Başak Ertür

Başak Ertür is a Reader in Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, affiliated with the Centre for Research Architecture (CRA). She holds a PhD in Law from Birkbeck, University of London (2015), an MA in Liberal Studies from The New School (2006), and a BA in Combined Honours in Arts from Durham University (2002). Her interdisciplinary work bridges critical legal studies, philosophy, and the arts, focusing on law’s epistemologies, aesthetics, and entanglements with political violence.

Her research explores legal performativity, counter-forensics, and the relationship between legal factuality and public truth. Notable works include Spectacles and Specters: A Performative Theory of Political Trials (2022), awarded the 2024 SLSA Prize. She was a Leverhulme Research Fellow (2023–24) and has held a CAPES/PRINT Visiting Professorship in Brazil (2022). Her work addresses state violence, memory laws, and resistance practices, often engaging with film, legal history, and deconstruction.

• Education:
  • PhD Law, Birkbeck, University of London (2015)
  • MA Liberal Studies, The New School (2006)
  • BA Combined Honours in Arts, Durham University (2002)
• Awards:
  • 2024 SLSA Socio-Legal Theory and History Prize
  • 2023 Leverhulme Research Fellowship
  • 2016 Julien Mezey Dissertation Award
• Key Themes: Legal performativity, counter-monumental resistance, conspiracy theories, and the intersections of law and aesthetics.

Her recent work investigates ‘counter-claims to public truth,’ emphasizing collective judgment and rethinking the forum as a space of justice. She has contributed to exhibitions, documentaries, and public debates on topics ranging from the Armenian Genocide to academic freedom in Turkey.