkish and Armenian d... more This chapter explores Turkey’s diaspora engagement politics concerning the Turkish and Armenian diaspora communities during the rule of the Justice and Development Party and aims to show the specific strategies and discourses employed by the Turkish state to engage with these two communities. In line with this purpose, the chapter discusses how the Turkish population abroad has come to be recognised as a politically significant category of practice and constructed as a diasporic community by the Turkish state. It also concentrates on how the diaspora-making of the Turkish community is planned to become a counterforce against the Armenian diaspora through state-sanctioned institutions.
Oxford University Press, 2016
This chapter offers insight into a jurisdiction seldom written about in the context of hate crime... more This chapter offers insight into a jurisdiction seldom written about in the context of hate crime. It analyses the construction of the ‘ideal citizen’ in the creation of the Turkish State, observing that this process has informed the development of recently introduced so-called hate crime laws. These laws reflect the recognition of ‘legitimate victims’ and omit to recognize either ethnicity or sexual orientation as protected characteristics. This selective understanding of victimhood reflects the international approach to tackling hate crime, but also ‘illustrates the power of a heteronormative socio-political system for the trivialization of violence against LGBTI individuals’. The Turkish example thus shows that the development of hate crime laws can act as a political and ideological tool which maintains pre-established forms of discrimination.
Mentora Yayıncılık, 2020
The recent years have witnessed the escalation of urban renewal projects, gentrification processe... more The recent years have witnessed the escalation of urban renewal projects, gentrification processes and investments in the construction sector in various cities both in developing and developed countries. On the one hand, these current formations have led to the changes in urban space including architectural developments and large housing units. On the other hand, they have given rise to new confrontation areas between remembering and forgetting the city. This paper accordingly intends to explore the issue of urban (collective) memory in relation to urban renewal projects particularly in post-industrial cities. The effects of these projects on the (re) organization of living spaces are not straightforwardly confined to material interventions, such as the demolition of old buildings or the erection of new facilities, they also hold a claim to determine and influence memories as so-called intangible underlying forces of a city. When considered from this point of view, it might be alleged that the long-lasting conflict between sanctioned narratives and subaltern memories resurfaces through a series of city regeneration plans. Drawing on this argument, in this article I aim to demonstrate that it is inconclusive to portray urban renewal projects as merely causes for forms of amnesia in the city. It is mainly because new patterns of remembrance are introduced and imposed through targeting particular neighborhoods comprising specific ethnic, racial or religious identities as well as memories. Consequently, this paper puts forward the view that these projects might be also interpreted as sites of memory and oblivion since they lead to the articulation of diverse memories as well as the erosion of urban memory. This also comes to mean that the transmission and erasure of particular reminiscences through planning procedures impinge on individuals' understanding of the city. In this regard, I propose a critical examination of urban renewal projects as the reflections of the plurality of memories and the hierarchical positioning of these memories in a city.
Talks by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Mekan ve İnsan - 135: Kentsel dönüşüm projeleri ekseninde toplumsal bellek, kentlilik ve kent hakkı
Research Projects by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
SOBAG COVID-19 çağrısı kapsamında Tübitak tarafından desteklenen, 120K446 nolu Salgınla Mücadeled... more SOBAG COVID-19 çağrısı kapsamında Tübitak tarafından desteklenen, 120K446 nolu Salgınla Mücadelede Sağlık Çalışanlarının Yaşadığı Etik İkilemler ve Etik Değerlere Duyarlı Dirençlilik Geliştirilmesi Projesi ana konusu, COVID-19’la mücadelede ön plana çıkan tedavi ve koruma hizmetlerinde görev alan sağlık çalışanlarının bireysel ve kurumsal kapsamda etik farkındalığının tespiti, tanımlanması ve bu süreçte karşılaşılan etik ikilemlere bağlı uyuşmazlıkların çözülmesine katkıda bulunarak, etik farkındalığın ve kriz durumlarında dirençliliğin arttırılmasıdır. Bu konu çerçevesinde, projenin birinci ayağı olarak COVID-19 salgını sürecinde, 121 katılımcı sağlık çalışanının deneyimledikleri etik ikilem ve etik uyuşmazlıklar nicel yöntemlerle araştırılıp, raporlanmıştır. Diğer yandan, nicel ölçüm çalışması katılımcılarından onamı alınan 25 sağlık çalışanıyla derinlemesine görüşme yapılmış ve deneyimledikleri etik ikilem ve etik uyuşmazlıklarla baş etme yolları araştırılarak ve analiz edilmiştir. İkinci olarak, bu deneyimlerin analizinden çıkarılan temel soru ve sorunlar, biyoetik tartışmalarla bağlantısı kurulmak üzere tıp alanındaki uzmanlara iletilerek, salgınla bireysel ve kurumsal baş etme stratejilerine rehberlik edebilecek etik bir pusula hazırlanmasına katkıda bulunulmuştur.
