CURRICULUM VITAE

ÖZLEM ALTAN-OLCAY 

Koç University
Department of International Relations
Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer
Istanbul 34450 TURKEY
Tel: 90 212 338 1617
Fax: 90 212 338 1642
e-mail: ozaltan@ku.edu.tr

EDUCATION

New York University, NY, USA
Ph.D. received from the Department of Politics

2001-2006

New York University, NY, USA
M.A. in Political Science

1999-2001

Boğazİçİ University, Istanbul, Turkey
B.A. in Economics

1992-1996

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Professor
Department of International Relations, Koç University

6/2023

Associate Professor

Department of International Relations, Koç University

7/2016-6/2023

Visiting Professor

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

7/2017-9/2018

Assistant Professor
Department of International Relations, Koç University

9/2007-

Instructor
Department of International Relations, Koç University

9/2006-6/2007

Instructor
Department of Political Science, Bahçesehir University

2/2007-6/2007

RESEARCH FIELDS

Citizenship Studies, Gender and Citizenship, Gender and Development, Elite Networks in the Middle East, Transnational Class Formations, Micropolitics of Inequality.

TEACHING FIELDS

Comparative Politics, Middle East Politics and Society, Political Economy, Gender and Politics, Globalization, Political Sociology.

PUBLICATIONS

Book Manuscript

2020. The American Passport in Turkey: National Citizenship in the Age of Transnationalism (with E. Balta)

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Forthcoming. Gender Expertise in International Organizations. Oxford Research Encyclopedia.

2023-early view. Collective Discussion: Movement and Carceral Spatiality in the Pandemic (with R. Shindo, E. Balta, H. von Houtum, A. van Uden, P.K. Rajaram, M. Coward, S. Pellander, J. Huysmans). International Political Sociology.

2023-early view. Care in Times of Pandemic: Rethinking Meanings of Work in the University (with S. Bergeron). Gender, Work & Organization.

2023. The Long Run and The Short Run: Temporalities of Development. Globalizations. 20(3): 384-399Expertise at the Intersection of Technicality and Ambiguity: International Governance of Gender and Development. Third World Quarterly. 43(1): 206-224.

2022. Making and Unmaking Culture: Gender Experts, Faith and the International Governance of Gender. International Feminist Journal of Politics. 24(2): 286-309.

2020. Politics of Engagement: Gender Expertise and International Governance. Development and Change. 51(5): 1271-1295.

2019. We are Family: Women’s Labor and Gender Norms in Turkey (with P. Kılınçarslan). Women’s Studies International Forum. 72: 9-16.

2017. Born in the USA: Citizenship Acquisition and Transnational Mothering in Turkey. Gender, Place & Culture. (with E. Balta) 24(8): 1204-1223.

2017. The Making of the Gender Policy Architecture in Turkey: Global Encounters, Local Contestations (with A. Alnıaçık, C. Deniz, F. Gökşen). Social Politics. 24(3): 298-323.

2016. Class and Passports: Transnational Strategies of Distinction in Turkey (with E. Balta). Sociology. 50(6): 1106-1122.

2016. The Entrepreneurial Woman in Development Programs: Thinking through Class Differences. Social Politics. 23(3): 389-414.

2016. Strategic Citizens of America: Transnational Inequalities and Transformation of Citizenship (with E. Balta) Ethnic and Racial Studies. 39(6): 939-957.

2015. Politics of Critique: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Middle East. Geoforum. 63(3): 9-13.

2014. Entrepreneurial Subjectivities and Gendered Complexities: Neo-Liberal Citizenship in Turkey. Feminist Economics. 20(4): 235-259.

2013. Yerel Ayrıcalık İddiaları: Ortadoğu’da Kalkınma Söylemleri ve Failleri. Toplum ve Bilim. 128: 262-288.

2012. Mapping Civil Society in the Middle East: the Cases of Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey (with A. Içduygu). British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 39(2): 157-179.

2012. Protest, Memory, and the Production of ‘Civilized’ Citizens: Two Cases from Turkey and Lebanon. Citizenship Studies. 16(2): 135-151.

2011. Reframing the Ideal Citizen in Turkey: National Belonging and Economic Success in the Era of Neo-Liberalism. New Perspectives on Turkey. 44 (Spring): 41-72.

