Bülent Batuman
Biographic Data
| ID | 1079874 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bülent Batuman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bülent |
| FAMILY NAME | Batuman |
| SIGNATURE | BATUMAN B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bilkent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4921-3261 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Tamamlanmamış Kentsel Devrim
Ambivalent spaces/moving bodies
Neoliberalisation through naming
Place names play an important role in neoliberal urban development. The naming of a housing estate, especially a gated community, is instrumental in constructing the image and intended sense of community of an estate. This paper scrutinises the naming of housing estates in Incek, one of the most prestigious suburbs of Ankara, Turkey. While development in the area began with middle-class housing cooperatives, today Incek is marketed as an idyllic …
Night Hawks” Watching Over the City
Technological advances have enormously increased surveillance techniques in the last three decades. In this article, we scrutinize the re-instatement of bekçi, the traditional night watchmen patrolling the residential neighborhoods in Turkey, which was obsolete for decades. We analyze the re-emergence of the bekçi in relation to the dynamics of urbanization, and with a perspective of power and surveillance. Our discussion bridges the Foucauldian …
Urban design—or lack thereof—as policy
Everywhere Is Taksim”
This article discusses the politics of public space through the particular example of Taksim Square in Istanbul. Tracing Taksim’s history since the early twentieth century, the article analyzes the instrumentalization of public space in nation-building, the socialization of politics within the context of postwar rapid urbanization, and the (re)politicization of public space under neoliberal Islamism. Finally it arrives at an assessment of the nat…
City profile
Minarets without Mosques
This paper discusses urban politics in contemporary Turkey through a particular architectural phenomenon: that of minarets without mosques. Local administrations under neo-liberal Islamists propose urban regeneration projects which require extensive demolitions in squatter areas. Yet, their reluctance to tear down minarets creates ruinscapes in which minarets seem to have miraculously survived destruction. In this regard, the minarets without mos…
Early Republican Ankara”
This article discusses the emergence of a particular historical representation: that of “early republican Ankara.” Becoming the capital of the newly born Turkish nation-state in 1923, Ankara was conceived as the symbolic locus of Turkish modernization. The old Ottoman town was rapidly transformed into a modern capital. However, “early republican Ankara” as a historiographic category is a product of the 1990s. In this period, two distinct represen…
The shape of the nation
Organic Intellectuals of Urban Politics? Turkish Urban Professionals as Political Agents, 1960—80
The post-war period in Turkey witnessed a rapid phase of urbanisation that widely shaped the social and political environment during the 1960s and the 1970s. In this period, which was marked by the extensive politicisation of the urban masses, urban problems entered into the realm of daily politics and urban politics evolved into an autonomous realm of struggle. This article analyses the role played by Turkish architects and urban planners, who w…
Imagination as Appropriation
Analyzing the spatial genealogy of the student riots in May 1960 in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, this article investigates the relation between space and identity politics. Besides the social practices it contains, the “publicness” of space is also marked by the meanings and values attributed to the space by various social actors. The political participation of the social groups in public sphere becomes possible through spatial appropriati…
The shape of the nation
City profile
Everywhere Is Taksim”
This article discusses the politics of public space through the particular example of Taksim Square in Istanbul. Tracing Taksim’s history since the early twentieth century, the article analyzes the instrumentalization of public space in nation-building, the socialization of politics within the context of postwar rapid urbanization, and the (re)politicization of public space under neoliberal Islamism. Finally it arrives at an assessment of the nat…
Minarets without Mosques
This paper discusses urban politics in contemporary Turkey through a particular architectural phenomenon: that of minarets without mosques. Local administrations under neo-liberal Islamists propose urban regeneration projects which require extensive demolitions in squatter areas. Yet, their reluctance to tear down minarets creates ruinscapes in which minarets seem to have miraculously survived destruction. In this regard, the minarets without mos…
Imagination as Appropriation
Analyzing the spatial genealogy of the student riots in May 1960 in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, this article investigates the relation between space and identity politics. Besides the social practices it contains, the “publicness” of space is also marked by the meanings and values attributed to the space by various social actors. The political participation of the social groups in public sphere becomes possible through spatial appropriati…
