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Books
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2023. Indoctrination [Endoktrinasyon.]. Liber Plus. pp. 272.
3rd print, 2nd edition.
ISBN-13: 978-625-6982-34-5
details
This book maps how group psychology turns everyday belonging into certainty: through narratives that sort the world into us-versus-them, attach moral weight to symbols, and make shared identity feel natural, even self-evident. Drawing on classic social psychology experiments and real-world cases, it demonstrates how ordinary people come to defend group boundaries, adopt ready-made interpretations, and police dissent, often without noticing the steps in between. By examining cults as social bubbles where belief, authority, and belonging are especially visible, the book makes these processes easier to see, hinting at how similar patterns, in milder and more diffuse form, can also shape larger communities, institutions, and nations.
· goodReads
· further details
Retrospective Note (2026):
This book framed the post-World War II order around the Holocaust, the Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, renewed commitments to sovereignty, and later developments such as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), presenting them as pillars of a consolidating normative framework. Strong protections for free expression were likewise treated as reflections of these liberal democratic ideals.
However, the context in which these principles operate has shifted rapidly since the publication of the latest edition. Changes in state practice, the recalibration of core commitments by leading powers, and the rise of digital technologies and surveillance have altered the conditions under which rights and freedoms are exercised. A future edition would therefore need to address these developments, as the original framework no longer fully captures the current landscape.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2017. Freedom of expression versus religious sensitivities: Charlie Hebdo and Muhammad cartoons [İfade özgürlüğü ve dini hassasiyetler: Charlie Hebdo ve Hz. Muhammed karikatürleri]. Liber Plus. pp. 190.
ISBN-13: 978-605-83324-7-8
details
The book analyzes the recurring clash between free-speech norms and religious offence, grounding the debate in liberalism's philosophical roots and key critiques, then connecting it to contemporary European secularism, multiculturalism, and minority integration dilemmas. It then shifts to Islam-West perceptions, and more specifically how us-versus-them framings harden positions, before moving from theory to evidence via a sustained content analysis of major cartoon flashpoints from the Denmark crisis through Charlie Hebdo and related episodes, extracting principles for arguing about the "publish or not" question without collapsing into either provocation-as-virtue or taboo-as-policy.
· goodReads
· further details
Retrospective Note (2026):
This book examined the tensions between freedom of expression and religious sensitivities through the Charlie Hebdo attack and the earlier Danish cartoon crisis. Since its publication nine years ago, the broader political and technological context in which such controversies unfold has shifted, including changes in state practice, evolving commitments to liberal norms, and the rise of digital platforms that shape how speech circulates and is contested. In parts of Europe, protections for speech and expression in general have also become more contested than they appeared at the time of writing. A future edition would therefore need to situate the earlier analysis within this altered landscape.
Book Chapters
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2024. "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra." In: Handbook of terrorist and insurgent groups: A global survey of threats, tactics, and characteristics, ed. Scott N. Romaniuk, Animesh Roul, Amparo Pamela Fabe, János Besenyő. CRC Press by Routledge. pp. 486-494.
ISBN-13: 978-1-032714-90-5
details
This edited volume offers a comprehensive survey of terrorist and insurgent groups worldwide, combining conceptual analyses with regionally organized case studies to examine their origins, ideologies, tactics, and operational characteristics . In that context, the chapter situates Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) within the Syrian Civil War and traces its evolution from an Al-Qaeda affiliate to HTS, examining its Salafi-jihadist ideology, leadership structure, military organization, recruitment strategies, outreach mechanisms, and patterns of violence.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2023. "Islamism and its relation to Islam and the West: Common themes and varieties." In: Political ideologies and worldviews: An introduction [2nd edition], ed. Valérie Vézina, & Alexandra Taylor. KPU Pressbooks. pp. 205-218.
ISBN-13: 978-1-989864-76-0
details
This edited volume explores major political ideologies and their historical and contemporary impact. In that context, the chapter situates Islamism within broader debates about religion, politics, and the West, outlining its traditionalist, fundamentalist, and modernist strands while addressing common misconceptions and showing how these currents take shape across diverse political settings.
Journal Articles
[8] Kaya, Serdar; and Phil Orchard. 2020. "Prospects of return: The case of Syrian refugees in Germany." Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies 18(1): 95-112. (doi: 10.1080/15562948.2019.1570579) details Most research focuses on factors such as violence that lead to displacement. But what influences refugees to return to their countries of origin? This study addresses that question by analyzing data on Syrian refugees in Germany.
[7] Kaya, Serdar. 2019. "Institutionalization of Islam in secular Europe: The influence of state-religion relations on anti-Muslim attitudes." Policy Studies Journal 47(3): 793-818. (doi: 10.1111/psj.12332)
details
Which Islamic traditions and practices have European countries institutionalized, and to what extent? Which practices encounter resistance, and where? How do these points of resistance shape attitudes toward Muslim minorities? This article addresses these questions within the context of broader church-state regimes in Europe.
