Violence against women and femicide is a major social problem in Turkey. During Erdoğan’s two decades in power, there has been a substantial increase in femicides. In this seminar, I aim to discuss this situation and the gender politics of the increasingly authoritarian governments under Erdoğan’s leadership with Achille Mbembe’s concept of “necropolitics”. I argue, that the closure lawsuit against the We Will Stop Femicides Platform of Turkey, one of the most active feminist organizations in Turkey, and the discourses that emerged during the case provide us with clues on understanding the gendered necropolitics of the government. Finally, I would like to discuss the strategies used by the We Will Stop Femicides Platform of Turkey in seeking justice for murdered women and what this reveals for understanding the organization and mobilization of the feminist movement in Turkey.
Inan Özdemir Tastan received her Ph.D. in 2013 from Ankara University Institute of Social Sciences, writing her thesis on the rhetoric of radical left movements in Turkey in the 1970s. Her research interests include political communication, social movements, and media studies. Her recent publications have focused mainly on the electoral speeches of political leaders and their perception of democracy; the increasing religionization of politics in Turkey; political debates on Syrian immigration; radical media, and resistance under Erdogan’s rule. She has published several papers and book chapters. Moreover, she is the co-author of the books Seçimlik Demokrasi (2018) (Voting Democracy) and Vaatten Duaya, Anayasadan Kur'an'a: Siyasette Dinselleşme (2019) (From Promise to Prayer, Constitution to Koran: Religionization of Politics). She is a EUME Fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien and a fellow of the Center for Comparative Research on Democracy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Lana Sirri completed her PhD studies at the Centre for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2016. She is a researcher and activist whose work focuses on the intersection of religion, gender, and sexuality, with a critical examination of Islamic feminist thought. Her book, "Islamic Feminism: Discourses on Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Islam", was published in 2020 in Routledge Book Series "Critical Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality." As knowledge valorization and societal outreach are indispensable to her academic journey, Lana also published a non-fiction book titled "Einführung in islamische Feminismen" in 2017 and 2020, which aims to make different perspectives of Islamic feminism accessible to lay readers. Currently, Lana is embarking on a creative endeavor to adapt her book into a graphic novel designed as an empowerment tool for Muslim youth in Germany. Lana is an associated expert of the Centre for Intersectional Justice (CIJ) and co-founder of the Berlin Muslim feminists group, an initiative committed to Muslim ethics and an intersectional feminism that is inclusive of all.
Please note that the Berliner Seminar will take place on-site at the Forum Transregionale Studien. We kindly ask for prior registration via eume(at)trafo-berlin.de. Depending on approval by the speaker(s), the Berliner Seminar will be recorded. All audio recordings of the Berliner Seminar are available on SoundCloud.