Organic Intellectuals of Urban Politics? Turkish Urban Professionals as Political Agents, 1960—80
The post-war period in Turkey witnessed a rapid phase of urbanisation that widely shaped the social and political environment during the 1960s and the 1970s. In this period, which was marked by the extensive politicisation of the urban masses, urban problems entered into the realm of daily politics and urban politics evolved into an autonomous realm of struggle. This article analyses the role played by Turkish architects and urban planners, who w…
Night Hawks” Watching Over the City
Technological advances have enormously increased surveillance techniques in the last three decades. In this article, we scrutinize the re-instatement of bekçi, the traditional night watchmen patrolling the residential neighborhoods in Turkey, which was obsolete for decades. We analyze the re-emergence of the bekçi in relation to the dynamics of urbanization, and with a perspective of power and surveillance. Our discussion bridges the Foucauldian …
Urban design—or lack thereof—as policy
Early Republican Ankara”
This article discusses the emergence of a particular historical representation: that of “early republican Ankara.” Becoming the capital of the newly born Turkish nation-state in 1923, Ankara was conceived as the symbolic locus of Turkish modernization. The old Ottoman town was rapidly transformed into a modern capital. However, “early republican Ankara” as a historiographic category is a product of the 1990s. In this period, two distinct represen…
Imagination as Appropriation
Analyzing the spatial genealogy of the student riots in May 1960 in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, this article investigates the relation between space and identity politics. Besides the social practices it contains, the “publicness” of space is also marked by the meanings and values attributed to the space by various social actors. The political participation of the social groups in public sphere becomes possible through spatial appropriati…
Organic Intellectuals of Urban Politics? Turkish Urban Professionals as Political Agents, 1960—80
The post-war period in Turkey witnessed a rapid phase of urbanisation that widely shaped the social and political environment during the 1960s and the 1970s. In this period, which was marked by the extensive politicisation of the urban masses, urban problems entered into the realm of daily politics and urban politics evolved into an autonomous realm of struggle. This article analyses the role played by Turkish architects and urban planners, who w…
The shape of the nation
Early Republican Ankara”
This article discusses the emergence of a particular historical representation: that of “early republican Ankara.” Becoming the capital of the newly born Turkish nation-state in 1923, Ankara was conceived as the symbolic locus of Turkish modernization. The old Ottoman town was rapidly transformed into a modern capital. However, “early republican Ankara” as a historiographic category is a product of the 1990s. In this period, two distinct represen…
City profile
Minarets without Mosques
This paper discusses urban politics in contemporary Turkey through a particular architectural phenomenon: that of minarets without mosques. Local administrations under neo-liberal Islamists propose urban regeneration projects which require extensive demolitions in squatter areas. Yet, their reluctance to tear down minarets creates ruinscapes in which minarets seem to have miraculously survived destruction. In this regard, the minarets without mos…
Everywhere Is Taksim”
This article discusses the politics of public space through the particular example of Taksim Square in Istanbul. Tracing Taksim’s history since the early twentieth century, the article analyzes the instrumentalization of public space in nation-building, the socialization of politics within the context of postwar rapid urbanization, and the (re)politicization of public space under neoliberal Islamism. Finally it arrives at an assessment of the nat…
Urban design—or lack thereof—as policy
Night Hawks” Watching Over the City
Technological advances have enormously increased surveillance techniques in the last three decades. In this article, we scrutinize the re-instatement of bekçi, the traditional night watchmen patrolling the residential neighborhoods in Turkey, which was obsolete for decades. We analyze the re-emergence of the bekçi in relation to the dynamics of urbanization, and with a perspective of power and surveillance. Our discussion bridges the Foucauldian …
Neoliberalisation through naming
Place names play an important role in neoliberal urban development. The naming of a housing estate, especially a gated community, is instrumental in constructing the image and intended sense of community of an estate. This paper scrutinises the naming of housing estates in Incek, one of the most prestigious suburbs of Ankara, Turkey. While development in the area began with middle-class housing cooperatives, today Incek is marketed as an idyllic …
Tamamlanmamış Kentsel Devrim
Ambivalent spaces/moving bodies
Law (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Politics (10 works) · Turkey's Politics and Society (10 works) · Context (archaeology (5 works) · History (5 works) · Islamic Studies and History (5 works) · Political economy (5 works)