Does mainstream opposition always pursue a democratic and depolarising strategy to challenge incumbents' authoritarian populism? Bilge Yabancı argues that in Turkey, both the incumbent and opposition parties have exploited the refugee crisis for political gains at the expense of social cohesion and democratic values
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
Bilge researches autocratisation and democratic backsliding, and the role of social movements and civil society in such contexts.
Her research extends into populism, nationalism and the role of affect and performance in political mobilisation.
In her current project, she investigates and empirically tests alternative communicative strategies that reframe migrants and refugees as ‘deserving’ and ‘rights-bearing agents’.
Aiming to go beyond descriptive approaches that dominate social sciences in general, this project utilises mixed methods to change racialised attitudes of various ideological, socioeconomic and psychographic groups as well as non-citizens (migrants and refugees).
Her research has been published in The International Spectator, Journal of Civil Society, Politics, Religion & Ideology, Ethnopolitics and others.
