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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Huge thanks to Zach Levenson and Simeon Newman for their invitation to contribute. Some of these ideas had been brewing for years. But it was only by grappling with the articles in this special issue that I was able to express them with such force.

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

revolutions, radical reforms, counterrevolutions, and revolutions from above. I also point out that Gramsci needs to be reconstructed through an engagement with Fanon, Arrighi, and CLR James.

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I propose to refine the concept "passive revolution" by discussing brilliant analyses by Zophia Edwards, Kevan Harris, @grundrza.bsky.social, Simeon Newman, and Marcel Paret. Passive revolutions, as we can tell from their case studies, are distinct from ++ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

journals.sagepub.com

Passive revolution: A contested concept and a research agenda - Cihan Tuğal, 2026

The articles in this volume show that “passive revolution” is a type of social transformation distinct from other paths. In countries ranging from Mexico and So...

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Western elites say that NATO is a security organization that protects liberty. But deep down they know that it is a war-making organization that crushes freedom. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

theguardian.com

Turkey intensifies crackdown on public life in run-up to Nato summit in Ankara

More than 200 arrested in raids, comedian and journalists jailed, gay-friendly cruise turned away and protests banned

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

From four years ago: "Turkey Shows What NATO Really Is" Today: The 2026 summit is held in Turkey so that all protests can be repressed while European governments keep their hands clean. www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/o... +

nytimes.com

Opinion | Turkey Shows What NATO Really Is (Published 2022)

people- and nature-friendly alternatives to a world dominated by capital, empires, and states, even while acknowledging the limits of scholarship in addressing these overwhelming problems. PS: I will serve as chair-elect for one year and assume the more active chair role the following year. 6/6

contemporary era. We may not end up agreeing on the main dynamics behind this apocalyptic upsurge. We will certainly disagree with each other on sociology’s role in addressing it. But theoretical debates can remind us of our common disciplinary grounding and help us imagine 5/

destructive forces have been gaining the upper hand throughout the world. As I promised in my election statement, I will use this opportunity to promote debate on the escalation of wars, ecological devastation, masculinist racism, the exclusion of labor, authoritarianism, and austerity in the 4/

of these issues have taught and mentored me, and I have worked with, or admired the research of, others. I see theory as one of our tools to establish a common denominator in a world where sociology and society face fatal threats. Theoretical debates will allow us to talk about why and how 3/

say that chairing such a key ASA section will be a curse rather than a blessing under the current circumstances. I will instead treat it as a challenge. I have been public about my positions regarding the disciplinary conflicts I alluded to above. However, sociologists on the other side 2/

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I was elected to chair the Theory section of the American Sociological Association (ASA)! I thank my colleagues for granting me this honor. I realize that this comes at a hard time for the ASA. Sociology is under attack from the far right. We are also deeply and seriously divided. Some could 1/6

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I am working on the final revisions this summer. The book will hopefully be out in early 2027!

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

graduate students, and two rounds of thorough referee reports. The book compares the relatively more resilient Erdoğan, Modi, and (RIP?) Orbán autocracies to the weaker Duterte and Bolsonaro regimes. Poland occupies a middle ground. Trumpism is discussed as a shadow case. +

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I signed a contract with Stanford University Press for my book on populism, capitalism, and social movements! This came after ten years of research on roughly a dozen countries, a couple of false leads, discarded sections and country cases, comments on chapter drafts by brilliant colleagues and ++

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Thanks to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal for translating my @evrenseldaily.bsky.social piece on Iran.

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

"it is essential that revolutionaries and socialists adopt a clear stance against all forms of oppression and injustice, remain consistent with their principles, and bring together all left and progressive forces in a broad united front." links.org.au/iran-and-wes...

links.org.au

Iran and the Western left

Anti-imperialism has become a key priority for the global left. Cihan Tuğal looks at how we can best mobilise a mass anti-imperialist movement.

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

In or anywhere near the SF Bay Area? Join us here: nocoalinoakland.info If a coal terminal is built in Oakland, the toxic waste will spread throughout the area, so this is not just about the East Bay. (We are therefore working on renaming the campaign).

nocoalinoakland.info

No Coal in Oakland

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

bsky.app/profile/east... Photo credit: Bonnie Lockhart

bsky.app

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

May Day 2026. As ecosocialists, we are committed to building working class power to fight for nature-friendly cities. We joined the march, rally, and resource fair in Oakland as one part of our broader campaign to unite the forces of labor and the ecology movement to keep coal out of the Bay Area.

