Contemporary Populism: Democracy, Identity and Foreign Policy

Date: November 27, 2015 Friday
Time: 9.45-16.00
Place: santralistanbul Campus, E1-301

The conference is organized by İstanbul Bilgi University Department of International Relations in collaboration with University of Westminster  Centre for the Study of Democracy-Department of Politics and International Relations.

The language of the conference is English; there will be no simultaneous translation.

For registration, please send an e-mail to hatice.sonmez@bilgi.edu.tr

PROGRAM

09.45-10.00       Introductory Remarks 
Dibyesh Anand (Head of Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)
Pınar Uyan-Semerci (Head of Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University)

10.00-11.30       Populism, the State, Minorities and the Crisis of Secularism
Chair: Assoc. Prof. Pınar Uyan-Semerci

Desecularization and Islamization of the State in Turkey under the AKP Rule 
Prof. Ayhan Kaya (Jean Monnet Chair, Department of International Relations and European Institute, İstanbul Bilgi University)

Right Wing Populism and the New Global India
Dr. Nitasha Kaul (Centre for the Study of Democracy-Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)

Alevis at the European Court of Human Rights: Prospects and Consequences
Prof. Murat Borovalı (Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University)

11.30-13.00       Populism, Leadership and Democracy
Chair: Prof. Gencer Özcan

Narratives of Populism and the Iranian state: Populist Discourses from Ahmadinejad to Rouhani 
Dr. Farhang Morady and Dr Thomas Moore (Centre for the Study of Democracy-Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)

Populism through Foreign Policy Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of President Erdogan’s Election Speeches
Assoc. Prof. Senem Aydın-Düzgit (Jean Monnet Chair, Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University)

Populism, the State and Representative Democracy: Social Movements in Senegal
Dr. Hannah Cross (Centre for the Study of Democracy-Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)

The World According to Ahmet Davutoğlu
Asst. Prof. Mehmet Ali Tuğtan (Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University)

13.00-14.00       Lunch

14.00-15.30       Beyond the Domestic-Foreign Policy Divide
Chair: Assoc. Prof. Emre Erdoğan

Turkish Strategy in the Era of Middle Eastern Instability: Populism as an Instrument
Assoc. Prof. Yaprak Gürsoy (Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University)

“Othering China”: The role of China Threat in India’s Emerging Power Identity
Dr. Ipshita Basu (Centre for the Study of Democracy-Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)

The role of Populist Nationalisms in China and India in Legitimizing Colonial Imperatives of the States in Tibet and Kashmir
Dr. Dibyesh Anand (Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Head of Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster)

15.30-16.00       Concluding Remarks by Dibyesh Anand and Senem Aydın-Düzgit