Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This investigation of offensive language on prime time broadcast and cable programs found that nine out of ten programs contained at least one incident of profanity and viewers were exposed to 12.58 cuss words per hour in 2005. Viewers of broadcast programs were exposed to slightly less than 10 objectionable words per hour compared to 15 words per hour on cable programs.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: Two recent events have triggered a heated public debate in Turkey, revealing the complex relationship among collective memory, state discourses, national identity, freedom of expression and the role of intellectuals as knowledge producers. First, Elif Safak faced charges for her latest novel, The Bastard of İstanbul, under article 301 of the Turkish criminal code, which criminalizes any form of expression degrading Turkish national identity. Her novel brought up various perspectives of Armenian-Turkish history that are considered taboo in Turkey. Later, the controversial novelist Orhan Pamuk, who was also prosecuted under article 301 for acknowledging in the international arena the Armenian genocide and the Kurdish question, became the first Turkish Nobel Prize winner in literature. Historically and politically contextualizing the representations of those events within the commentary sections of three national newspapers (Radikal, Cumhuriyet and Zaman) that represent the political spectrum of Turkish intellectuals, this paper addresses the following questions: What are the challenges introduced by globalization for local intellectuals in redefining their identities against/within the discourses of the state, collective memory, nationalism and universal rights of expression? How does globalization lead to the interrogation of the relationship between Turkish identity and the locally established political views of leftism, secularism and Islamism?

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Being the first nation to develop, test and acquire nuclear weapons and most significantly the one and only nuclear power to ever use an atomic weapon, the United States has played the most significant role in the evolution and sustenance of the nuclear taboo or the tradition of non-use. Much of the discourse on the taboo ?both at the policy and academic realms -- has occurred in the United States. In the 21st century, in response to asymmetrical threats from regional challengers and terrorist groups the US has also been taking the lead in circumventing the tradition by inventing usable mini-nukes. It is important to trace the evolution of the tradition by looking at the key turning points and events that shaped it. By using a path-dependency approach I will argue that the evolution was influenced by both ideational and material factors. The tradition fitted well into the national security calculations of US policy makers both in the area of the cold war conflict with the Soviet bloc and in the context of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states. The paper goes through the historical record under each of the presidencies in order to understand the evolution of the taboo against nuclear use.

Publication Type: Invited Paper

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: After successful delegitimisations of WMD, similar developments can be observed for conventional arms, with the prohibition of cluster munitions being the second prominent example after the ban on anti-personnel landmines. This paper begins by arguing that the cluster munitions success is a puzzling case of weapon stigmatisation, because the negotiated outcome exceeded the expectations of all participating parties and because humanitarian concerns obviously outweighed military necessities. Unlike landmines, cluster munitions are weapons of undisputed military effectiveness, mainly employed by the major industrialised powers. To discuss why this success was possible, I utilise the theoretical framework developed by research on evolution and effects of international norms. After illustrating the taboo characteristics of cluster munitions, the empirical focus of this paper lays on the analysis of the process of stigmatisation, which has lead to the adoption of the Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions. The main theoretical point is that the dynamics of the prohibition of cluster munitions is an evidence for a cascade of norm prohibitions, since it illustrates how norm building itself becomes a normal practice and makes the delegitimisation of additional prohibitionary norms easier to accomplish.