Join the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program for "How to Win a Battle in the Culture War: Techno-nationalism and Hegemony in Turkey" with Yohanan Benhaïm, Keyman Visiting Scholar, on Monday, May 4 at 4pm in Harris Hall, 108. Reception to follow.
In the context of a political environment polarized by cultural wars between the AKP government and the opposition, this talk aims to explain how the promotion of national technologies, especially in the defense industry, has become an exceptional area of consensus in Turkish politics, to the benefit of the current regime. The Teknofest festivals dedicated to technology and aerospace, which have drawn several million visitors annually since 2018, are playing a key role in the promotion of techno-nationalism in the country. Based on ethnographic observations conducted between 2021 and 2024 at Teknofest festivals in four Turkish cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Adana, and Izmir), interviews with participants, and analysis of cultural productions promoted at these festivals (music, videos, exhibitions), this contribution aims to demonstrate how these mass events are the promoting of a techno-nationalist consensus among the population. It will assess techno-nationalism's role in the "New Turkey" discourse and analyze how these sociotechnical imaginaries shape visions of the past, of Turkey's regional and global position, and of an ideal society.
Yohanan Benhaïm is a Keyman visiting scholar in residence during May 2026 and an associate researcher at the Institute of Research and Study on the Arab and Islamic Worlds (IREMAM), in Aix-en-Provence, France. Between 2021 and 2025, he was a researcher and head of the contemporary studies department at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies in Istanbul. In 2021, he defended his doctoral thesis in Political Science entitled "Conquering the State. Foreign Policy and Transformation of the Politico-Administrative Field in Turkey", at Paris 1 Sorbonne University. His research focuses on the political sociology of foreign policy and diplomacy, the reconfiguration of the party field, and techno-nationalism in Turkey. He has recently co-edited several journal issues: in the journal Critique Internationale on the transformations of foreign affairs ministries during periods of political reconfiguration, and in the journal Pôle Sud on the transformations of electoral competition in the context of the presidentialization of Turkey's political regime.
Elizabeth Howell
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