Project Mosaic
Polarization, democratic dialogue and the development of shared horizons: the experience of Turkey in a
broader international context
Who are we?
read more about our partners and our collaborators
Project Mosaic is the outcome of a partnership bringing together the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Lund University; Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights, Turkey Office; the Department of Political Science, Istanbul University, the Department of Philosophy, Koç University and the American University of Beirut.
What do we do?
Over the past couple of decades new and old democracies alike have been facing an array of challenges that question the very premises of the dialogic foundations of contemporary democracy, the concept of rights and its fundamental principles such as civility, trust and respect. The polarisation, the emergence of illiberal politicians and organizations, the erosion of our public spaces and their substitution by echo-chambers are conducive to increasingly harsh divides between opposing political camps and diminishing shared political ground.
One of the many societies where the polarization of the public spaces where encounters and dialogue have been possible in the past is Turkey which is our main, yet not exclusive, focal point.
Project Mosaic aims to foster academic debate, interdisciplinary engagement and cooperation by bringing together researchers from a host of disciplines, as well as practical interventions in order to meet the challenges polarised, divided, or fragmented societies are facing, and to work towards establishing a ground upon which an open, tolerant and inclusive society, and the development of shared horizons among citizens can be built.
We are convinced that such an academic exercise needs to be action-oriented, and that its conclusions as well as questions have to become part of a broader grassroots dialogue and we are thus working on practical projects in dialogue and cooperation with communities, civil society, local authorities and other partners in Turkey.
project coordinators
Hikmet Kırık
Associate Professor, Faculty of Political Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Zeynep Direk
Professor, Department of Philosophy; College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Aysel Madra
Research and Program Advisor, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Turkey Programme
Spyros A.Sofos
Research Coordinator, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
project and partner publications
Project Mosaic 