Sociology Days IV: Social Crises, Vulnerabilities, and Power

The event "Sociology Days IV: Social Crises, Vulnerabilities, and Power," organized by the Department of Sociology within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Acıbadem University, occurred on May 17, 2024. The event featured discussions on the experiences of vulnerabilities produced by crises in various social groups and areas of power, with participation from five speakers and 43 attendees. Topics included disaster survivor experiences, the relationship between the waste economy and social stratification in Turkey, white-collar experiences in the workplace, prosecutors' professional experiences in legal processes, and the impact of educational policies on teachers and parents.

Zeynep Iclal Incioglu, a psychologist with the Guidance Department at Sainte Pulcherie French High School, conceptualized the phenomenon of vulnerability through the relationship with the 'other.' She discussed the individual experiences of vulnerability in the contexts of migration and earthquakes, highlighting the social inequality dimensions of vulnerability through two case examples.

Sociologist Irem Nihal Balci introduced the waste economy in Turkey and examined its relation to social stratification, drawing on her field research with waste collectors.

Assist. Prof. Ayca Deniz Yilmaz from the Turkish-German University addressed the topic of 'loss of meaning in working life' based on her field research with white-collar workers in various sectors.

Gozde Aytemur, a research assistant at the Institute of Social Sciences at Galatasaray University, outlined the interrupted history of judicial reform during the EU integration process and presented the experiences of prosecutors, one of the judiciary's main actors, based on her field research.

The final speaker, Research Assistant Metin Cevizci from the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, highlighted the crisis in education in Turkey through quantitative indicators derived from his field research in primary schools. He also examined the experiences of teachers and parents, exploring the connections between the vulnerabilities produced in these groups, institutional structures, and social inequalities.

At the end of the event, the speakers answered questions from the participants.