Note:
This article builds on my dissertation from 2015, which remains a useful source of case background, particularly for Germany, France, and Belgium. However, Kaya (2017) and this article expand the data, and further develop the theoretical framework.
[6] Kaya, Serdar. 2017. "Social consequences of securitizing citizenship: Two-tiered citizenry and anti-immigrant attitudes." Canadian Ethnic Studies 49(3): 27-49. (doi: 10.1353/ces.2017.0020)
details
This article was written after several Western democracies (e.g., Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom) considered or adopted measures making it easier to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals, and in practical terms, members of immigrant communities. Legal scholars had argued that such measures render the citizenship of a segment of the population conditional and thereby create a two-tiered citizenry, which conflicts with the liberal democratic principle of equal citizenship. Taking this legal critique as its point of departure, this article examined whether weaker status security for naturalized immigrants is associated with higher levels of anti-immigrant attitudes among majority populations, drawing on data from thirty European countries.
Notes (2026):
· The article provides a brief overview of the historical development of citizenship, emphasizing that single nationality long functioned as the dominant norm under international law, in contrast with today's widespread acceptance of dual citizenship.
· Christian Joppke's claim that Western liberal states have diminished the weight and exclusivity of citizenship, recasting it as a more formal legal status with attenuated duties and thinner substantive expectations, has arguably found increasing confirmation in subsequent years.
[5] Kaya, Serdar. 2017. "State policies toward Islam in twenty countries in Western Europe: The Accommodation of Islam Index." Muslim World Journal of Human Rights 14(1): 55-81. (doi: 10.1515/mwjhr-2016-0003)
details
This article introduces the Accommodation of Islam (AOI) Index, a comparative measure of the extent to which European states accommodate Islam across six domains: education, mosques, chaplaincy, cemeteries, religious attire, and halal food. The index translates state policies into standardized scores, enabling systematic comparisons between and within 20 Western European countries across six policy domains. The index thus offers a more nuanced and empirically-grounded alternative to broad labels such as "assimilationist" or "multicultural."
Note: This is the expanded and refined version of the index I originally developed as part of my doctoral dissertation.
[4] Kaya, Serdar. 2015. "Islamophobia in Western Europe: A comparative, multilevel study." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 35(3): 450-465. (doi: 10.1080/13602004.2015.1080952) details This article offers a multilevel analysis of anti-Muslim prejudice in Western Europe, moving beyond most earlier studies that focus only on individual attitudes. In addition to factors such as religiosity and perceived threats, it brings into the analysis country-level factors, such as state-religion arrangements and citizenship policies.
[3] Kaya, Serdar. 2015. "Outgroup prejudice from an evolutionary perspective: Survey evidence from Europe." Journal of International and Global Studies 7(1): 16-31. details For most of human history, survival depended on vigilance against potentially hostile outsiders, a context that likely selected for a generalized disposition of caution and distrust toward strangers. If this evolutionary social psychological premise holds, then outgroup prejudice should derive less from the specific traits of particular minorities than from an individual's broader outlook on other people, as reflected in an activated sense of distrust. This article assesses this generalized distrust claim by examining the extent to which prejudicial attitudes cluster across multiple minority groups, reflecting a generalized mechanism.
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2012. "The social psychology of the Ergenekon case: The collapse of the official narrative in Turkey." Middle East Critique 21(2): 145-156. (doi: 10.1080/19436149.2012.688583)
details
The human brain copes with the complexity of the outer world by reducing cognitive load and constructing simplified models that render reality intelligible and manageable. When events violate these models, individuals perceive "meaning threats," which trigger compensatory responses such as system justification, conservatism, and renewed attachment to familiar authority structures. Against this social psychological backdrop, the article argues that the Ergenekon revelations constituted a profound meaning threat to Turkey's official narrative in Turkey, activating these defensive mechanisms and inclining many to protect the status quo rather than abandon it.
Note: This article's literature review (pp. 146-147) offers a compact overview of (1) how the human mind constructs meaning by simplifying a complex reality into cognitively manageable models, (2) how categorization is central to this process, and (3) why stereotyping emerges as a structural consequence of the brain's need to reduce cognitive load and maintain coherence.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2009. "The rise and decline of the Turkish 'deep state': The Ergenekon case." Insight Turkey 11(4): 99-113. details Mancur Olson models the state as susceptible to capture by small, exclusive, rent-seeking coalitions. These are networks of actors embedded in key institutions who coordinate to secure material, political, and ideological advantages for their members while portraying those interests as serving the nation as a whole. Because such groups benefit more from redistributing existing resources than from increasing overall societal productivity, they tend to resist reform and obstruct democratization. This article applies that framework to the Turkish "deep state" and more particularly the Ergenekon case, arguing that its clandestine, cross-institutional network reflects the dynamics Olson attributes to distributional coalitions.
