Contested terrains: youth in twenty-first century Turkey at the intersection of education, family, gender and public space

Abstract

This special issue explores the contested terrain of youth in twenty-first-century Turkey across education, family, gender, public space, and everyday life. Drawing on recent ethnographic research, the articles examine how youth navigate authoritarianism, neoliberalism, and social conservatism under the AKP regime. Beyond state-centered analyses, this volume highlights everyday negotiations that shape subjectivity, resistance, and belonging. Featuring diverse perspectives - Kurdish youth, young women, religious and secular students, and Syrian migrants - it reveals how young people's desires create alternative strategies. As Turkey enters a new political moment, this collection offers a crucial lens to understand the shifting, contested dynamics of youth politics today.