Papers by Necla Acik
In Ayhan Işık, Gülay Kılıçaslan, Behzat Hiroğlu, Kübra Sağır, Çağrı Kurt (eds.), Istanbul: Dipnot yayinlari, 709-718, 2023
Bu makalede, Türkiye’de Kürt sorununun şekillenmesinde toplumsal cinsiyetin nasıl bir rol oynadığ... more Bu makalede, Türkiye’de Kürt sorununun şekillenmesinde toplumsal cinsiyetin nasıl bir rol oynadığını, Kürt Toplumsal Cinsiyet Çalışmaları’nın bir disiplin olarak son on yılda katettiği mesafe ile beraber düşünerek eleştirel bir şekilde incelemek istiyorum. Bu eleştirel bakış açısının alternatif fikir ve perspektifleri çoğaltarak Kürt kadınlarının toplumsal ve siyasi rolü üzerine düşünmeyi güçlendireceğine inanıyorum.
Migrantischer Feminismus in der Frauen:bewegung in Deutschland (1985-2000), 2021
Autobiographical essay on being a migrant feminist in Germany 1980 and 1990s.
Kurdish Studies Journal, 2023
Established in 2020, the Kurdish Gender Studies Network (kgsn) is an online epistemic community t... more Established in 2020, the Kurdish Gender Studies Network (kgsn) is an online epistemic community that brings together activists and scholars dedicated to advancing knowledge in Kurdish gender and sexuality studies. This paper aims to introduce the network to a larger public while situating the formation of the kgsn in relation to the growth of Kurdish gender studies (kgs), and the increasing influence of women and queer scholars in Kurdish studies (ks) since 2010. It highlights that both kgsn and ks have been greatly influenced by the conditions shaped by the colonial legacy surrounding Kurdistan and the Kurdish issue while discussing the ways in which Kurdish women's and gender studies were often marginalized in ks. As Kurdish women scholars and mem-açık et al.
Sociology, 2019
This article considers the relationship between (mis)recognition, inequality and social activism ... more This article considers the relationship between (mis)recognition, inequality and social activism through the lens of young Muslims' response to their positioning as 'suspect communities'. It draws on qualitative empirical research to suggest that the institutionalisation of misrecognition, including through the preventative ('Prevent') arm of UK counter-terrorism strategy, may mobilise young Muslims to resist 'suspect' status and make claims to the right to equal esteem. This forms part of the motivation towards social activism that mitigates the harm inflicted by misrecognition. However, the particular historical and cultural form of the institutionalisation of misrecognition, which renders 'preventing Prevent' a priority for young Muslims, may compound their status subordination. Drawing on critiques of the politics of recognition, and contextualising findings in debates on racism, anti-Muslim attitudes and societal securitisation, the article concludes that fighting misrecognition with recognition politics misplaces the role of power in subject formation and constrains young Muslims' political agency.
Gender, Place and Culture, 2019
Focusing on the institutional aspects of the Kurdish women’smovement in Turkey since the 1990s th... more Focusing on the institutional aspects of the Kurdish women’smovement in Turkey since the 1990s the article shows howit established a consciousness within the Kurdish nationalmovement that gender equality is a cornerstone of democ-racy and ethnic rights. We frame this through theories ofenacting intersectional multilayered citizenship and identifythree key interventions: autonomous women’s assemblies,women’s quotas in pro-Kurdish rights parties and the co-chair system where all elected positions within the pro-Kurdish parties are jointly occupied by a male and female.These have achieved a better representation of women informal politics, rendered gender equality and sexual violencelegitimate subjects of politics and contributed to establish-ing an aspiration for a more dialogic political ethos. Whilethe women’s movement’s close affiliation with the Kurdishnational movement has been highly effective, it also in partcircumscribes gender roles to fit its agendas.
Based on the analysis of the European Social Survey (2002), this study explores the nature of ci... more Based on the analysis of the European Social Survey (2002), this study explores the nature of civic engagement and identifies three main dimensions: political activism (such as political party or political action group involvement or demonstrations), involvement in voluntary associations and political consumerism (boycotting, ‘buycotting’, and signing petitions). While political activism and associational involvement accords well with traditional studies of civic engagement, political consumerism points to a new pattern of political behaviour that has become popular in Europe in the past decade. Moreover, modelling the three dimensions of civic engagement demonstrates that the socio-demographic profile of these activists differ from each other. Particularly, political consumerism appeals more to people who have been traditionally regarded as less active, such as women, the young, and those living in urban areas. These findings suggest that political consumerism reduces the participation gap between different social groups and might carry important lessons for participative democracy.