Not a member of the Theory section yet? Please join and vote! If elected, I would look forward to your contributions as I seek to build stronger bridges between theory and research, between theory and practice, and between sociology and other disciplines. 6/6

Visualização de The “bloody brilliant” sociologist’s unfinalized heresy

Below, I further elaborate on some of the ideas expressed in the mentioned essay: ojs.letras.up.pt/index.php/So... Also, I am now producing an article-length version of the essay's original argument. 5/6

ojs.letras.up.pt

Visualização de The “bloody brilliant” sociologist’s unfinalized heresy

solidarity can be advanced in the face of such crises. It is the condensed expression of sociology’s distinctive scientific mission. In that spirit, I would promote sociological theory not only within the discipline but across the wider social sciences as well. 4/6

ojs.letras.up.pt

respond to the multi-layered crises of the declining world order—wars, climate catastrophes, financial instability, deepening inequality, and intensifying authoritarianism and racism. Theory also enables sociology to synthesize the strongest insights of multiple disciplines and clarify how 3/6

Of elephants and scholars, from criticism to reconstruction insociology

“Of Elephants and Scholars,” I outlined a proposal to reorganize this exchange in a more reflexive way. As the Chair of the Theory section, I would advance this conversation by organizing panels, online sessions, and call for papers on how sociology should www.academia.edu/126901783/Of... 2/6

academia.edu

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Fellow sociologists... Please note that I am running for Chair of the ASA’s Theory section. Here is my statement: Theory is not simply a subfield of sociology but the integrative force that brings our disparate research programmes into a contentious yet productive dialogue. In a recent essay, 1/6

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which raises questions for the analysis of both the US and other cases. Birdal has been using, and simultaneously criticizing, the "articulation" framework, so I am very curious about his theoretical interventions too!

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I am looking forward to this talk by Sinan Birdal. American movements have become paradigmatic for studying all other sexual liberation movements. A German angle uncovers the deep engagement of socialists with those movements as early as the 19th-century, events.berkeley.edu/ies/event/31...

events.berkeley.edu

Events at UC Berkeley

Like his imitators, Orbán kept on undermining and mocking institutions. If this were the key to his success, he would still be in power. Perhaps analysts should pay more attention to far-right leaders that share the strategies Orbán chose (or was structurally pushed) to abandon or marginalize. 5/5

its farcical repetitions (e.g. January 8) cannot produce these results, and are fundamentally different from the mobilizations organized by Fidesz in the 2000s and 2010s. newpol.org/issue_post/c... One reason why Fidesz lost its appeal was its move away from these distinguishing characteristics. 4/

newpol.org

elsewhere. Unlike their Hungarian (and Turkish, Indian, and Israeli) counterparts, American and Brazilian far-right movements and leaders, for instance, have no appetite for persistent generation of mass employment, mass welfare, and mass organization. Occasional outbursts such as January 6 and 3/

of institutions. I argued in the piece below that what really distinguished Fidesz was its counter-market policies of mass-oriented provision. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Fidesz also engaged in mass organization beyond occasional outbursts which is the bread and butter of far-rightists 2/

tandfonline.com

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Orbán was admired by right-wing populists in the US and elsewhere. Even though Orbán allegedly “inspired” them, most other far-rightists did not really imitate his regime beyond its superficial traits. Like most critics of Orbán, they reduced Fidesz success to the leader's undermining and mockery 1/

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If you are in the Bay Area, join us for a discussion on how to stand with Iranians against imperialism and tyranny. www.eastbaydsa.org/events/5091/...

eastbaydsa.org

⚘ Socialist Night School: Standing with the Iranian people against war and tyranny: Apr 15, 2026

Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Iranian comrades say: It's our *primary* imperative to stop this imperialist war. At the same time, we should honor the decades-long struggle of the Iranian people for social and political freedom from their rulers. www.instagram.com/reel/DXAyx0_...

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Cihan Tugal @cihantugal.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This paper on populism is now in print as LEAD ARTICLE (after the presidential address). tandfonline.com/toc/utsq20/6...

tandfonline.com

The Sociological Quarterly

Volume 67, Issue 2 of The Sociological Quarterly

I am currently working on a paper where I use Habermas as a foil to argue for a post-capital and post-state sociology but a fuller engagement will have to wait for a book-length treatment of contemporary theory. 4/4

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groundwork for his ultimate break with Western Marxism, or rather with his restricted, non-Gramscian version of it. Given his theoretical and scholarly adventure, the politics of his last years is not surprising. Despite all that, he is one of the master synthesizers of the post-Parsonsian era. 3/4

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on the public sphere. But the full significance of that text is graspable only if you read the Theory of Communicative Action. The latter is probably the best book ever on the relationship between functionalism and the phenomenological tradition. His reflective rethinking of both lays the 2/4