Volume 72, Issue 2

Gender-related issues feature prominently on the EU’s agenda and in policies such as the Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 which identifies gender equality as a core principle of the EU. Within the broader convergence discourse which examines whether candidate countries are converging with the EU, prompted by Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention and the Sofagate incident, this paper conducts a gender-centric convergence analysis in the case Turkey. To this end, it uses five gender-focused indices compiled by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. The empirical results from the convergence tests do not provide evidence supporting convergence in terms of these five gender-related indices. The findings of the present study concur with the existing relevant literature and should be viewed in the broader context of Turkey’s democratic backsliding and de-Europeanization process.

This article analyses Slovenia’s independent statehood as the result of interactions between three relatively autonomous societal groups which had coexisted, albeit not harmoniously, since the liberal reforms of 1960s socialist Yugoslavia: the political bureaucracy, the ideological–cultural bureaucracy, and the technocracy. The transformation of these three groups into the dominant class in the newly independent Slovenia materialised through mechanisms of mediation of state power, as identified by Göran Therborn. Specifically, these mechanisms of centralising the three groups consisted of coercion, ideology, and extraction. Over the course of the 1980s, the three groups coordinated and began to project themselves as one class. They presented themselves to the working class through the emerging state institutions, and completed the transition to capitalism in Slovenia by dismantling the Yugoslav federation. Ultimately, the configuration of this dominant class through the process leading towards sovereignty created the conditions for its subsequent reproduction.

This study explores the problems related to university teaching and academic research within de facto states in the context of their non-recognition via an analysis of the current situation in the higher education sector of Northern Cyprus. It reveals that although Northern Cyprus is a world leader in terms of the number of universities per capita, as well as the proportion of international students and the proportion of higher education students in its population, its higher education system nevertheless faces numerous problems. Among the most serious of these are the inconsistent and often very low quality of Northern Cyprus’s universities, the politicisation of and lack of confidence in the accreditation authorities responsible for the quality and sustainability of the higher education system, and the unregulated activities of “agents” who recruit new students.

This article conceptualises one of the most important factors shaping the Russian–Turkish multidimensional partnership—the dynamics around energy. It seeks to answer the question: “To what extent does energy ensure cooperation in Russian–Turkish relations, despite current tensions?” The author argues that even though the two countries have had disagreements over each other’s involvement in certain energy projects, their shared interests in energy have been strengthened by their interdependence and have led to a greater convergence, which in turn allows for cooperation. As a result, the energy sector serves as a mitigating factor in bilateral relations. The author focuses on Russian and non-Russian natural gas pipeline projects, using the interdependence theory as a theoretical framework.

The article reviews the documentary film diptych The Labudović Reels by film-maker Mila Turajlić. Based on her archival work at the Filmske Novosti production company, Turajlić discovers the legacy of hitherto unknown cinematographer Stevan Labudović. Both films are hybrid documentaries that combine archive footage with interview-style documentary, and both focus on two intertwined thematic cycles – Labudović’s coverage of the Algerian war of independence (1959–1961) and the first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (1960–1961). Conceptually, Turajlić’s films engage thought-provoking matrixes, among them Pierre Nora’s lieux de memoire and, more especially, Walter Benjamin’s reflections on historical progress. This review finds that the implementation of the latter blurs the boundary between the critique of the idea of progress and historical relativism, which leads to the confusing presence of mutually exclusive voices in Turajlić’s film, one calling for the reappropriation of the past, and another calling that same past into question.