Book Reviews
[4] Kaya, Serdar. 2015. "Constructing Muslims in France: Discourse, public identity, and the politics of citizenship (by Jennifer Fredette)" Ethnic and Racial Studies 38(13): 2444-2446. details Fredette's book examines how the identity of Muslims in France is shaped through public discourse and political debate. The review explains how the book argues that a small group of political, media, and intellectual elites plays a central role in defining Muslims primarily through religion and portraying them as incompatible with French republican values. The review also assesses the book’s methodology and findings, noting both its insightful analysis of discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and housing, and its limitations in engaging with broader empirical research.
[3] Kaya, Serdar. 2011. "Cumhuriyet'in dindar kadınları [The religious women of the Republic] (by Fatma K. Barbarosoğlu)" Contemporary Islam 5(2): 211-212. details The book under review explores the experiences and perspectives of religious women in early Republican Turkey, particularly in relation to secular state policies and restrictions on veiling. The review evaluates how the book highlights women's roles in Islamic revival efforts through life stories of a generation that contributed to education, activism, and community organization. The review also discusses the methodological approach, noting the author's insider perspective and the book's significance as a primary source bridging sociology, politics, and anthropology.
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2011. "Velvet jihad: Muslim women's quiet resistance to Islamic fundamentalism (by Faegheh Shirazi)" Journal of Middle East Women's Studies 7(2): 120-122. details Shirazi's book examines how Muslim women challenge gender discrimination associated with Islamic fundamentalism across different societies. It describes how women use education, communication, and activism to question restrictive practices and advocate for greater equality. The review also evaluates the book’s arguments, noting that its analysis sometimes relies on inconsistent interpretations of religious sources and lacks a clear definition of fundamentalism or a coherent proposal for reform.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2010. "Secularism and state policies toward religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (by Ahmet Kuru)" Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 10(4): 491-493. details Kuru's book introduces a distinction between assertive and passive forms of secularism, arguing that states differ in whether they actively exclude religion from the public sphere (e.g., France), or instead maintain neutrality toward religious expression (e.g., United States). The review examines how the book develops this conceptual framework through comparative historical analysis of state-religion relations, emphasizing the role of ideological struggles within state institutions in shaping policy outcomes. It evaluates the book's theoretical contribution, methodological approach, and comparative case studies while also noting certain analytical and historical limitations.
Film Reviews
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2021. For Sama (by Waad Al-Kateab, and Edward Watts). Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees 37(2): 179-180.
details
A review of For Sama, a documentary in which Waad Al-Kateab chronicles her experiences as both a journalist and a mother during the Syrian Civil War.
The film premiered at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, where it won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards. It was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2014. "Yılmaz Güney's Arkadaş and Yol: The changing approach of the renowned socialist filmmaker to gender equality." Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi [Research Journal of Politics, Economics and Management] 2(1): 61-65. details A comparative review of Arkadaş and Yol, two films by the Turkish director Yılmaz Güney, best known for his socialist politics. The review explores the ideological tensions and inconsistencies that complicate Güney's legacy and reflect the broader contradictions of his time.
Encyclopedia Entries
[3] Kaya, Serdar. 2023. "Refugees." In: The Palgrave encyclopedia of global security studies, pp. 1205-1210. Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_356-1) details A reference text on the concept of the refugee, tracing its historical origins and evolution in international law, examining the development of global institutional frameworks, and assessing the lived realities of displacement, including rights, camps, protracted exile, and emerging challenges such as climate change.
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2015. "Hrant Dink." In: The Armenian Genocide: The essential reference guide, pp. 113-115. ABC-CLIO. details A reference text on the life of Hrant Dink (1954-2007), a Turkish-Armenian intellectual who was assassinated at age 53 by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist outside the offices of Agos, the Armenian weekly newspaper of which he was editor-in-chief.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2014. "Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)." In: The Oxford encyclopedia of Islam and politics, Volume 2, pp. 601-602. Oxford University Press. details A reference text on one of the leading Islamic civil society institutions in North America, headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana.
Other
[3] Kaya, Serdar. 2025. "Anatolia." In: cancelled encyclopedia project by M.E. Sharpe, circa 2010. (updated, self-published version) details A reference text on Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, the peninsula at the westernmost edge of Asia, and home to some of the world's earliest complex societies, including the monumental site of Göbekli Tepe, which dates to the 10th millennium BCE.
[2] Kaya, Serdar. 2025. "Ani." In: cancelled encyclopedia project by M.E. Sharpe, circa 2010. (updated, self-published version) details A reference text on Ani, a medieval Armenian city located in eastern Turkey, on the Turkish side of the Armenian-Turkish border, near the city of Kars.
[1] Kaya, Serdar. 2025. "Quran." In: cancelled encyclopedia project by M.E. Sharpe, circa 2010. (updated, self-published version) details A reference text on the central religious text of Islam, and its contents.
Earlier Versions of Publications
· Conference & workshop papers
Academic Networks
· Academia.edu (publications; syllabi)
· Research Gate (publications)