2009. Gendered Projects of National Identity Formation: The Case of Turkey. National Identities. 11(2): 165-186.

2008. Defining ‘America’ from a Distance: Local Strategies of the Global in the Middle East. Middle Eastern Studies. 44(1): 29-52.

Book Chapters

2022. Feminist IPE in Europe. In Feminist IR in Europe: Knowledge Production in Academic Institutions. Edited by Ann Towns and Maria Stern. Routledge.

2019. Repenser la critique de l’orientalisme : production des savoirs et perspectives féministes progressistes. In Cahiers genre et développement, n°11. Edited by Christine Verschuur. Paris : L’Harmattan.

2018. Eleştiri Siyaseti: Çok Kültürlülük, Post Sömürgecilik, Demokrasi Teşviki Yazınları Ekseninde Ortadoğu’da Kadın Hakları. InTürkiye’nin Büyük Dönüşümü: Ayşe Buğra’ya Armağan. Edited by Osman Savaşkan ve Mehmet Ertan. Istanbuk: İletişim Yayınları (pp. 241-260).

2017. Entrepreneurial Subjectivities and Gendered Complexities: Neo-Liberal Citizenship in Turkey. In Gender and Economics in Muslim Communities. Edited by Ebru Kongar, Jennifer Olmsted, and Elora Shehabuddin. New York: Routledge (pp. 235-258).

2016. Women’s Labor Force Participation and Entrepreneurship: The Case of Turkey. In Political and Socio-Economic Change in the Middle East and North Africa: Gender Perspectives and Survival Strategies Edited by Roksana Bahramitash and Hadi Esfahani. Palgrave Macmillan (pp.127-154).

2014. Market Embedded Transnationalism (with E. Balta). In Contemporary Turkey at a Glance. Edited by Kristina Kamp, Ayhan Kaya, Fuat Keyman, Özge Onursal. Springer (pp. 139-155).

2009. Meanings of American Education in Beirut and Cairo. Liberty and Justice: America and the Middle East Edited by Patrick McGreevy and Nancy Batakji (proceedings of the Second International Conference sponsored by the Center for American Studies and Research at AUB) Beirut: The American University of Beirut (pp. 273-285).

2006. Turkey: Sanctifying a Secular State. In Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East. Edited by Eleanor Abdella Doumato and Gregory Starrett. Boulder, Colorado: Lynn Rienner (pp. 197-214).

2005. Women, Gender and Memory in Turkey. Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Vol 2, Edited by Suad Joseph. Leiden: Brill (pp. 481-483).

Others

2021. Why Turkey’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention is a Global Problem. OpenDemocracy. (with B.E. Oder)

2017. Satılık Pasaportlar: Neoliberal Çagda Vatandaslık Pratikleri. Birikim. June (with E. Balta)

2016. Citizenship and Diverse Meanings of Belonging (Making Citizens: Public rituals and Personal Journeys to Citizenship)(review article). Ethnic and Racial Studies. 39(13)

2015. An Analysis of Public Programs Related to Women’s Entrepreneurship and Access to Labor Markets. (with F. Göksen, A. Alniacik, and C. Deniz). The World Bank.

2006. Temmuz Sonrası Ortadoğu’da Lübnan ve Barış. Birikim. September: 16-23.

2006. Turkish Quandary. Al-Ahram Weekly Online. September 7-13: No: 811.

2006. Makan: The Right to the City and New Ways of Understanding Space (review article). Arab Studies Journal. Fall: 149-154.

2003. Sanctifying the Nation: Religious Education in Turkey. The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World Newsletter.June: 52-53.

2003. Ruanda ve Bumerang Öyküler: Bir Daha Asla? Birikim. November: 105-112.

2002. Citizenship, Gender, and the State (review article). Arab Studies Journal. Spring: 165-171.

SELECT CONFERENCE PAPERS AND LECTURES

The American Passport: Citizenship and Belonging in the Age of Transnationalism

Book Panel, (w. E. Balta)

Association for the Study of Nationalities Annual Conference                                         May 2021

Feminist International Political Economy in Europe

Feminist International Relations Workshop, Göthenburg University                               Feb 2021

Intimacies of Citizenship and Nationality

Connections for New Imaginaries of Global-Local Intimacies and Solidarities in Global Politics

International Feminist Journal of Politics Annual Conference                                            Feb 2021

The American Passport in Turkey: National Citizenship in the Age of Transnationalism

(w. E. Balta)

