Suchergebnisse

The current paper utilizes new approaches in intergroup conflict studies to examine the village guard system and its role in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Recent work suggests that a two-group paradigm in researching intergroup conflict leaves out important contextual factors that influence trajectories and outcomes of conflict. The current paper is based on a project examining the views of 63 active and retired village guards in five provinces in eastern Turkey. Participants were asked how they became village guards, their experiences while holding the position and after they've retired, their relationship with neighbors and neighboring villages, as well as their views on the peace process and whether they believe a lasting peace is possible. Results indicate that village guards became guards either because their tribe took arms as a whole, they felt economically there were few other options, or were pressured by the state. Participants also reported feeling otherized by both non-village guard neighbors as well as state actors, and were generally positive about a peaceful outcome to the conflict but were concerned about the sincerity of the government. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

The current paper utilizes new approaches in intergroup conflict studies to examine the village guard system and its role in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Recent work suggests that a two-group paradigm in researching intergroup conflict leaves out important contextual factors that influence trajectories and outcomes of conflict. The current paper is based on a project examining the views of 63 active and retired village guards in five provinces in eastern Turkey. Participants were asked how they became village guards, their experiences while holding the position and after they've retired, their relationship with neighbors and neighboring villages, as well as their views on the peace process and whether they believe a lasting peace is possible. Results indicate that village guards became guards either because their tribe took arms as a whole, they felt economically there were few other options, or were pressured by the state. Participants also reported feeling otherized by both non-village guard neighbors as well as state actors, and were generally positive about a peaceful outcome to the conflict but were concerned about the sincerity of the government.

Prejudice reduction research has focused on reducing negative regard as a means to improve relations between various groups (e.g., religious, ethnic, political). Though positive regard between groups may be created, these forms of contact and common identification do not alter policy orientations of advantaged groups toward disadvantaged ones. Rather than intergroup contact, it is suggested that a collective action model of prejudice reduction (Dixon, J., Levine, M., Reicher, S., & Durrheim, K. (2012). Beyond prejudice: Are negative evaluations the problem and is getting us to like one another more the solution? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35, 411-425) would create ties between disadvantaged groups to work toward beneficial policy change. We seek to show that the Gezi Park protests in Taksim, İstanbul functioned as an intergroup phenomenon, requiring the cooperation of a number of disadvantaged groups (e.g., feminists, Kurds) working together to improve the status of all present. In a series of interviews with 34 activists from the Gezi Park protests, participants were to reflect on their individual and group-based experiences during their time in the Gezi Park protests. Data indicate that although a few groups remained distant or disconnected during the protests, a common ground was achieved such that some participants were able to overcome past prejudices. Data also indicate that through group perceptions and individuals' descriptions of events, groups who had previously not been able to cooperate were able to work and stick together at Gezi. Results also imply, in line with Dixon et al. (2012), that if disadvantaged groups work together, they might change the position of their groups and improve each group's disadvantaged position via collective action.

Prejudice reduction research has focused on reducing negative regard as a means to improve relations between various groups (e.g., religious, ethnic, political). Though positive regard between groups may be created, these forms of contact and common identification do not alter policy orientations of advantaged groups toward disadvantaged ones. Rather than intergroup contact, it is suggested that a collective action model of prejudice reduction (Dixon, J., Levine, M., Reicher, S., & Durrheim, K. (2012). Beyond prejudice: Are negative evaluations the problem and is getting us to like one another more the solution? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35, 411-425) would create ties between disadvantaged groups to work toward beneficial policy change. We seek to show that the Gezi Park protests in Taksim, İstanbul functioned as an intergroup phenomenon, requiring the cooperation of a number of disadvantaged groups (e.g., feminists, Kurds) working together to improve the status of all present. In a series of interviews with 34 activists from the Gezi Park protests, participants were to reflect on their individual and group-based experiences during their time in the Gezi Park protests. Data indicate that although a few groups remained distant or disconnected during the protests, a common ground was achieved such that some participants were able to overcome past prejudices. Data also indicate that through group perceptions and individuals' descriptions of events, groups who had previously not been able to cooperate were able to work and stick together at Gezi. Results also imply, in line with Dixon et al. (2012), that if disadvantaged groups work together, they might change the position of their groups and improve each group's disadvantaged position via collective action. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Militia groups have only recently started to attract scholarly attention in the literature on internal conflicts. This attention is mostly focused on either the causes of their emergence or their functions and performance during the conflict. The role of militia groups in post-conflict processes, however, has not been adequately addressed. This article intends to fill this gap by analyzing the case of village guards, a type of pro-government militia system in Turkey, based on qualitative evidence from field research. While the dominant narrative in the literature identifies militia groups as spoilers in peace processes, the article shows that militias do not act as spoilers under certain conditions. In the case of the village guard system in Turkey, the permanent integration of militias into the state's regular military apparatus prevented militia groups from acting as spoilers. It then argues that the permanent integration of wartime militia systems is a consequence of two factors: militia networking and a lack of comprehensive peace-building structures.

Academic Collective Action (ACA) stands as a small-scale collective action for social change toward liberation, independence and equity in academia. Academic collectives in Turkey, as an example of ACA, prefigure building academia outside the university by emphasizing the extent to which neoliberal academia has already prepared the groundwork for more recent waves of oppression. In this research, we aim to reveal the manifestations of neoliberalism in ACA as captured with prominent social/political psychological concepts of collective action. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 dismissed academics to understand the social and political psychological processes in academic collectives. The narrations of ACA were accompanied by manifestations of neoliberalism as experienced by dismissed academics. We found that, as follows from the existing conceptual tools of collective action, neoliberalism serves as an embedded contextual factor in the process of ACA. This becomes mostly visible for grievances but also for collective identifications, politicization, motivations, finding/allocating resources and sustaining academic collectives. We provide a preliminary basis to understand the role of neoliberalism in organization, mobilization and empowerment dynamics of collective action.