Book Reviews by Necla Acik
Pluto's State Crime series is dedicated to understanding state crime, showcasing the best of new ... more Pluto's State Crime series is dedicated to understanding state crime, showcasing the best of new state crime scholarship. This is work which challenges official and legal definitions of crime, but on any reasonable definition (whether based on national and international law or a concept such as social harm) crimes condoned, committed or instigated by states dwarf most other forms of crime. Genocide, war crimes, torture, and the enormous scale of corruption that afflicts nations such as Turkey, the focus of this volume, make everyday crimes against the persons and property of European citizens appear almost trivial. This series grows out of the International State Crime Initiative's work on advancing our understanding of state violence and corruption and of resistance to them. The series is driven by a new and sophisticated wave of state crime scholarship; one in which theoretical development drawing on a variety of social scientific traditions is informed by courageous and rigorous empirical research.
Journal of International Women’s Studies, 2022
Handan Çağlayan’s book, Women in the Kurdish Movement: Mothers, Comrades and Goddesses, offers a ... more Handan Çağlayan’s book, Women in the Kurdish Movement: Mothers, Comrades and Goddesses, offers a unique and rich ethnography of the Kurdish women’s movement. Çağlayan covers a crucial period in the formation of Kurdish women as agents of social change from 1980s to mid-2000 in North Kurdistan/Turkey. Her analysis provides a comprehensive gendered reading of the Kurdish women’s movement as a collective social movement, centred around rights-based social justice approaches within an anti-patriarchal and anti-colonial framework. Çağlayan’s engagement with the movement is not purely academic. Her empirical work covers over three decades of political and union activism with intermittent periods of study and research. This resonates with what the Indigenous scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith points out, specifically that researching indigenous and marginalised communities is a lifetime commitment and requires working within the communities.
Kurdish Studies Journal, 2024
Mustafa Kemal Topal’s book provides a rich and detail study of women’s involvement in the armed s... more Mustafa Kemal Topal’s book provides a rich and detail study of women’s involvement in the armed struggle of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for the transformation and liberation of Kurdistan. The book provides good insight into major developments in the decolonial struggle of the PKK which has been exceptional in its successful mobilization of women, with around a third of PKK’s 15,000 guerrilla being women. It is a rare and exceptionally rich study into the experiences, perceptions, and convictions of women fighters within the PKK and provides a thorough analysis of the gender politics both within Kurdish society at large and within the PKK. The book values the immense contribution of women to both the civil and armed Kurdish liberation struggle and argues that the successive absorption of three generations of women fighters in the PKK has profoundly transformed the PKK, both ideologically and in its functioning as organisation. At the same time, the book stays attentive to ongoing gender conflicts within the organisation, showing how women have navigated patriarchal structures both within society at large and within the party itself.
Talks by Necla Acik
Minorities in the UK by Necla Acik
Border Crossing, 2014
Overqualification among migrants, defined as being employed in a job that is below their acquired... more Overqualification among migrants, defined as being employed in a job that is below their acquired skill levels through education, is well-known. Recent studies show that overqualification is more likely amongst migrants who work in the older EU15 member states. Similar studies carried out in the UK supports the argument that minorities suffer from ethnic and religious penalties in the labour market, especially among high skilled groups. Despite the relatively high employment rates of A8 migrants in the UK, they tend to be overwhelmingly employed in elementary occupations (i.e. requiring low skill levels) and likely to be underpaid. Very few studies have examined the propensity of overqualification of A8 nationals working in the UK. We have adopted the skills mismatch model to examine the skills level mismatch for the A8 migrants. Therefore, a time-series analysis was carried out using the Annual Population Survey for the period of 2005 to 2012 which marks the beginning and end of restrictions for access to the labour market for A8 nationals across the European Union. This has also given us a time span of 8 years during which the UK economy fall into recession from 2007 onwards.. The evidence shows that A8 nationals have been subject to ethnic penalties in the high end of the labour market irrespective of the impact of the financial crisis. It is very common that they take up posts for which they are overqualified, or in other words, overeducated. This is particularly important as discrimination at that level is likely to have negative impact on economic recovery by suppressing the full skill and entrepreneurial potential of this particular group in the UK labour market.
Turkish Migration Conference by Necla Acik
by Transnational Press London, Ibrahim Sirkeci, Prof. Dr. Ali Tilbe, Betül Dilara ŞEKER, Dilek Cindoglu, Sinan Zeyneloglu, Mehmet Rauf Kesici, Ülkü Sezgi Sözen, M. Murat Yüceşahin, Besim Can ZIRH, Necla Acik, bediz yilmaz, Petr Kubálek, and Hakan KILIC Turkish Migration Conference 2015 was held at Charles University Prague from 25 to 27 June 2015 a... more Turkish Migration Conference 2015 was held at Charles University Prague from 25 to 27 June 2015 and attended by over 200 academics presenting research on Turkish migration, migration in, to, through and from Turkey. The conference was chaired by Ibrahim Sirkeci, and co-chaired by Philip Martin, Jeffrey Cohen, Wadim Strielkowski and Inna Cabelkova.
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Papers by Necla Acik
Book Reviews by Necla Acik
Talks by Necla Acik
Minorities in the UK by Necla Acik
Turkish Migration Conference by Necla Acik