Book Reviews by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
LSE Review of Books, May 1, 2013
Conference Presentations by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
In this paper I intend to discuss how the limited legislative response to the hate ... more In this paper I intend to discuss how the limited legislative response to the hate crime phenomenon in Turkey intersects with the dominant understanding and representations of heteronormativity on a societal level. On the one hand the exclusion of sexual orientation
as one of the protected characteristics from the hate crime legislation in Turkey is itself controversial. On the other hand prevailing forms of sexual stigma and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) individuals create a heterosexist culture of hate. This paper thus concentrates on
the power of a heteronormative socio- political system for the trivialisation of hate -motivated violence against LGBTI individuals.
At the same time it draws attention to the status of sexual minorities which challenges the structures of deep-seated patriarchy in the society and their lack of satisfactory empirical credibility to provoke compassionate thinking among the public for their own sufferings.
From this perspective in line with the institutionalised discrimination there is a strong public consensus with regard to the normalisation of violence against LGBTI individuals.
This paper presents a methodological discussion on the issues of gaining access to Armenian inter... more This paper presents a methodological discussion on the issues of gaining access to Armenian interviewees as the members of a hard-to-reach ethnic and religious minority community in Turkey. Drawing on my qualitative PhD research which is methodologically based upon critical discourse analysis of the media representations of Armenians and semi-structured interviews with forty-five Armenians, this paper focuses on only the findings concerning the field access, sampling design and the multi-layered relationship between the interviewer and the interviewees. During the five-month period, I interviewed twenty five male and twenty female Armenians. The main goal is to explore the ideas and experiences of Armenians about their understanding of the ‘Armenian issue’, the recent events concerning the Armenian community and their positioning within the nationalism debates and media representations. I employed the snowball sampling technique to reach interviewees which plays a key role in three critical stages of data collection such as locating, accessing and involving hidden and hard to reach populations (Cohen& Arieli 2011: 428). My position as a researcher and ‘assumed’ identity during the interview process evokes the question whether the responses would be different in some ways if the interviewer had been an Armenian researcher. Some interviewees expressed that they feel pleased to find out that such a sociological research is being carried out, and underlined its importance for the visibility of their community. However some of them seemed uncomfortable about voicing their views on such a delicate topic and stated that such studies only ‘(re)open the old wounds’.
This paper as only a part of my PhD research aims to discuss the forms of the transmission of gen... more This paper as only a part of my PhD research aims to discuss the forms of the transmission of genocidal memory of Armenians in Turkey. Drawing on forty-five semi-structured interviews with Armenians living in Istanbul I seek to explore how different patterns of remembrance and forgetting with regard to the Armenian genocide compromise with or challenge the official historiography. The tendency of the interviewees to (partially) remember and forget the genocidal process and to associate their current status with the past encounters also depend on the life experiences told by the elder family members and/or acquaintances. Furthermore the knowledge sharing between the generations of the Armenian community especially in terms of cultural trauma and suffering sheds light on the ways of suppression and coping strategies in the aftermath of the genocide. Against the backdrop of ongoing official denial of the genocide and the repressive mind-set propagated by the Turkish state the existing interpretations of the Armenian interviewees with regard to the preceding atrocities provide important insights about the linkage between the past and present. Thus in this paper I intend to point out distinct narratives of Armenians in Turkey that mainly stand for (selective) remembrance, ‘chosen amnesia’ (Buckley-Zistel 2006) and ‘forgetting as humiliated silence’ (Connerton 2008). Taking into consideration the previous studies on the memory and identity of the survivors of the Armenian genocide this analysis also draws attention to the differences and similarities between the generations in terms of the acts of remembrance and forgetting.
The status of the Armenian community in Turkey has been continuously situated at the ... more The status of the Armenian community in Turkey has been continuously situated at the problematical intersection point between the minority rights and the state-subsidized discriminatory policies. Although the debates at both national and international levels are mostly dominated by the theme of the politics of genocide recognition it is crucial to turn a critical gaze towards the media representations of Armenians in Turkey as well as their perceptions and experiences as the Turkish citizens. This paper is only a part of my PhD research exploring the ways in which a thorny issue of Armenians in Turkey becomes a site of contestation and negotiation of the discursive and quotidian (re)production of nationalism(s). Drawing on data from both of critical discourse analysis of the particular cases in three Turkish national newspapers and forty-five semi-structured interviews with Armenians living in Istanbul this qualitative study aims to present insights for the ongoing discussion on the 'Armenian question'. In this paper I address how the tension between the sense of belonging and the confrontation with discrimination are experienced by Armenians in Turkey as their attachment to the homeland and relationship with the state are dissimilar from the members of the Armenian Diaspora. Based on the semi-structured interviews I aim to present only a part of my findings that address the conflicting interpretations of the Armenian interviewees with regard to the notions of national belonging and domestic enemy. This analysis also reveals both the shifting and continuing tendencies across the generations of the Armenian interviewees.