Academic Collective Action (ACA) stands as a small-scale collective action for social change toward liberation, independence and equity in academia. Academic collectives in Turkey, as an example of ACA, prefigure building academia outside the university by emphasizing the extent to which neoliberal academia has already prepared the groundwork for more recent waves of oppression. In this research, we aim to reveal the manifestations of neoliberalism in ACA as captured with prominent social/political psychological concepts of collective action. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 dismissed academics to understand the social and political psychological processes in academic collectives. The narrations of ACA were accompanied by manifestations of neoliberalism as experienced by dismissed academics. We found that, as follows from the existing conceptual tools of collective action, neoliberalism serves as an embedded contextual factor in the process of ACA. This becomes mostly visible for grievances but also for collective identifications, politicization, motivations, finding/allocating resources and sustaining academic collectives. We provide a preliminary basis to understand the role of neoliberalism in organization, mobilization and empowerment dynamics of collective action. ; reviewed ; acceptedVersion

Academic Collective Action (ACA) stands as a small-scale collective action for social change toward liberation, independence and equity in academia. Academic collectives in Turkey, as an example of ACA, prefigure building academia outside the university by emphasizing the extent to which neoliberal academia has already prepared the groundwork for more recent waves of oppression. In this research, we aim to reveal the manifestations of neoliberalism in ACA as captured with prominent social/political psychological concepts of collective action. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 dismissed academics to understand the social and political psychological processes in academic collectives. The narrations of ACA were accompanied by manifestations of neoliberalism as experienced by dismissed academics. We found that, as follows from the existing conceptual tools of collective action, neoliberalism serves as an embedded contextual factor in the process of ACA. This becomes mostly visible for grievances but also for collective identifications, politicization, motivations, finding/allocating resources and sustaining academic collectives. We provide a preliminary basis to understand the role of neoliberalism in organization, mobilization and empowerment dynamics of collective action. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Militia groups have only recently started to attract scholarly attention in the literature on internal conflicts. This attention is mostly focused on either the causes of their emergence or their functions and performance during the conflict. The role of militia groups in post-conflict processes, however, has not been adequately addressed. This article intends to fill this gap by analyzing the case of village guards, a type of pro-government militia system in Turkey, based on qualitative evidence from field research. While the dominant narrative in the literature identifies militia groups as spoilers in peace processes, the article shows that militias do not act as spoilers under certain conditions. In the case of the village guard system in Turkey, the permanent integration of militias into the state's regular military apparatus prevented militia groups from acting as spoilers. It then argues that the permanent integration of wartime militia systems is a consequence of two factors: militia networking and a lack of comprehensive peace-building structures.

1. Research Team -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Conducting field research amid violence: Experiences from Colombia -- 3. Keepers of local know-how in conflict: Conversations between research assistant and researcher -- 4. Conceptualizing the interpreter in field interviews in post-conflict settings: Reflections from psychological research in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- 5. Doing research on Turkish-Armenian relations in Turkey, Armenia, and Diaspora as Turkish researchers: The challenges and opportunities of being an insider and outsider -- 6. Confronting Conflicting Attitudes about Racial Bias in the United States: How Communicator Identities Shape Audience Reception -- 2. Research Population -- 7. Data collection with indigenous people: Fieldwork experiences from Chile -- 8. On the borders: Research with refugees of conflict -- 9. Keeping the trust – challenges in embedding yourself in protest contexts -- 10. Conducting Field Research on Collective Victimhood in the Indian Subcontinent -- 11. Kurdish Alevis in the Turkish-Kurdish peace process: Reflections on conducting research in Turkey's "buffer zone" -- 3. Practical Applications -- 12. Implementing Social Psychological Interventions: Challenges and Opportunities -- 13. Sense and Sensitivities: Researching children and young people's identity and social attitudes in a divided society -- 14. The challenges and promises of using RCTs in conflict environments -- 4. Reflections and Meta-reflections -- 15. When research and experience merge: A reflexive assessment on studying peace in conflict zones -- 16. A reflection on the politics of knowledge production at South African universities: When black identity meets legacies of institutional racism -- 17. Being a wanderer, stranger, public enemy and a "useful idiot": A few personal remarks on performing and communicating psychological research in conflicted areas -- 18. Recovering the everyday in peacebuilding through reflexive praxis: An epistemic and methodological intervention -- 19. Concluding Remarks.

Chapter 1- Introduction -- Chapter 2- An overview of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict narratives and their effects on intergroup relations -- Chapter 3- Understanding the Implications of Victimhood Identity in Turkey's Kurdish Conflict -- Chapter 4- Collective Identity in Kurds: From Collective Memory of Rights Violations to Rights Consciousness -- Chapter 5- Oath to Death: An Analysis of Sait Kırmızıtoprak's Contested Memory -- Chapter 6- The other of the other: Syrian refugees from the perspective of Kurdish minority in Turkey -- Chapter 7- From Collective Action to Collective Resistance: Working with the Saturday Mothers -- Chapter 8- Reflexivity and Positionality in Qualitative Research: On Being an Outsider in the Field -- Chapter 9- How did 'Turkish' psychology become the mainstream? A discourse analysis on the trajectory of its colonial legacy -- Chapter 10- Conclusion.