Pinar Tuzcu
Assistant Professor
B.A. (Gazi/Turkey), M.A. (Kocaeli/Turkey), D.Phil (Kassel/Germany)
Sociology
Queen's University
Digital Justice, Algorithmic Culture, Critical Coding Studies, Intersectional Internet Studies, Post-Colonial & Anti-Colonial Feminist Approaches to Science & Technology Studies, Cybercolonialism, Migration & Mobilities, Mobile/Migrant Feminism, Marginalized knowledge forms & research methodologies.
The scope of my current research project primarily emerges from the areas of Algorithmic Culture, Critical Coding Studies, Postcolonial Sociology and Anti-colonial Feminist Epistemologies and Methodologies. Broadly speaking, my work explores the emerging power relations and inequalities as well as the emanating subjectivities and agencies in cyberspace. By following Radhika Gajjala (2012; 2019), Roopika Risam (2019) and Danielle Coleman (2019) works, in my research, for instance, I propose and introduce two concepts: Cybercolonialism and Cybaltern. While the term ‘cybercolonialism’ focuses on the spatial aspects of the new forms of power relations shaped in and by the digital space, the concept of ‘cybaltern’--which is a portmanteau term of ‘cyborg’ and ‘subaltern’--defines a cursor subjectivity, as I argue, and is one of these emerging subjectivities in cyberspace.
My research, in the long term, aims to bring its theoretical, conceptual and methodological perspectives together in an intersectional digital feminist framework which deals with the questions of agency and access in the context of digital justice.
I have received my PhD at the Department of Sociology of Diversity at the University of Kassel, Germany. Between 2015-2022, I worked as a postdoc researcher and (co-)initiated and received project grants, and coordinated them. One of these projects was an interdisciplinary project entitled “RE:Coding Algorithmic Culture” and the other major project was entitled “Migrantischer Feminismus (Migrant Feminism).” In the early beginning of my postdoc years, I became one of the project leads of a transnational research group “Digital Feminist Collective” founded at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and had the great opportunity to meet and work with amazing and inspiring feminist scholars. From 2019 to 2020, I held an interim full-professorship position of 6 months at the Department of Sociology, at the Justus-Liebig-University, Germany. In July 2023, I happily joined the Queen’s Department of Sociology as a tenure-track assistant professor with special focus on Digital Justice.
During these years, I also worked together and organized different cultural, social and political gatherings and events with the (local) BI*PoC communities in Germany, which constituted one of the most substantial drives of my scholarly engagements. As a strong believer of the importance of transmission of knowledge, I highly value the wisdom and non-institutionalized knowledge forms which are present and create the foundation of these communities. While I have intellectually benefited from their generous knowledge sharing practices, as a professional learner and a re-searcher, I have always been ready and have tried to share my scholarly knowledge and resources with these communities in accordance with their demands and needs. I aim and hope to continue this practice at Queen’s, as well.
2022
"Cybaltern: Feminismus, Intersektionalität und die Frage des digitalen Zugangs" Feministische Studien, vol. 40, No. 2, 2022, pp. 276-292.
“Prädiktive Citizenship? Cyberkolonialismus und Politik der Prognose im digitalen Zeitalter. Eine technodiskursive Analyse des Cambridge Analytica-Skandals, in: Citizenship and Beyond, ed.
Catharina Peeck-Ho et al. Munich: Springer Verlag. “Interview with Pinar Tuzcu: Cybercolonialism and citizenship” in: Citizenship and Beyond, ed. Catharina Peeck-Ho et al. Munich: Springer Verlag.
“Witnessing Fabrics: How Face Masks Change Social Perceptions During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Digital Times," in: Covid Crisis, Care, and Change? International Gender Perspectives on Re/ Production, State and Feminist Transitions, ed. Antonia Kupfer & Constanze Stutz. Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich. Open Access.
2021
“Decoding the cybaltern: Cybercolonialism and Postcolonial Intellectuals in the Digital Age” in: Postcolonial Intellectual Engagements: Critics, Artists and Activists, ed. Sandra Ponzanesi. Journal of the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, Volume 24, Issue 4: pp. 514-528, pp. 514-528.
