Professors Turning Their Backs to the Rectorate: Turkish New Authoritarianism and the Case of Bogazici University

• In Event: Higher education’s resistance of new authoritarianism, hegemony, and the erosion of democracy

Proposal

New authoritarianism is a global phenomenon whose effects on human rights, law and order, world peace, the economy and the environment are being discussed worldwide whereas its impacts on academia are less often reflected. Authoritarian impact on academia could be characterized by denying or modifying scientific knowledge and diminishing intellectuals' autonomy in the forms of action. Impacting intensely on science, education and academia, authoritarian regimes create their own ‘scientists’, ‘academics’ and ‘knowledges’ to help accomplish the ideological projects of the regime. This research looks at a case that constitutes the severe intervention towards Turkish academia and very specifically Bogazici University which is one of the most prestigious public universities of the country. Many scholars defined Turkish democracy as turning into a form of authoritarianism and a one-man-regime, especially after the Gezi protests of 2013 and the failed coup of 2016 (Esen & Gumuscu, 2018; Arat&Pamuk, 2019; Yılmaz &, Turner, 2019) This electoral authoritarianism of Turkey has aimed to establish its hegemony within academia as well and one striking example of this aim has constituted the case of Bogazici University. Against the common practice, in January 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu as the rector to Bogazici University who was a scholar outside the university and was not even recruited by the university as a professor since his credentials were lacking and there were accusations of plagiarism over his PhD thesis (“Boğaziçi University protests mark one year since Erdoğan's rector appointment”, 2022) After this controversial appointment which was perceived as a political move rather than one based on academic qualifications made without input from the university community, there have been widespread protests from students and faculty at the university, who saw the appointment as an infringement on academic freedom and university autonomy. Hence this research looks at these protests of faculty going on for more than 2 years which is unique in their form and organization and conducts in-depth interviews with 15 scholars from Bogazici University to shed light on the organization, continuation, impacts and responses towards the protests of faculty. This research will contribute to the literature by depicting and analysing the different characteristics of Bogazici protests by scholars focusing on styles (both online and onset), various involved partners (alumni, faculty, students), impacts and responses. The paper presentation will convey the preliminary results of the analysis of 15 in-depth interviews as well as background information, literature and social media survey on the topic.

Author

• Ece Cihan Ertem, University of Vienna