This event will appraise 100 years of the Turkish Republic, taking stock of changing ideas of modernity, progress and Westernisation. It will assess transformations in society, foreign policy, literature and politics while providing an overview of the history of the Turkish Republic, as well as the nation’s competing understandings of itself and idealisations of its past and future.
When the Turkish Republic was founded on 29 October 1923, one of its ideals was the modernisation and Westernisation of the newly built nation. In the following century, these ideals have changed in content, but in many spheres of life, dialogues with the idea of progress have continued. Relations with the West and different interpretations of modernity divided the nation. Yet the notion of participating in a historically decisive movement of progress toward something distinctively better than the past has united generations and different political groups in various ways.
Meet our speakers and chair
Faruk Birtek is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Boğaziçi University. His main areas of interest include political and historical sociology, modernity and citizenship. He is the author of Social Structure and The Genealogy of Change: The Transition to Capitalism in England and France and Hundred Years of Modernity 1889-1989: A Paradigm Story, A Treaty in Sociology.
Yaprak Gürsoy (@ygursoy) is Professor and Chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE. Her research interests include regime change, democratisation, and emotions and memory in European politics and collective identity. She is the author of Between Military Rule and Democracy: Regime Consolidation in Greece, Turkey and Beyond.
Laurent Mignon is Professor of Turkish Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Antony’s College. His research focuses on the minor literatures of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, in particular Jewish literatures. He is the author of Uncoupling Language and Religion: An Exploration into the Margins of Turkish Literature.
Şuhnaz Yılmaz is Professor of International Relations at Koç University. She also serves as the Dean of College of Administrative Sciences and Economics, and the Director of Graduate School of Business. Her research expertise includes Turkish foreign policy, relations with the EU, the US and NATO, energy politics and sustainability. She is the author of Turkish-American Relations (1800-1952): Between the Stars, Stripes and the Crescent.
Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) is Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Government at LSE. His research focuses on parties and elections in Western Europe. His most recent monograph is entitled Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies (OUP, 2020).
More about this event
The European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe.
Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Turkey and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Turkey through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.
This event is hosted as part of the Turkish Week: 100 Years of the Republic, organised by the LSE Contemporary Turkish Studies and the LSE European Institute.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSETurkey
Podcast & Video
A podcast of this event is available to download from 100 years of the Republic of Türkiye: changing ideas of modernity.
A video of this event is available to watch at 100 years of the Republic of Türkiye: changing ideas of modernity.
Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.