Well, it's very interesting that authoritarianism and concerns with it that has become

a very important topic in the United States because given my own research trajectory,

I have been working on authoritarianism for a very long time.

So, I want to just briefly talk about how

my research in the Middle East and my academic position in

the United States at the University of Michigan came together in

a very interesting way through this whole analysis of authoritarianism.

My initial work is on social change in

the Middle East in general and modern Turkey in particular.

As a consequence, I have been studying, unfortunately,

with great sadness the descent of Turkey

into authoritarianism for the last decade or two.

And most of my work,

because I'm a sociologist,

has been critical of the social problems that exist in Turkey.

And lately, basically, since January 2016,

they took a rather violent turn as a consequence of which I cannot even go to Turkey,

my country of birth.

I cannot because in January 2016,

I signed a peace petition alongside about

2,000 faculty members, mostly from Turkey.

The petition was called the peace petition because we

basically realized that the violence against others of Turkey,

in this case, violence against the Kurds, had been increasing.

And rather than seeking a peaceful solution,

the Turkish state and its government instead took on massacres and violence.

So the petition said,

"Ask the Turkish state to turn back to seeking peaceful solution once again."

As a consequence of which,

the President of the country Recep Tayyip Erdogan,

who is now on his way to become the one and only leader,

autocratic leader, declared that

all the academics who were signing

the petition were no different from Kurdish guerrillas.

So, he literally excluded all of us and marginalized us,

which of course did not make that

much of a difference for me because I live in the United States,

but all of my colleagues in Turkey have lost their jobs,

most of them have lost their jobs,

quite a number of them are in prison,

another quite a number of them have left the country,

and some who tried to leave couldn't because their passports were confiscated.

So that is where things stood since January 2016 as I was trying

and writing about authoritarianism and how it takes and grasps the entire society.

When, of course, the elections took place here in

the United States and both during the election campaign and,

of course, also during and after the elections,

I was especially worried because

I could see similar authoritarian tendencies also going on here.

I am a Muslim born and bred.

And being a Muslim did not make any difference in my life here.

And I've lived here now for more than 20 years.

And I'm an American citizen,

as well as a Turkish one.

But I became aware of my Muslimness publicly in the last year or so,

and that I find rather disturbing.

It's not only that of course,

but I feel that with the Trump administration,

there is a collective ordering that goes on for all those who are not white,

and male, middle class, and Christian.

And as a consequence,

the hegemony of whiteness has become,

I think, so strong that anyone who doesn't

belong to that category is by definition outside of the system.

And therefore, when I look at the statistics,

analyze what's going on with respect to

the problems African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos,

unfortunately gays and others are having,

it reminds me of how the exclusions started in Turkey where I'm from.

First, by the Kurds and then it continued to basically,

at this point, encompass everyone who does not think like the President Edrogan does.

What worries me about the United States is that we may end up at a point where

everyone who doesn't think like President Trump may end up being marginalized,

excluded, and therefore prone to violence.

That is what worries me about the turn to authoritarianism.

But on the other hand,

I have to also point out that I have had a lot of

experience at least resisting authoritarianism from Turkey.

And for the first time,

I think I feel great that I will be able to contribute to

American society in a way other than my research,

my teaching, it will be through activism.

And therefore, I am very much looking forward to other occasions like this one,

where I will be able to at least underline my own experience and

the bridges and knowledge that I have

because of having lived in one society that's authoritarian and

now being also a citizen and member of

another society that may be going on to become authoritarian.

I think I have understood.

I've started to understand why we have

this increase in authoritarianism throughout the world.

I think it is the intersection of two major issues.

One has to do with technology,

especially the emergence of social media and the communication that allows

each and every single person to be in touch directly with the whole social system.

It's a very new way of dealing with the world around us and processing knowledge,

that is one problem.

And the other one, of course,

has to do, at the same time, with neo-liberalism,

neo-liberal capitalism specifically, according to

which market forces are seen as determining everything.

And as a consequence, all values, interests,

norms that do not adhere to the market are swept aside,

and that, of course, includes human interests.

When market interests, unfortunately Trump human interests, we all suffer.

And I think I see in the President Trump the intersection of these two here.

I was teaching a course last term called sociology of

culture from the Kennedys to the Kardashians during the election season.

The students were very excited that they were getting the Kardashians.

I was basically giving them a history of neo-liberalism in

the United States and the destruction it has brought upon us.

But what is fascinating in that context is,

President Trump first, of course,

was able to appear and penetrate into each and

every household of the United States through the Celebrity Apprentice,

a reality TV show.

So that he was able to go there,

and in doing so,

he also legitimated his access by being a businessman.

So, on the one side,

he also uses social media to

bypass the political establishment and all other existing institutions.

On the other hand, of course,

he claims that he is a successful businessman,

epitome of what market forces could lead to.

And it is the intersection of the two that has led us to this point.

But I think in the next couple of years,

we're going to see increasingly all the rights,

all the basically comfort's support we have as a society,

where those who do not adhere to market forces,

especially the old, the young, the disabled,

and the marginalized, in one sense or another,

we will see how all of them will experience a lot of pain and violence.

And maybe that will, as a society,

allow us to change and allow us to get our priorities straight.

And in this process,

I'm very excited about the Millennial generation because I've been teaching

now here for almost more than 20 years.

And the Millennials, when you ask them if they want money or experience,

always go for experience.

I think they do not put market interest before human interest.

So, if we survive the next decade somehow,

I think we will all live in a society where

we respect each other rather than marginalizing each other.

Global Authoritarianism From Turkey to the United States

Democratic to Authoritarian Rule Teach-Out

Meet the Instructors