Irish Network for Middle Eastern and North African Studies

By Trent Tetterton Traditional scholarship has forced the trajectories of subnational movements such as uprisings, revolutions, and secessions into a reductive framework of understanding defined by “success” or “failure.” In the case of secession—a term functionally conceptualized as “an attempt by an ethnic group claiming a homeland to withdraw its territory from the authority of a larger state” and applied to movements both to create new states or increase regional autonomy (Horowitz 2011: 158-159) —, “success” has been considered the realization of a secessionist group’s aim. Such an outcome, scholars contend, has historically rested on effective external assistance and international recognition (Horowitz 2011: 159; Dugard and Raič 2006: 99; Fabry 2011: 251).     Yet, despite the arguable need to understand what leads to/detracts from “success,” in the traditional sense, some have challenged this focus. Schwedler, for example, argues that centering on success as state-...

In this podcast, we talk to Aslı Vatansever, author of the book At the Margins of Academia. Exile, Precariousness, and Subjectivity (Brill, 2020) about academic precarity, political repression, and the possibility for resistance.  Aslı Vatansever (PhD, University of Hamburg, 2010) is a sociologist of work and social stratification with a focus on precarious academic labour. After she got dismissed from her position as associate professor and banned from public service in Turkey due to her participation in the Academics for Peace campaign in 2016, she has been hosted as guest researcher at various institutions in Germany and Italy.  Her ongoing research project at Bard College Berlin investigates forms of academic labour activism in Europe. Her books include Sources of Islamism in the Ottoman Empire (2010), Ready to Teach Anything. The Transformation of the Academic into Unskilled Worker (2015, co-authored with Meral Gezici-Yalçın), and At the Margins of Academia. Exile, Pr...