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Uygar Baspehlivan

@ubaspehlivan.bsky.social

270 followers 440 following 31 posts

Postdoctoral Research Associate @ Queen Mary University London. Studying memes, digital politics, critical theory, and subjectivity.

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Apr 30

Just going to slowly introduce some of my research to BlueSky.

I'm a critical theorist interested in political possibilities of new media, particularly memes. My first journal article was a theoretical framework for the political study of internet memes.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core

Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes - Volume 50 Issue 1

www.cambridge.org

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BISA - British International Studies Association @mybisa.bsky.social · Aug 29

New BISA WG! 🎉

Critical Alternatives for World Politics - fostering a welcoming space for experimental, creative & non-mainstream research and researchers at the margins of International Studies - join today! 🌟

Info here 👉 buff.ly/1Pxr7Bz

@nataliejester.bsky.social @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social

About Critical Alternatives for World Politics (CAWP)

The Critical Alternatives for World Politics (CAWP) Working Group aims to foster a welcoming space for experimental, creative, and non-mainstream research and researchers at the margins of…

buff.ly

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Aug 26

🖖Hi people! We are launching our new BISA working group, Critical Alternatives for World Politics! We have been working on this for a while now :) It will be a great space to experiment with and create new methods and approaches to IR. Please make sure to follow and join us :)🥰

BISA Critical Alternatives for World Politics Working Group @cawpbisa.bsky.social · Aug 26

🎆We are incredibly excited to launch
BISA's new working group: Critical Alternatives for World Politics (CAWP)! CAWP aims to foster a collegiate space for creative, experimental, and non-mainstream research in IR 🎉Follow us on here and join us at:
www.bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

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Roland Bleiker @bleiker.bsky.social · Aug 20

Drawing on surrealism & anti-colonial thought, Sara Wong’s new open-access article in @risjnl.bsky.social offers an interesting engagement with aesthetic politics. She argues for shift from representation to “what aesthetics do or could do.” www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Aug 19

Taking friendship applications in London area btw.

Reposted by Uygar Baspehlivan

Pasko Kisić-Merino @paskokisic.bsky.social · Aug 7

I got interviewed about my PhD thesis on the relationship between neoliberal social media and the normalisation of far-right fantasies by @reacpolrn.bsky.social the Reactionary Politics Research Network. Many thanks to @aurelmondon.bsky.social for conducting the interview!

Reactionary Politics Research Network @reacpolrn.bsky.social · Aug 7

📣New interview📣

@paskokisic.bsky.social discusses how psychoanalytic theory can help us understand the contemporary far right and its normalisation. Check it out below!

reacpol.net/psychoanalyt...

Interview: Psychoanalytic theory, critical fantasy studies and the normalisation of the far right (Pasko Kisić-Merino) - Reactionary Politics Research Network

This interview is based on Pasko Kisić-Merino's thesis 'Enjoying the Fall: The Normalisation of the Far-Right as an Algorithmically-Mediated Fantasy of Ontological (In)Security' (2025)

reacpol.net

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European International Studies Association (EISA) @europeanisa.bsky.social · Aug 6

🏆 We are pleased to announce @alvinahoffmann.bsky.social as the author of the Best Article in the European Journal of International Relations. Congratulations!

👏 Honorable mention to Alexander Cooley, John Heathershaw, Ricardo Soares De Oliveira

🔗 buff.ly/hqpQJSz

Best article in EJIR 2025. Congratulations to Alvina Hoffmann for the article 'What makes a spokesperson? Delegation and symbolic power in Crimea'.

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jul 29

Check out my dear and awesome friend Charlie's new piece on the silly/serious politics of digital reaction! 👇👇

Charlie Price @charlieprice.bsky.social · Jul 29

Do you like ketchup? Not only are you wrong, but you may be a fascist. Not really, but in my 🍅New Publication🍅 "Ketchup Is the Whitest Sauce", in International Political Sociology, I argue that memes about ketchup showcase Neo-Nazi solidarity.
academic.oup.com/ips/article/...

Ketchup Is the Whitest Sauce: Memes as Silly/Serious Bordered Spaces in International Relations

Abstract. This paper draws on previous scholarship on humor, memes, and seriousness in International Relations to produce a novel means for understanding o

academic.oup.com

Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jul 20

I saw him live as an opener to a Steven Wilson gig at Royal Albert Hall years ago. He does beautiful folk music.

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BISA - British International Studies Association @mybisa.bsky.social · Jul 18

🎉 Best Article in the @risjnl.bsky.social winner this year was @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social

for: 'Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes' with judges finding the 'theoretical approach original & highly relevant' 🌟

Summary - buff.ly/Rvd09Wk
DOI -

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Review of International Studies @risjnl.bsky.social · Jul 15

Have you read the 2024 winner of the RIS Best Article Prize? Uygar Baspehlivan's article "Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes" is #OpenAccess, and a must read for anyone interested in visual IR!

👉 buff.ly/fZmc0Ch

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DoingIPS @doingips.bsky.social · Jul 9

🚨 Launch of the first MA in International Political Sociology at @qmpoliticsir.bsky.social, starting September 2025. Applications are now open for 2025-26. The programme adopts a problem-driven approach, bridging disciplines to address complex challenges in World Politics. More information here:

International Political Sociology - Queen Mary University of London

Explore the intersection of politics, sociology, and global issues with the MA in International Political Sociology at Queen Mary University of London. Study power, inequality, and global transformati...

www.qmul.ac.uk

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BISA - British International Studies Association @mybisa.bsky.social · Jun 20

Our 11th joint winners were Anne-Marie Houde and Ugyar Baspehhlivan of the Emotions Working Group Prize – best PhD thesis in Emotions and Politics and IR 🎉
#BISA2025

Anne-Marie Houde and Ugyar Baspehhlivan collecting their award from the EPIR convenors.

