This book workshop brings together three scholars working on religion, displacement, ethnicity, and transnational politics in the Middle East and its diasporas. Featuring ongoing book projects by Mashuq Kurt, Barış Oktem, and Mostafa Khalili, the workshop explores how religion, migration, digital technologies, and everyday social relations shape experiences of belonging, mobility, and political life. The presentations examine Turkey’s transnational religious governance through the Diyanet, the role of digital technologies in the lives of Syrian refugees, and the everyday politics of ethnicity among Kurmanji-speaking Kurds in Iran. Together, the three projects offer fresh perspectives on governance, identity, mobility, and belonging in the contemporary Middle East and beyond.
| 2026/06/29 | ||
| 15:00 - 15:10 | Opening Remarks and Introduction | |
| 15:10 - 15:40 | Book Presentation I: The Lost Crescent: Neo-Ottomanism, Diaspora Governance, and the Transnational Politics of Religion | Mashuq Kurt （Royal Holloway, University of London） |
| 15:40 - 16:00 | Comments and Discussion | |
| 16:00 - 16:30 | Book Presentation II: Between Screens and States: Digital Habitus and Colonial Power in Refugee Lives | Barış Oktem （Keio University） |
| 16:30 - 16:50 | Comments and Discussion | |
| 16:50 - 17:00 | Break | |
| 17:00 - 17:30 | Book Presentation III: Everyday Ethnicity and the Nationalist Politics of Kurmanji-Speaking Kurds in Iran | Mostafa Khalili （ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies） |
| 17:30 - 17:50 | Comments and Discussion | |
| 17:50 - 18:30 | Roundtable Discussion: Borders, Diasporas, Digital Spaces, and Everyday Politics in the Middle East | |
For the full event program, please refer to the attached file.