Introduction “Wege zum Migrantischen Feminismus” in: Migrantischer Feminismus in der Frauenbewegung Deutschland (1985-2000). Munich: Edition Assemblage. pp.9-32. co-authored together with Dr. Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez.
Migrantischer Feminismus in der Frauen:bewegung Deutschland (1985-2000). Munich: Edition Assemblage. edited together with Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez/
2020
“Cyberkolonialismus und dekoloniale feministische Applikationen,” in: Geschlecht und Medien –Räume, Deutungen, Repräsentationen, ed. Britta Hoffarth et al. Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag. S. 126–148.
2019
Review of the book The Queer Intersectional in Contemporary Germany: Essays on Racism, Capitalism and Sexual Politics ed. by Christopher Sweetapple et al German Studies Review, Johns Hopkins University Press Volume 43, Number 2, May 2019, pp. 443-445.
2018
Special Issue on Feminisms in Times of Anti-genderism, Racism and Austerity, edited together with Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez and Heidemarie Winkel. Women’s Studies International Forum, Issue: 68. pp. 129-139.
2017
“Ich bin eine Kanackin” Decolonizing Popfeminism. Transcultural Perspectives on Lady Bitch. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.
2016
“Allow Access to Location? Digital Feminist Geographies,” in: Special Issue on Digital Feminisms-Transnational Activism in German Protest Cultures, ed. Cristina Scharff, Maria Stehle, Carrie Smith-Prei. Feminist Media Studies, Issue:16, pp. 150-163.
2022 / June: Symposium of DeKolonial e.V “Other Knowledge is Possible” organized together with Mariam Popal, Muriel Gonzalez Athenas, Hamburg and the organizer of the workshop “INTER-NET: Digitality As a Site of Knowledge-Other Epistemologies” at the same event.
2022 / October 27-29: International Conference: Any | One Day the Future Has Died. Impossible Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence organized by: Katrin Köppert, Nelly Y. Pinkrah, Francesca Schmidt, Pinar Tuzcu (in cooperation with netzforma* e.V. and Dreaming Beyond AI) at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
2022 / November 4-6: Symposium “Migrantischer Feminismus geht weiter!” at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, organized together with Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez.
2022 / April 4-7: Co-organizer of the International Spring School “Decolonizing Gender Studies,” in cooperation with the Gender Studies Association, at the University of Kassel and the organizer of the panel “Technology, Accountability and Justice,” at the same event.
2019 / November 21-22: Co-organizer of the annual conference the 40 years of the Women's and Gender Studies Section of the German Sociological Association (DGS) “How feminist, socio-critical, intersectional, queer, corporeal, caring, class-conscious... should/must/can/able to Gender Studies be?”, Berlin.
2018 / September 27: Organizer of the Panel “Big Data and Algorithms of Intersectionality: Grounding Critical Queer-Feminist Research in the Digital Age” at the 39th DGS-Congress„ Complex dynamics of global and local developments” Göttingen, Germany.
2018 / September 13: Co-organizer of the Workshop “Why Should We Care? A Feminist Look at Algorithms” 10th European Feminist Research Conference (ATGENDER), 12.–15.09.2018, Göttingen.
2020
Myth: AI treats everyone equally and makes predictions fairly. Lecture Series. Released on June 17 by Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society.
2020
Digital Racial Profiling. Guest at the postcast series “Feminismus ist systemrelevant” together with Vanessa Eileen Thompson. Aired on September 28 by Gunda-Werner-Institut für Feminismus und Geschlechterdemokratie in der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.
2014
#feminisms: decolonizing solidarity in cyberspace. posted on Dec 1. Lecture Series “Feminism in the Digital Age: Transnational Activism in Germany and Beyond”.
SOCY 201 Migration and Mobilities (Fall)
SOCY 304 Algorithmic Cultures & Digital Justice (Winter)
SOCY 428 Cybercolonialism (Winter)
Myla Devora Held / PhD Candidate