Sequences play a great role in mathematical communication. In mathematical notation, we use sequence ellipsis (. . . ) to denote "obvious" sequences like 1, 2, . . . , 7, and in conceptualizations sequence constructors like (i 2+1) i∈N. Furthermore, sequences have a prominent role as argument sequences of flexary functions. While the former cases can adequately be represented and reasoned about as domain objects in Open- Math and MathML, argument sequences are at the language level, and can only (...) be represented, but not reasoned with, since the necessary (sequence-schematic) axioms cannot be represented in the language. (shrink)

The myriad ways in which spatiality, or socially produced space, impinges on media texts is the overarching concern of this study. Responding to Edward Soja’s call for an assertive foregrounding of a critical spatial perspective, this article is an ontological reassertion of space in relation to news media discourse and argues that the socially constructed spatiality of a journalistic text is just as revealingly significant as its historicality and sociality. Introduced here is Critical Spatial Discourse Analysis (CSDA), a methodological framework (...) that employs the spatiocultural theory of Bill Richardson to enable a mapping of the various aspects of spatiality informing media texts. Edward Said’s imaginative geographies is also drawn upon to advance a geographical notation and mapping of the territorial imaginations underlying news media texts. The fundamental assumption of CSDA is that space is not only actively constituted in media texts but also constitutes and that it can, and indeed must be read and interpreted as any other text. A sample column from Turkey’s Sabah newspaper will be used to illustrate the application of CSDA to press coverage of democracy to see what might be revealed of those real-and-imagined spaces that are interposed and obscured in the text’s background. (shrink)

The modern republican history of Turkey and its relation with the question of ethnic diversity could be understood via the tension between the processes of system integration and social integration. This article, based on Jürgen Habermas’ conceptual framework, draws the sources of such tension with reference to the Kurdish identity in Turkey since the early republican era. For this purpose, from the 1920s to the 2000s, policies and discourses of system integration aiming at a certain degree of ethnic homogenization to (...) eliminate ‘possible threats’ to territorial integrity and national unity are discussed in detail. While system integration processes reflect an exclusionary and assimilative-securitist logic of state practices regarding the Kurdish question, this article argues that the Kurdish challenge to republicanism and to its system integration logic promises more for the dynamics of social integration. Especially since the 1990s, while processes of system integration are still in force; national, regional and diasporic achievements of Kurdish politics and its call for a democratic transformation of the republic based on decentralist, participatory and multiculturalist values have become much more visible. This new focus on democratic transformation demands more for social integration through internalization of roles as well as through promotion of an active communication between citizens by raising the claims of active participation to social and political spheres as well as by making identity visible in different aspects of socio-cultural life. Degree of social integration and its success vis-à-vis system integration will be decisive in the democratic transformation of Turkey in the future. (shrink)

This article is based on the question “How does the current governing party in Turkey, namely Justice and Development Party, reproduce its social power?” In order to answer this question, it is suggested that a combination of the different techniques of governmentality of the ruling party should be analyzed, with particular reference to the policies and institutions reconfiguring the role of the state and the notion of public deliberation in the midst of the rising discontents of neoliberalism in Turkey. As (...) an instance of such a technique of neoliberal governmentality in populist content, the formation of the communication centers by the AKP in Turkey will be investigated. For this purpose, firstly, the rise of the populism will be related to the increasing need for channels of political participation and a solution to public demands in the midst of rising authoritarian tendencies, in order to solve the political legitimacy crisis as well as creating new forms of represen... (shrink)

