Baran Karsak
Biographic Data
| ID | 185361 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Baran Karsak |
| GIVEN NAMES | Baran |
| FAMILY NAME | Karsak |
| SIGNATURE | KARSAK B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northeastern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1638-0741 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 5 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 30 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 5 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Farmer-led networks for redistributing power in pluralistic advisory systems
Domesticating a superfood
This article examines the historical and ongoing role of public agricultural research and extension in shaping avocado production in southern Turkey. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, expert interviews, and documentary analysis, I find that the making of Turkey’s avocado production base owes to a century-long state involvement in agricultural research and development. Contrary to the assumption that global markets single-handedly shape contempor…
Between 'moral economy' and 'social banditry
This article studies avocado theft in southern Turkey's peasant communities, where a significant avocado market formed between 2010 and 2020. In the context of the country's neoliberalized agricultural regime, avocado as a 'high-value food' became a lucrative alternative for farmers struggling with decreasing profits from traditional crops. This new market economically benefited larger farmers, while smallholders, hampered by market liberalizatio…
Working the rational and the mystical into “superfoods”
In this paper, I apply Walter Benjamin’s concepts “aura” and “wish-image” to explain the cultural making of avocados into a “superfood commodity” in southern Turkey’s peasant communities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I employ a cultural-historical analysis to point out how, quickly after being introduced, the tree’s leaves were used in folk medicine. As folk medicine, avocado leaf gained cultural importance due to its “aura.” Later it was t…
More than Just Insults
Our goal with this special issue is to expand currently untapped ideas about racial microaggressions from a sociological point of view. As noted, research on this issue comes largely out of psychiatry, psychology, and education-disciplines that tend to place less emphasis on structural and institutional causes of racism. There is a need for more sociologically guided research to examine how subtle, covert, and non-apparent forms of racism affect …
More than Just Insults
Our goal with this special issue is to expand currently untapped ideas about racial microaggressions from a sociological point of view. As noted, research on this issue comes largely out of psychiatry, psychology, and education-disciplines that tend to place less emphasis on structural and institutional causes of racism. There is a need for more sociologically guided research to examine how subtle, covert, and non-apparent forms of racism affect …
Between 'moral economy' and 'social banditry
This article studies avocado theft in southern Turkey's peasant communities, where a significant avocado market formed between 2010 and 2020. In the context of the country's neoliberalized agricultural regime, avocado as a 'high-value food' became a lucrative alternative for farmers struggling with decreasing profits from traditional crops. This new market economically benefited larger farmers, while smallholders, hampered by market liberalizatio…
More than Just Insults
Our goal with this special issue is to expand currently untapped ideas about racial microaggressions from a sociological point of view. As noted, research on this issue comes largely out of psychiatry, psychology, and education-disciplines that tend to place less emphasis on structural and institutional causes of racism. There is a need for more sociologically guided research to examine how subtle, covert, and non-apparent forms of racism affect …
Working the rational and the mystical into “superfoods”
In this paper, I apply Walter Benjamin’s concepts “aura” and “wish-image” to explain the cultural making of avocados into a “superfood commodity” in southern Turkey’s peasant communities. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I employ a cultural-historical analysis to point out how, quickly after being introduced, the tree’s leaves were used in folk medicine. As folk medicine, avocado leaf gained cultural importance due to its “aura.” Later it was t…
Between 'moral economy' and 'social banditry
This article studies avocado theft in southern Turkey's peasant communities, where a significant avocado market formed between 2010 and 2020. In the context of the country's neoliberalized agricultural regime, avocado as a 'high-value food' became a lucrative alternative for farmers struggling with decreasing profits from traditional crops. This new market economically benefited larger farmers, while smallholders, hampered by market liberalizatio…
Farmer-led networks for redistributing power in pluralistic advisory systems
Domesticating a superfood
This article examines the historical and ongoing role of public agricultural research and extension in shaping avocado production in southern Turkey. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, expert interviews, and documentary analysis, I find that the making of Turkey’s avocado production base owes to a century-long state involvement in agricultural research and development. Contrary to the assumption that global markets single-handedly shape contempor…
Law (2 works) · Law (2 works) · Political science (2 works) · Sociology (2 works) · Agency (philosophy (1 work) · agricultural commercialization (1 work) · Agricultural Development and Management (1 work) · Agricultural extension (1 work) · Agricultural Innovations and Practices (1 work) · Agricultural productivity (1 work)