Alp Eren Topal

Alp Eren Topal is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie post-doctoral fellow with his research project “Messianic Conceptions of Politics and Authoritarianism in Turkey 1850-2015.”

Topal has received his PhD in 2017 fom Bilkent University, Department of Political Science with his dissertation titled “From Decline to Progress: Ottoman Concepts of Reform 1600-1876.” His research is broadly concerned with a revisionist history of Ottoman-Turkish political thought, through a long duree study of key concepts. He is also interested in questions of modernization, secularization, national identity formation, tradition, temporalization and transformation of religio-political discourse in the Ottoman nineteenth century. 

Topal’s Marie Curie project aims to trace the how Messianic conceptions of time and politics informed authoritarian leadership and legitimation practices in Turkey. An overarching of the project is how tradition, both discursive and practical, influence politics and institutions. At UiO, Topal is also associated with two ongoing research projects: LIFETIMES and EPIDEMICS.

Topal is a recipient of Gerta Henkel post-doctoral scholarship and a member of the Historical Society (Tarih Vakfı) of Turkey. Formerly he spent one year at Basel University, Department of Middle East Studies as a visiting PhD student and one year at Binghamton University as a visiting scholar.  

Recent publications:

Topal, Alp Eren & Wigen, Einar (2019) “Ottoman Conceptual History: Challenges and Prospects,” Contributions to the History of Concepts 14(1): 93- 114.

Topal, Alp Eren ed. (2018) Sürgünde Muhalefet: Namık Kemal’in Hürriyet Gazetesi (Istanbul: VBKY)

Topal, Alp Eren (2017) “Against Influence: Ziya Gökalp in Context and Tradition,” Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies 28(3): 283-310.