Kadir Has University School of Communications, Brown Bag Seminars                            Jan 2021

Ulusötesi Vatandaşlığı ABD Pasaportu Üzerinden Anlamak                                               June 2020

(w. E. Balta)

BAGEP (Science Academy) Summer School

The American Passport: Citizenship and Belonging in the Age of Transnationalism (w. E. Balta)

Nationalités multiples, appartenances plurielles? University of Nantes                         Sept 2019

Values & Meanings of Citizenship in a World of Mobility

Koç University Migration Research Center (MiReKoç) Summer School                              Jul 2019

Framing Gender: Technologies of Expertise and Politics of Ambiguity

European Conference of Politics and Gender, Amsterdam                                                   Jul 2019

Feminist politics of engagement with others: Moving beyond binaries

International Studies Association Annual Conference, Toronto                                        Mar 2019

Academic Freedom, Knowledge Production and the Question of Inequality

Workshop: Academic freedom, IR knowledge and policy advice in the ‘post-truth’ era

International Studies Association Annual Conference, Toronto                                        Mar 2019

Eleştiri Siyaseti, Çok Kültürlülük, Post Sömürgecilik

Türkiye’nin Büyük Dönüşümü: Ayşe Buğra’ya Armağan

Boğaziçi University Social Policy Center Conference                                                              Feb 2019

Making and Unmaking Culture: Gender Experts, Faith and International Governance of Gender

European International Studies Association Annual Conference, Prague                         Sept 2018

Politics of Gender Expertise: Debating Women’s Rights and Cultural Norms

The Gender Centre, the Graduate Institute, Geneva                                                               May 2018

Framing Gender: Technologies of Expertise and Questions of Equality

Technologies of Expertise as Technologies of Authorization

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Workshop Geneva    May 2018

Political Economy of Culture: Markets, Norms and Gender Equality

Guest Lecture, the Graduate Institute, Geneva                                                                       Apr 2018

Markets, Women’s Rights and Questions of Culture

Guest Lecture, the Graduate Institute , Geneva                                                                     Dec 2017

Women’s Agencies in Development: Between “the Exotic” and “the Familiar”

International Studies Association Annual Conference, Baltimore                                        Feb 2017

Citizenship between the Local and the Global

Sabancı University, Istanbul                                                                                                         May 2016

Provincializing the Business Case: Contradictions from the Field

Does Equality Mean Business? Gender Equity at the Crossroads of Finance and Feminism

Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor           Mar 2016

Stories of Empowerment: Between “the Universal” and “the Local”

International Studies Association Annual Conference, Atlanta                                              Mar 2016

Development, Social Policy and Questions of Women’s Labor Force Participation (w. A. Alnıaçık, C. Deniz, F. Gökşen)

Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference, Denver                                                Nov 2015

Anxious Parents: Intensive Mothering and Citizenship Acquisition (w. E. Balta)

American Anthropological Association Annual Conference, Denver                                    Nov 2015

Transnational Values of Citizenship: The Case of the American Passport (w. E. Balta)

Citizenship in Motion: Responses to Increasing Transnationality

INTEGRIM Third Annual Conference, MiReKoç, Istanbul                                                         Nov 2015

“Integrating Women into the Economy:” What’s in a Question?

C20 Summit, 2015. Bogazici University, Istanbul                                                                     Sept 2015

Citizenship and Class: The Value of the American Passport (with E. Balta)

European Consortium for Political Research Annual Conference, Montreal                      Aug 2015

Limits of Neoliberal Feminism

International Studies Association Annual Conference, New Orleans                                  Feb 2015

Class Based Tensions of Neoliberal Feminism

Gender Inc. Workshop, Roskilde University, Roskilde                                                             Dec 2014

In the Market For US Citizenship: Class Distinctions and Insecurity in Turkey (w. E. Balta)

Middle East Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C.                               Nov 2014

The Market for Citizenship: Political Implications of Investment Citizenship (with E. Balta)

Koç University Migration Research Center 10th Anniversary Conference                           Nov 2014

Democracy Promotion in the Middle East and Gender Equality

ACUNS (Academic Council on the United Nations) Annual Conference

Kadir Has University, Istanbul                                                                                                       Jun 2014

Sınıfsal Ayrışma ve Ulusötesi Eşitsizlikler (with E. Balta)

Aşağısı ve Yukarısı arasında Orta Sınıflar

Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes, Istanbul                                                                    May 2014