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BISA - British International Studies Association @mybisa.bsky.social · Jun 20

Our fourth winner was Uygar Baspehlivan🎉

Uygar Baspehlivan won the Review of International Studies: Best Article Prize for his article 'Theorizing the memescape: the spatial politics of internet memes' 📝

#BISA2025

Uygar collecting his award given to him by editor of the RIS. In the background there is a BISA powerpoint slide with details of the prize.

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jun 19

If you're interested in the article, you can find it below :).

If you're interested in the thesis, wait for a book, hopefully sooner than later! 🙏
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes | Review of International Studies | Cambridge Core

Theorising the memescape: The spatial politics of Internet memes - Volume 50 Issue 1

www.cambridge.org

Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jun 19

@mybisa.bsky.social @risjnl.bsky.social

Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jun 19

🏆🏆Absolute pleasure to be awarded the:
-RIS Best Article Prize for "Theorising the Memescape: The Spatial Politics of Internet Memes
-Honourable Mention for BISA Michael Nicholson Best Thesis Prize @MYBISA
-BISA Emotions in Politics and IR Working Group Best Thesis Prize

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Arife Kose @arifekose.bsky.social · Jun 18

I enjoyed this talk by @robtoes.bsky.social on the rhetoric of reactionary digital politics. I liked the idea of 'ambient extremism.' I think it's very useful to understand how reactionary rhetoric leaks into our daily conversations by blurring boundaries. I also liked+
www.spui25.nl/programma/am...

Ambient Extremism in Reactionary Digital Politics

In this second talk of ACES’s “Diagonalism” series, Robert Topinka engages with the idea of “ambient extremism.” This type of contemporary digital reactionary politics entails a dissolution of distinc...

www.spui25.nl

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Reactionary Politics Research Network @reacpolrn.bsky.social · Jun 4

📣Applications for the second Reactionary Politics Summer School are open📣

The summer school provides a space to develop key skills for the research of reactionary politics. It will be hosted hybrid and attendance is free. Bursaries are also available. Sign up below!

reacpol.net/summer-schoo...

Summer School - Reactionary Politics Research Network

reacpol.net

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Ali Rıza Taşkale @alirizataskale.bsky.social · May 30

My review of The Technological Republic by Palantir CEO Alex Karp and exec Nicholas Zamiska is out. They call for Silicon Valley to re-align with the Pentagon, where democracy is obsolete, engineers shift from apps to weapons, and code becomes law. Tech is no longer just for profit. It’s for war.

Political Economy Research Centre @goldperc.bsky.social · May 30

As part of PERC's Silicon Valley Ideology series, @alirizataskale.bsky.social reviews The Technological Republic, by Palantir's CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas Zamiska. The books is an unapologetic blueprint for a militarised tech oligarchy that threatens democracy and needs to be resisted.

Palantir’s Technological Republic: The Militarised Tech Oligarchy is Here - Political Economy Research Centre

In his farewell address this January, then US President Joe Biden delivered a striking warning: a “tech oligarchy”, he said, now threatens American democracy. Echoing Eisenhower’s warning about the mi...

www.goldperc.uk

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · Jun 4

Incredibly honoured to have received BISA Emotions in Politics Working Group's Best Thesis Prize! And to share it with the lovely @annemhoude.bsky.social! Double the honour 😊😊

Emotions in Politics and IR (EPIR) BISA Working Group @epir-bisa.bsky.social · Jun 3

🎉 We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 EPIR Thesis Prize!
🏆 Winners: Anne-Marie Houde & Uygar Baspehlivan
🎖 Honourable Mention: Shambhawi Tripathi
Their theses impressed our judges with originality, critical insight, and innovative methods. Congratulations to all! 👏

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Uygar Baspehlivan @ubaspehlivan.bsky.social · May 29

❤️❤️

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Review of International Studies @risjnl.bsky.social · May 26

A whole new issue!

Check out Volume 51, Issue 2 on our website now! All articles are free to read until the end of the month 🥳

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Jana Bacevic @unsocialtheory.bsky.social · May 26

Following the outcome of the recent regional elections and in response to the rising tide of fascism in the region (and beyond), we've sent a letter to the VC asking Durham University to publicly commit to the safety and wellbeing of its international/migrant staff and students. Excerpts below:

Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · May 25

A letter we've sent to our Vice Chancellor, and other members of senior management, insisting they publicly commit themselves to the safety and wellbeing of the university's international/migrant staff and students.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Dear Professor O’Brien,

Dear Professor O’Brien, We are writing to ask you to make a public statement affirming Durham University’s commitment to the safety and wellbeing of its international/migrant staff and students, and...

docs.google.com

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Uğur Aytaç @uguraytac.bsky.social · May 23

We're hiring! I'll be co-supervising a PhD at Utrecht University on the global governance of socially disruptive technologies. Political philosophy/ethics project focused on legitimacy & good governance.

More info: edu.nl/9admd
Deadline: June 3, 2025 (apologies for the short notice!)

edu.nl

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IPS Section @isaipssection.bsky.social · May 23

Are you a graduate student who presented at the 2025 ISA in Chicago?

If you were part of a panel sponsored or co-sponsored by the IPS section, consider applying to the 2026 IPS Graduate Student Paper Award! Self-nominations are encouraged!

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