Nilüfer Göle is Professor of Sociology at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and 2014/15 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow. She previously taught at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul and has been invited as a visiting scholar in several universities such as MIT, Massachusetts and New School, New York. She is also a member of scientific council at IISMM, Institut d’études de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman.
Her research themes include Islam, public sphere, gender, secularism and multiple modernities. Her work focuses on the ways Islam becomes visible in European public spheres and engenders a series of debates on religious and cultural difference. Her sociological approach aims to open up a new reading of modernity from a non-western perspective that in turn produces a broader critique of Eurocentrism in the definitions of secular modernity.
Her pioneer work on the contemporary significations of Islamic headscarf, The Forbidden Modern: Veiling and Civilization (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996) is published in Turkish, French, German and Spanish. She studied the emergence of Islam in different publics from a comparative perspective in Islam in public: Turkey, Iran and Europe(with Ludwig Ammann eds., Istanbul: Bilgi University Press, 2006; in German 2004). She explores the way Islam has become a master symbol of difference in Europe in her recent publications: Interpénétrations, L’islam et l’Europe (Paris: Galaade, 2005) and Islam in Europe: The Lure of Fundamentalism and the Allure of Cosmopolitanism (Princeton: Marcus Weiner, 2010). In 2013, she has completed a European scale research project entitled “Islam in the Making of a European Public Sphere”, EuroPublicIslam, awarded and funded by the European Research Council Advanced Grant. She has edited a book on Islam and public controversies in Europe, forthcoming in Ashgate publications.
Turkey-EU Relations in the Post-July 15 Era: A Needed Cooperation and Collaboration
Istanbul Policy Center organized a panel “Turkey-EU Relations in the Post-July 15 Era A Needed Cooperation and Collaboration” on October 10, 2016, at The Seed, Sakıp Sabancı Museum.
The panel, which was moderated by Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Senior Scholar & Research and Academic Affairs Coordinator at IPC, hosted Fuat Keyman, Director of Istanbul Policy Center; Ruprecht Polenz, Former Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at German Bundestag and 2014/15 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow; Nilüfer Göle, Professor at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and 2014/15 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow; and Gerald Knaus, Founding Chairman of the European Stability Initiative and 2016/17 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow, as speakers.
Urban Citizenship in Turkey
The predominant perception of citizenship in Turkey strongly emphasizes the individual’s responsibilities towards the state. Furthermore, citizenship is traditionally framed by ethnic as well as cultural and religious categories. The social movement that found its source in the Gezi protests of the summer of 2013 puts this understanding of citizenship into question and highlights the importance of equal and active citizenship. Elaborating on the recent debate, the event aimed to explore the potentials of the concept of urban citizenship for Turkey.
Turkey-EU Relations in the Post-July 15 Era: A Needed Cooperation and Collaboration
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened the panel titled “Turkey-EU Relations in the Post-July 15 Era: A Needed Cooperation and Collaboration” on October 10, 2016 at The Seed, Sakıp Sabancı Museum. The panel, which was moderated by Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Research & Academic Affairs Coordinator and Faculty Member at Sabancı University, hosted Fuat Keyman, Director, and Mercator-IPC Senior Fellows Ruprecht Polenz, Nilüfer Göle, and Gerald Knaus as speakers.
European Muslims in Daily Life
2014/15 Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle’s book European Muslims in Daily Life ( Gündelik Yaşamda Avrupalı Müslümanlar) was launched on February 3, 2016 at IPC.
Democratic Agendas
A roundtable discussion on “Democratic Agendas” took place at IPC on June 19-20, 2015. The event began with welcoming remarks by Fuat Keyman (IPC), Charles Taylor (McGill University), and Craig Calhoun (LSE). “The ‘Maidan’ Phenomenon” was discussed in the first session following introductory remarks by Nilüfer Göle (EHESS; Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow) and Pablo Ouziel (University of Victoria). The second session discussed “The Crowd in Politics” and was introduced by Dilip Gaonkar (Northwestern University) and Mukulika Banerjee (LSE). Christine Bernier (University of Montreal), Rajeev Bhargava (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies), Aube Billard (Institute for Human Sciences), and Shalini Randeria (Institute for Human Sciences) participated as discussants.
Reconceptualizing Religious Norms, Rights and Practices of Muslims and Jews in Europe
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative and The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in cooperation with the Jewish Museum Berlin co-organized the second meeting of the study group A Shared Perspective of Jews and Muslims for Europe on January 20, 2015 in Berlin.
The group has been initiated by Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Professor Nilüfer Göle and Professor Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin and explores the ways in which Jews and Muslims relate to secular modernity and to European pluralism. The first meeting, which took place in July 2014 in Istanbul, focused on the controversy on male circumcision. The meeting in Berlin focused on the controversy on halal/kosher foods and ritual slaughtering in Europe.
Mosques in Europe: Aesthetics of Faith and Intercultural Encounters in Public Space
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative and the Young Islam Conference convened a panel discussion titled “Mosques in Europe: Aesthetics of Faith and Intercultural Encounters in Public Space” on November 28, 2014 at Palais am Festungsgraben, Marmorsaal in Berlin.
Comparative Perspective on Issues of Cultural Practices and the Secular Public Sphere: The Example of Male Circumcision
Inaugural meeting of the study group A Shared Perspective of Jews and Muslims for Europe, which is a joint project of the IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative and The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and has been initiated by Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle and Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, took place on July 3, 2014 at IPC.
Faith and Aesthetics in Public Space: Places of Worship Amid Tradition and Power
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened a panel discussion titled "Faith and Aesthetics in Public Space: Places of Worship Amid Tradition and Power" with Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle on April 21, 2014 at IPC. Renowned academics Dücane Cündioğlu, Selçuk Mülayim and Suphi Saatçi participated as panelists.
Local Elections and Clientelism in Turkey
IPC organized a conference on "Local Elections and Clientelism in Turkey" on March 14, 2014 at IPC Karakoy.
Urban Citizenship in Turkey
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened a panel discussion titled “Urban Citizenship in Turkey” with Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle and Director Fuat Keyman on March 4, 2014 at Cezayir Restaurant, Istanbul. Ayşe Kadıoğlu was the moderator of the discussion.
The predominant perception of citizenship in Turkey strongly emphasizes the individual’s responsibilities towards the state. Furthermore, citizenship is traditionally framed by ethnic as well as cultural and religious categories. The social movement that found its source in the Gezi protests of the summer of 2013 puts this understanding of citizenship into question and highlights the importance of equal and active citizenship. Elaborating on the recent debate, the event aimed to explore the potentials of the concept of urban citizenship for Turkey.
Mosques in Europe and Turkey: Faith and Aesthetics in Public Space
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened a panel discussion on "Mosques in Europe and Turkey: Faith and Aesthetics in Public Space" chaired by Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle. The event took place on December 18, 2013 and hosted the renowned architects Emre Arolat, Paul Böhm and Cihan Buğdacı as panelists.
Negotiating Political Power in Turkey: Breaking up the Party
The book launch of Negotiating Political Power in Turkey: Breaking up the Party by Elise Massicard and Nicole F. Watts took place on October 10, 2013 at IPC Karakoy.
