Birtan Eren Tonbul

• since 09/2022

Research fellow in the Social Geography working group at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

• 07/2021

Master of Arts Sociology at the Bielefeld University with a focus on Sociology of Global World and Social Anthropology

Master Thesis: “Spatial Meaning-Making in Antiracism Mobilization: Constructing Spatial Solidarities (with)in a Public Square in a German City”

• 06/2016

Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and International Relations in Istanbul

• Social Movements
• Insurgent Geographies
• Urban Spaces and Migration
• Methods of Social Movement Research

PhD Project

Everyday Activist Geographies in Turkey

Over the past decades, debates in movement studies have focused heavily on the spatial dimension of collective action that characterizes the field of social movements and human geography, which has also recently favoured the inclusion of everyday geographies of activism and solidarity-making from below. The debates stem from the key argument, in contrast to the strong emphasis scholars have put so far on macro influences of the global crisis, that there is a need to direct attention to the emancipatory potential among everyday micro-examples.

Drawing on studies of the micro spatialities of contentious actors and inspired by the everyday critical geographies, I aim to broaden and deepen investigations of the everyday practices within the activist geographies in Turkey. The purpose of the doctoral project is to answer a central question: How do the socio-spatial sources and practices in ‘everyday activist geographies’ under authoritarian conditions contribute to the perseverance of hope and solidarity-making? The project will draw on ethnographic research based on mixed-method qualitative approaches of which I incorporate participatory action research and narrative interviews. My goal is to scrutinise the spatial register of activism rooted in concrete places by focusing on how activism, resilience, and solidarity are experienced, learned, and negotiated in everyday life. I do so by tracing socio-spatial sources (e.g., encounters and learning) and practices (e.g., political/emotional investments and interpersonal relations) to capture their significance for activism and interplay with authoritarianism.

• Tonbul, B. [invited]. Seminar Series on Democracies from Below: Spatial Manifestation of Marginalised Activism in the City of Bielefeld. Grüner Würfel. Bielefeld. 21.09.2022
• Tonbul, B. [invited]. „Zur Praxis der Polizei und Kritik an der Verpolizeilichung sozialer Konflikte: So kriminell ist der Kesselbrink“. Online. 13.04.2021
• Tonbul, B. (2019). Postcolonialism and Eurocentrism in Politics: Moving Beyond Core/Peripheries Towards an Inclusive Solidarity. Workshop at the VERNETZT?! YOU:KO - der Jugendkongress. Bochum, Germany. 02.11.2019
• Tonbul, B. (2019). “Decolonizing the Left: Towards a New Internationalism,”. Workshop at the Ferienakademie by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Joachimstal, Germany. 15.03.2019