PSA Turkish Politics Specialist Group hosted a virtual book launch event in which Dr Spyros Sofos presented his book Turkish Politics and ‘The People’ Mass Mobilisation and Populism, published by Edinburgh University Press. The book was discussed by Dr Evren Balta (Özyeğin University) and Dr Toygar Sinan Baykan (Kirklareli University). Sofos’s presentation was followed by feedback from discussants and a Q&A session. Spyros Sofos is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre.

This panel attempts to explore the interconnectedness of Turkey’s domestic and foreign politics over the past two decades. How do geopolitical histories and imaginaries affect Turkey’s foreign policy? What are the links between everyday culture and Turkey’s foreign policy? To what extent have global and regional developments impacted and informed domestic politics? In what ways has foreign policy been used as a technique of governance?

Evren Balta is Professor of International Relations and chair of the International Relations Department at Özyeğin University. Lisel Hintz is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Spyros A. Sofos is a Researcher at the LSE Middle East Centre.

Many on the Left want to return to a politics of class, not populism. They point to Left populist parties not reaching their goals. But Chantal Mouffe argues that as the COVID-19 pandemic has put protection from harm at the top of the agenda, a Left populist strategy is now more relevant than ever. Is this a chance to realign around a green democratic transformation?

Paolo Gerbaudo: Sociologist and political theorist, director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King’s College London and author of ‘The Mask and the Flag: Populism and Global Protest’ and ‘The Digital Party: Political Organisation and Online Democracy’. Chantal Mouffe: Emeritus Professor of Political Theory at the University of Westminster, London. Her most recent books are ‘Agonistics. Thinking the World Politically’, ‘Podemos. In the Name of the People’ and ‘For a Left Populism’. Spyros A. Sofos; Researcher and research coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University. Chair, Walid el Houri: Researcher, journalist and filmmaker. He is partnerships editor at openDemocracy and lead editor of its North Africa, West Asia project.

The US elections have exposed a deeply polarised society where far-right populism is alive and well.

How will progressives respond? Hear from:

Jeremy Gilbert Professor of Cultural and Political Theory at the University of East London and the current editor of the journal New Formations. Seyla Benhabib Professor Emerita of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University and Senior Research Scholar and Professor Adjunct of Law at Columbia University. Spyros A. Sofos Researcher and research coordinator at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University. Chair: Walid el Houri Researcher, journalist and filmmaker. He is partnerships editor at openDemocracy and lead editor of its North Africa, West Asia project.

A documentary series about the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1821 and the creation of the modern Greek state.

Duration: 8×45′, 1×70′  Produced by Anemon Productions for SKAI TV Greece.

Ingmar Karlsson and Spyros Sofos talk about the EU-Turkey Deal and more.