Metehan Tekinirk

MA (2018) and PhD (2022) in Political Science, Boston University

BA in Economics, BA in International Relations (2015), Koç University
 

Comparative Politics, Nationalism, Populism, Political Regimes and Democratic Erosion, Turkish Studies.

I am mainly interested in political institutions and culture, broadly construed. My substantive interest include nationalism and national identities, comparative populism studies, democratic erosion and resilience, social movements, and party politics. I have broad regional interests with a focus on Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, and post-communist Europe. 

I also have a background in political economy and interests neoliberalism and neoliberal restructuring, globalization and its implications, and hegemony and great power competition.

Journal Articles

Tekinırk, Metehan. “Populism, nationalism, and religion during Turkey’s autocratization episode.” Politics, Religion & Ideology 27, 2 (2026): pp. 233–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2026.2692508 (open access).

Tekinırk, Metehan. “The War in Ukraine, the Transatlantic Relationship, and the Changing Defense Calculus of Europe.” GlobalEurope 1 (October 2025). https://globaleuropejournal.org/2025/10/the-war-in-ukraine-the-transatlantic-relationship-and-the-changing-defense-calculus-of-europe/ 

Tekinırk, Metehan. “Tracing Populism in Power and the Evolution of the AKP in Turkey.” Populism 8 (2): pp. 257–91 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-bja10074.

Somer, Murat, and Metehan Tekinırk. “Regime Uncertainty, Democratic Erosion and Resilience, and Turkish Opposition Actors.” Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft (German Journal of Comparative Politics) 18: pp. 7–35 (2024). doi.org/10.1007/s12286-024-00595-x.

Tekinırk, Metehan, and Dylan Irons. “Making Sense of Erdoğan’s Immigration and Naturalization Policies amidst Turkey’s Migrant and Economic Crises.” EuropeNow 58 (August 2024). https://www.europenowjournal.org/2024/08/15/making-sense-of-erdogans-immigration-and-naturalization-policies-amidst-turkeys-migrant-and-economic-crises/ 

Book Chapters

Tekinırk, Metehan. “Islamism, between Left-wing and Right-wing Populism,” in Identities in Dispute: Politics, Nation, and Populisms in Times of Uncertainty (Identitats en disputa: Política, nació i populismes en temps d'incertesa), eds. Agusti Colomines and Liah Greenfeld. Catarroja: Editorial Afers (forthcoming). 

Tekinırk, Metehan. “Globalization, the Rhetoric of Nationalism, and the Resilience of Neo-liberalism,” in the Research Handbook on Nationalism, eds. Liah Greenfeld and Zeying Wu. London: Elgar (2020), pp. 215–229.

Works in Progress

“Resisting Populist Autocratization: Shifting Oppositional Narratives and Strategies in Turkey” (with Yunus Sözen)

“The Structural Ceiling: State Capture, Polarization, and the Limits of Opposition Coordination in Turkey” (with Murat Somer and Yunus Sözen; in Reshape Politics: How Opposition Actors can Defeat Democratic Backsliding and Polarization, eds. Murat Somer and Shafi Md Mostofa).

Comparative Politics: Middle East (POSC/MIST 215)

Comparative Democracies (POSC 208)

Democratic Erosion (POSC 333)

Islam and Politics (POSC/MIST 304)

Interdisciplinary Studies on the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (POSC/MIST 355) https://courseofferings.colgate.edu/offerings#/202601/10462 

Critical Perspectives on Nationalism and Populism (POSC 318) https://courseofferings.colgate.edu/offerings#/202601/10568 

Visiting Lecturer, Boston University (2022-2023), Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology
Courses: Critical Perspectives on Nationalism and Populism, Globalization of Nationalism, Political Violence, Democracy and Protest in the Global South, Globalization and World Poverty

Senior Teaching Fellow, Boston University (2021-2022), Department of Political Science
Courses: Democratic Erosion, Introduction to International Relations

Teaching Fellow, Boston University (2016-2021), Department of Political Science
Courses: Introduction to International Relations, Introduction to Public Policy, International Politics

Democratic Erosion Consortium, Team Populism, Association for the Study of Nationalities, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program (MIST), Northeastern Political Science Association, American Political Science Association