Democracies of Exceptions

Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law Conference

(with Koç University Center for Research on Globalization, Peace and Democratic Governance)

Koç University, Istanbul                                                                                                                Mar 2014

 

RESEARCH GRANTS

EU HORIZON AG-Grant                                                                                                             2022-2024

Project Title: Feminist Movements Revitalizing Democracy in Europe

(co-principal investigator, Turkey team)

EU Horizon 2020 Marie Curie Individual Fellowship                                                         2017-2018

Project Title: Women’s Economic Rights and Cultural Difference

TÜBITAK -The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey                    2014-2015

Project Title: Global Inequalities and Citizenship

1001 Grant (principal investigator)

TÜBITAK-The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey                     2012-2013

Project Title: Citizenship Tourism

1002 Grant (researcher)

Middle East Research Competition Research Grant, Ford Foundation                      2011-2012

Project Title: Working Gendered Citizenships in Turkey

United Nations Population Council MEAward                                                                   2003-2004

Dissertation Title: The American Third World

Bayly Winder Pre-Dissertation Research Grant, New York University                                 2003

Dissertation Title: The American Third World

Department of Politics, Pre-Dissertation Research Grant, New York University              2002

Dissertation Title: The American Third World

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

Outstanding Faculty Award, College of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Koç University          2022

The American Sociological Association, GATS, Best Book by an International Scholar Award                 2021

Science Academy Young Scientist Award (BAGEP)                                                           2014-2016

Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship, New York University                                                    2005-2006

International Center for Advanced Studies Dissertation Fellowship                         2004-2005

MacCracken Fellowship, New York University                                                                  1999-2006

Honors List, Boğaziçi University                                                                                             1996

GRADUATE THESIS AND DISSERTATION SUPERVISION

Primary Advisor

Ongoing. Cangönül, Mert. “European Border Surveillance through Schengen Visa: Multiple Rationalities, Changing Borderscapes and Self-Surveillance Practices” (PhD in Political Science, tentative title)

Ongoing. Yüksekkaya, Özge. “Organization, Regulation, Governance of Land and State Power: Cases of Mexico and Turkey” (PhD in Political Science, tentative title).

Ongoing. Uslu, Selçuk Selman. “CSO-Donor Relations and Democratic Implications” (MA in International Relations, tentative title).

2020. Kılınçarslan, Pelin. “Household Indebtedness and Women: A Comparative Analysis of Greece and Turkey” (tentative title; Ph.D. in Political Science).

2019. Türkarslan, Gizem. Engendering Citizenship: Women’s Movements in Tunisia and Turkey” (Ph.D. in Political Science).

2017. Ünlüönen, Emine Büşra. “I am not a Refugee:” Syrian Professionals in Istanbul (MA in International Relations).

2017. Köksal, Orhun Aras. Social Structural Position and Vocabularies of Mobilization: Framing Urban Activism in Istanbul (MA in International Relations).

2014. Seyis, Didem. Ideal Citizenship Depictions in Turkish Primary School Textbooks (MA in International Relations).

2013. Cansoy, Mehmet. Social Citizenship Regimes in Turkey (MA in International Relations).

2013. Kılınçarslan, Pelin. Worker Resistance and Mobilization: A Comparative Analysis of Two-Female Dominated Textile Factories (MA in International Relations).

2012. Kenis, Sebnem. Islam and Homosexuality Debates in Turkey: Discursive Contestation among Muslims over LGBTQ Rights (MA in International Relations).

2010. Daser, Deniz Dalyan. Leftist Diasporic Identity: The Experience of Turkish and Kurdish Refugees in Switzerland (MA in International Relations).

2009. Çarkman, Aysegül Emine. Examining the Underlying Reasons Behind Outward Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of Arçelik (MA in International Relations).

Committee Member

2021. Birce Altıok. Refugee Activism and State Policies in Comparative Perspective: Contentious Voices from Greece and Turkey (tentative title; Ph.D. in Political Science).

2020. Bal Damla Polat. NGO Workers and Precarious Labor (tentative title; MA in International Relations).

2020. Begüm Gürcüoğlı. Journalism at Risk: To What Extent Are the Domestic and International Norms Capable of Protecting Freedom of Press in Turkey (LLM).

2017. Deniz Karcı Korfalı. Duality in Context: Perspectives Toward Citizenship and Migration in Turkey (Ph.D. in Political Science).