Although education means evolving or transforming, every individual is the subject of education between the first breath and the last. The individual's relationship with the objects of existence, combined with his uniqueness, constitutes the subject of education on the time-space plane. The individual's relationship with himself and his environment can be associated with education. Since Sufi education adopts a disciplinary structure that aims to enable the individual to know himself first, the individual acquires knowledge from his Lord in his essence (...) and from the elements that teach him in his environment. Depending on the principle of obtaining knowledge from the closest, the individual obtains the educational activity starting from family members based on the principle of trust. Public institutions implementing curricula have also been other structures that nurture the individual. Due to the nature of education, different applications have emerged over time. As a matter of fact, the learner-teacher relationship has been an obstacle to spatial and temporal unity in the course of life, and as a result of this situation, the concept of distance education has emerged. While the letter tradition used in Sufi education, which is a method of distance education, has been practiced for centuries, the modern world met this concept as an educational method only in the 18th century through correspondence. The concept of distance education, which has taken on much newer forms with today's information technologies, will ultimately continue to support the human relationship with knowledge. In this study, it has been tried to understand the common points, characteristics and contributions to education of distance education, which is one of the educational practices in the historical process, and the letter tradition, which is a method of Sufi education. Individualization of education by taking into account the individual characteristics of each of the students, who constitute the focal point of education, is one of the indispensable elements of Sufi education. The murshid, who gets to know his disciple closely during the training process, sees his disciple's strengths and weaknesses, his character structure and his potential that he can maximize with training. The application of education on an individual basis offers an opportunity to maximize the gains in distance education as in Sufi education. The adoption of the principle of gradualism in educational programs and processes is another of the foundations on which Sufi education is based. According to this principle, education has a gradual structure, and this structure can be envisioned as multiple layers that constitute the basis of each other. In the journey of blending the education system and reaching the ideal form over the centuries, distance education systems have also been able to find a field of action in line with this principle. On the other hand, when we look at another characteristic of Sufi education, we encounter a structured and predetermined framework in education. The processes in education in which objectives, boundaries, expectations and achievements are structured and activities are expected to be carried out within a certain program are also predictable for distance education. It is seen that the teacher-student relationship in Sufi education is far from a formal structure and contains the warmth of the education that takes place in the family in the first years of education. Considering how important the first years of education are in terms of leaving a mark and permanence, it is quite remarkable that this principle comes to life in Sufi education platforms, which can also be considered as a prophetic method, by returning to this subjective structure in education. Today, it has become easier for individuals to structure themselves in the areas they need through distance education, and the educational processes that were carried out through correspondence in the past as a necessity for the health and survival of Sufi education have turned into a preference or alternative rather than an obligation. In this study, the aspects and common denominators of Sufi education, which is a Prophetic method, and the tradition of correspondence, which can contribute to distance education and set an example, have been evaluated together with the characteristics of Sufi education. In the study, firstly, the tradition of letter correspondence as a method of Sufi education is examined historically and educationally, and then distance education, which is seen as an outcome of the modern education system, is evaluated conceptually and historically. In the last part of the study, the common denominators of the letter tradition and distance education practice in Sufi education have been tried to be unearthed on the basis of Sufi education methods. (shrink)

Focused on the impact of stringent intellectual property mechanisms over the uses of plant agricultural biodiversity in crop improvement, the article delves into a systematic analysis of the relationship between institutional paradigms and their technological contexts of application, identified as mass selection, controlled hybridisation, molecular breeding tools and transgenics. While the strong property paradigm has proven effective in the context of major leaps forward in genetic engineering, it faces a systematic breakdown when extended to mass selection, where innovation often displays (...) a collective nature. However, it also creates partial blockages in those innovation schemes rested between on-farm observation and genetic modification, i.e. conventional plant breeding and upstream molecular biology research tools. Neither overly strong intellectual property rights, nor the absence of well delineated protection have proven an optimal fit for these two intermediary socio-technological systems of cumulative incremental innovation. To address these challenges, the authors look at appropriate institutional alternatives which can create effective incentives for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation and the equitable distribution of technologies in plant improvement, using the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement, the liability rules set forth in patents or plant variety rights themselves, and other ad hoc reward regimes. (shrink)

This article intends to contribute to research of environmental media activism in two ways: First, by discussing ways to frame research on this topic conceptually and historically. Second, by considering the specific strategies and experiences of environmental activist groups concerning activist medias and participatory actions. We will discuss what can be done when using Internet platforms. “The Right to Water” website has been selected as a case study, which is essentially a democratic platform against capitalist ecology policies. In this study, (...) we examined Internet usage by environmentalist activist groups, by collecting and analyzing data on the usage and results of web-based activism, and discuss the impact of online activism within civil society. (shrink)

As a result of its failure to embrace the increasingly visible social and political diversity in the country, Kemalism, the founding ideology of modern Turkey, is currently facing its severest legitimacy crisis. Through interviews with representatives of leading voluntary Kemalist associations, this article inquires whether there are attempts to reinterpret the doctrine in order to offer an alternative, credible vision in harmony with the existing social, political and economic realities of Turkey.

In this article, recent attempts by the Justice and Development Party to address the problems of Alevi citizens in Turkey are analysed. After briefly outlining the sources of Alevi revitalization in the 1990s, the article critically discusses different aspects of the Alevi Opening process. It concludes by arguing that the Alevi question reveals many aspects of the problematic nature of secularism in Turkey.