This paper intends to address the discursive and representational facets of nationalism and their... more This paper intends to address the discursive and representational facets of nationalism and their encounters with the ‘different’ ethnic-religious identities. Moving beyond the analyses on the repressive and restrictive aspects of nationalisms, critical scholars draw attention to ‘how nationalisms are lived out in quotidian life, how these become part of the taken-for-granted social environment, how nationalisms produce particular accounts of history and cultural identity’ (Puri 2004:60)[1]. New approaches, as Ozkirimli (2010)[2] terms them, underline the discursive and contested traits of nationalism and national identity. These approaches were mainly affected by the ‘cultural turn’ in social sciences which ensued by the increasing social movements in the late 20th century that questioned the homogeneity of national cultures and identities (ibid: 169). This emphasis on the heterogeneity of cultures and identities also led to the academic quest for the new forms of nationalism(s) in different contexts which also stands for the discursive and representational facets of nationalism(s) and their relation to minority groups.
Following Finlayson’s (1998:105)[3]emphasis on the need for examination of ‘the contents of nationalist discourse’ and idea of exploring ‘the ways in which nationalism(s) operates as a specific kind of ideological discourse’, I aim to scrutinise how “Armenian question” in Turkey becomes a field to construct, reproduce and also challenge the discourse of nationalism(s) and nationhood. The critical discourse analysis of media representations of Armenians, as an ethnic and religious minority group, in Turkish national newspapers and the interviews concerning their ideas and daily experiences will allow me to explore the discursive and representational aspects of nationalism(s).
This paper attempts to focus on the Hate Crime Legislation in Turkey as a part of the ‘democracy ... more This paper attempts to focus on the Hate Crime Legislation in Turkey as a part of the ‘democracy reform package’ announced by the Justice and Development Party (JDP) in 2013. Although the enactment of hate crime legislation was brought to the agenda for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic, this new legislative attempt includes two controversial aspects. First the definition of hate crime fails to include the LGBT people and some different ethnic/religious groups within this current form of the law. Secondly, it might pose an additional threat to the problematical status of freedom of expression in Turkey due to the prioritization of the traditional Islamic values by the existing government. Through sociological lens I aim to discuss the ways in which this legal framework of hate crime overlooks the protection of rights of particular groups and also gives precedence to Islamic blasphemy violations.
Uploads
Journal Articles by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Book Chapters by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Talks by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Research Projects by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Book Reviews by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
Conference Presentations by Bengi Bezirgan-Tanış
as one of the protected characteristics from the hate crime legislation in Turkey is itself controversial. On the other hand prevailing forms of sexual stigma and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) individuals create a heterosexist culture of hate. This paper thus concentrates on
the power of a heteronormative socio- political system for the trivialisation of hate -motivated violence against LGBTI individuals.
At the same time it draws attention to the status of sexual minorities which challenges the structures of deep-seated patriarchy in the society and their lack of satisfactory empirical credibility to provoke compassionate thinking among the public for their own sufferings.
From this perspective in line with the institutionalised discrimination there is a strong public consensus with regard to the normalisation of violence against LGBTI individuals.
Following Finlayson’s (1998:105)[3]emphasis on the need for examination of ‘the contents of nationalist discourse’ and idea of exploring ‘the ways in which nationalism(s) operates as a specific kind of ideological discourse’, I aim to scrutinise how “Armenian question” in Turkey becomes a field to construct, reproduce and also challenge the discourse of nationalism(s) and nationhood. The critical discourse analysis of media representations of Armenians, as an ethnic and religious minority group, in Turkish national newspapers and the interviews concerning their ideas and daily experiences will allow me to explore the discursive and representational aspects of nationalism(s).
as one of the protected characteristics from the hate crime legislation in Turkey is itself controversial. On the other hand prevailing forms of sexual stigma and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) individuals create a heterosexist culture of hate. This paper thus concentrates on
the power of a heteronormative socio- political system for the trivialisation of hate -motivated violence against LGBTI individuals.
At the same time it draws attention to the status of sexual minorities which challenges the structures of deep-seated patriarchy in the society and their lack of satisfactory empirical credibility to provoke compassionate thinking among the public for their own sufferings.
From this perspective in line with the institutionalised discrimination there is a strong public consensus with regard to the normalisation of violence against LGBTI individuals.
Following Finlayson’s (1998:105)[3]emphasis on the need for examination of ‘the contents of nationalist discourse’ and idea of exploring ‘the ways in which nationalism(s) operates as a specific kind of ideological discourse’, I aim to scrutinise how “Armenian question” in Turkey becomes a field to construct, reproduce and also challenge the discourse of nationalism(s) and nationhood. The critical discourse analysis of media representations of Armenians, as an ethnic and religious minority group, in Turkish national newspapers and the interviews concerning their ideas and daily experiences will allow me to explore the discursive and representational aspects of nationalism(s).