2016. Damla Bayraktar. Home States and Homeland Politics: Interactions between the Turkish State and its Emigrants in France and the United States(Ph.D. in Political Science).

2016. Kerem Yıldırım. Continuous Clientelism, Persuasion and Preference Change in Turkey (Ph.D. in Political Science).

2016. Didem Çakmaklı. Transforming Citizenship in Turkey: Learning Active Citizenship in the CSO (Ph.D. in Political Science).

2015. Aysen Üstübici. The Governance of International Migration in Turkey and Morocco: Irregular Migrants’ Access to Right to Stay (Ph.D. in Political Science).

2015. Yasar Sasıoglu. The Anatomy of the Arab Uprisings (MA Thesis, International Relations).

2014. Cansu Öktem. The Relationship between Social Position and Cultural Engagement Patterns in Turkey and Cultural Omnivorousness (MA in Comparative Studies in History and Society).

2012. Nursen Aksay. Moral Guardianism at the Intersection of the Household and the Workplace: Women Factory Workers in Denizli (MA in Comparative Studies in History and Sociology).

2012. Ugur Yıldız. Privatized Lives, Autonomous Imaginations: the Lives of Asylum-Seekers under the Regulation of Satellite City in Turkey (MA in International Relations).

2012. Ingrid Anderson. The Legitimacy of Global Governance: A Holistic and Multi-Level Analysis of Millennium Development Goals (MA in International Relations).

2012. Onur Calap. Transgender Subjectivity: Narratives of the Self, the Other, and the Nation (MA Thesis, Comparative Studies in History and Sociology).

2011. Anlam Filiz. Producing Gender Talk in Relation to Class and Ethnicity: Conceptualizations of Gender Equality, Gender Roles and Womanhood by White Collar Women in Istanbul (MA in Comparative Studies in History and Sociology).

2010. Aysegül Kayagil. The Construction of Cultural, Socio-Economic Boundaries in Turkey (MA in Comparative Studies in History and Sociology)

2010. Senay Yegin. The Impact of Citizenship Benefits on the National Identity Perception of Displaced Communities (MA in International Relations).

2009. Ismail Emre Bayram. Democratic Origins of 2007-2009 Financial Crisis in the US: An Institutionalist Analysis (MA in International Relations).

2009. Can Dalyan. Occidentalism and the Politics of Development in Turkey: A Case Study of the Democratic Party Era (MA in Comparative Studies in History and Sociology).

2008. Pelin Azer Binnet. Good Mothers and Wise Politicians? National Formal Political Participation among Women in Turkey and Japan (MA in International Relations)

COURSES TAUGHT

Undergraduate Level

INT 101 Introduction to Political Science

INT 313 Global Political Economy

INT 325 Gender and Politics

INT 448 The Middle East in a Globalized World

Graduate Level

INT 503 Globalization and IR Theory

INT 508 Transnational Actors and Politics of the Global

INT 604 Qualitative Research Methods

ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS

Associate Director, Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Koç University       2018-2022

Koç University, Faculty Council Member, College of Administrative Sciences and Economics  2016- 2017

Exchange Student Coordinator, International Relations Department, Koç University  2016- 2017

Koç University Social Policy Center, Executive Board                                                           2012-2017

Koç University Migration Research Center, Executive Board                                              2010-2016

Koç University International Relations Seminar Series Coordinator                                  2013-2015

Koç University Center for Gender Studies, Executive Board                                               2010- 2014

Koç University International Relations, MA Coordinator                                                      2008- 2011

Koç University Publications, Editorial Board                                                             2010-January 2011

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION

International Studies Association, Middle Eastern Studies Association, European International Studies Association

SERVICE TO THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY

Assistant editor of the journal Citizenship Studies                             June 2020-present

Co-editor of the journal Gender, Place and Culture                              Oct 2018- Dec 2023

Referee work for Ashgate Publications; British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies; Citizenship Studies; Development and Change; Ethnic and Racial Studies; Ethnic and Migration Studies; Feminist Economics; Gender, Place and Culture; International Feminist Journal of PoliticsInternational Political Sociology; Middle East Journal; Journal of Migration Studies; New Perspectives on Turkey; New Political Economy; Politics and Gender; South European Society and Politics; Palgrave Macmillan Publications; Perspektif; Third World Quarterly.