Ronay Bakan

Ronay Bakan is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, affiliated with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Department of Political and Social Sciences. She specializes in political violence, urban politics, and critical methodologies, with particular focus on Middle Eastern contexts.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, and BA/MA degrees in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University in Turkey. She was previously a Fox Fellow at Yale University's MacMillan Center (2018-2019).

Ronay's research employs ethnographic methods to investigate the socio-spatial dynamics of everyday warfare, with emphasis on racialized and ethnicized populations in conflict zones. She has developed the theoretical framework of 'counterinsurgent urbanism' to analyze how states weaponize urban development and heritage practices in counterinsurgency operations, particularly in the Kurdish region of Turkey.

Her current scholarly output centers on finalizing her book manuscript 'Counterinsurgent Urbanism: Weaponizing Land and Heritage in the Kurdish Region of Turkey' and the methodological article 'Fieldwork as Carework,' which examines the ethical dimensions of conducting research in conflict environments. Her work bridges political geography and political science, offering innovative perspectives on the spatial dimensions of political violence.

As a Max Weber Fellow, Ronay receives mentorship from Professor Simone Tholens and participates in the intellectual community of the Robert Schuman Centre, contributing to research on security, conflict, and intervention practices.