Istanbul Bilgi University European Institute

10/05/2026

💬 How do citizens’ emotions shape democracy?

Take a look at the latest Pledge Horizon project Stakeholder Dialogue in Athens and explore the discussion on citizens’ grievances and democratic responsiveness. 👇

💬How do citizens’ emotions shape democracy?

In June, Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών - University of Athens (NKUA) & Prof. Nicolas Demertzis brought together MPs and CSOs members for a PLEDGE Stakeholder Dialogue in Athens, exploring how citizens’ grievances affect democratic responsiveness.

The discussion contributes to PLEDGE’s mission to develop pro-democratic policy recommendations and strengthen democratic resilience.

🔗Learn more: https://www.pledgeproject.eu/exploring-how-citizens-emotions-shape-democracy-nkua-hosts-pledge-stakeholder-dialogue-in-athens/

10/05/2026

📚 New Publication

Prof. Ayhan Kaya and Prof. Karin Borevi have published a new co-authored article, “Who Gets to Belong? Reclaiming Integration as a Democratic Project: On Integration as a Contested Political Process.”

The article conceptualises integration as a contested political process and examines questions of belonging, membership, cultural identity, and equal citizenship.

🔗 Read the open-access article: https://doi.org/10.24834/cimr.2026.2.2063

09/11/2026

📘 Explore the PLEDGE Blog Series, where researchers analyse how emotional dynamics shape political life in Europe, from radicalism and disinformation to gender justice and democratic trust.

Pledge Horizon project

🔎https://pledgeproject.eu/category/blogs/

09/09/2026

🌍🎓Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Görüşlerini Önemsiyoruz!

Toplum ve siyaset hakkındaki görüşlerinizi bizimle paylaşmaya ne dersiniz?

🌐 Avrupa Birliği Enstitüsü olarak, uluslararası bir bilimsel araştırma projesi kapsamında, gençlerin dünya genelinde topluma ve siyasal sistemlere ilişkin görüşlerini anlamaya yönelik kısa bir anket çalışması yürütüyoruz.

Türkiye’de bulunan üniversitelerde öğrenim gören öğrencilerin katılımına açık olan bu çevrim içi anketin tamamlanması yaklaşık olarak 10 dakika sürmektedir.

💬 Araştırma, proje ortağımız Meiji Üniversitesi (Japonya) İnsanlarla Yapılan Araştırmalar Etik Kurulu tarafından onaylanmıştır.

👉 Siz de görüşlerinizi paylaşarak bu uluslararası bilimsel araştırmaya katkıda bulunabilirsiniz. Görüşleriniz, gençlerin toplum ve siyaset hakkındaki düşüncelerini daha iyi anlamamıza önemli katkı sağlayacaktır.

🔒 Katılım gönüllüdür ve yanıtlar gizli tutulacaktır.

⚠️ Lütfen anketi yalnızca bir kez doldurunuz.

🔗 Ankete katılmak için:
https://survey.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_efdwrjdUpxWeBvM?Q_lang=TR

📩 Sorularınız için:
[email protected]

Katılımınız için teşekkür ederiz!

09/07/2026

Understanding the emotional roots of disinformation is key to building societal resilience.

The latest research report by Pledge Horizon project investigates how pro-Russian narratives shape public attitudes toward the war in Ukraine and offers vital insights into identifying manipulative propaganda.

📄 Access the report here: https://zenodo.org/records/22096274

How do Russia-propagated narratives shape public perceptions of the Russo-Ukrainian War?

The new PLEDGE research report based on qualitative interviews examines how propaganda connects with emotions, grievances and perceptions of injustice - and how people can recognise and resist disinformation.

📄Read the full report: https://zenodo.org/records/22096274

09/02/2026

08/26/2026

How does emotional grievance reshape democratic governance?

The Pledge Horizon project investigates the emotional forces driving today's political crises, and its newest analytical brief examines how grievance becomes visible.

In " #7 What Does Grievance Politics Look Like?", authors Tereza Capelos and Nicolas Demertzis draw from collaborative research between the University of Southampton and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) to unpack how visual symbols, from protest banners and regional maps to economic charts, organize collective anger, assign blame, and mobilize political identities.

🔍 Core research pillars explored:

🩹 Bodily & Material Harm: Visualizing deprivation and exclusion
🗺️ Contested Spaces: The emotional weight of borders and national landmarks
🪧 Performative Politics: Transforming everyday objects (like tractors and yellow vests) into symbols of resistance
🎯 Visualizing Blame: The construction of enemy images in polarized societies
📊 Measurable Grievance: Using data and charts to capture invisible stigma and distrust

💡 Understanding the visual language of grievance is essential to understanding the future of democracy.

📌 Read the full research brief: https://www.pledgeproject.eu/7-what-does-grievance-politics-look-like/

08/25/2026

📢Last month, the PLEDGE Stakeholder Exchange "From Grievance to Governance: Turning Democratic Friction into Democratic Repair" brought together researchers, policymakers, civil society representatives and democratic innovation experts to explore how democratic grievances can become opportunities for democratic renewal.

📝 Read the event recap and discover the key takeaways from the discussions.
🔗https://www.pledgeproject.eu/exploring-democratic-grievances-and-democratic-innovation-highlights-from-the-pledge-stakeholder-exchange/

08/21/2026

📚 Continue Exploring the ValEUs MOOC!

In this ValEUs Project MOOC lecture, Özge Onursal Beşgül explores norm diffusion, two key turning points in EU studies, Europeanisation and de-Europeanisation, and how crises and contestation reshape norms.

🔎 Read more about the lecture:
https://valeus.eu/news/continue-exploring-the-valeus-mooc-the-role-of-values-in-foreign-policy-with-ozge-onursal-besgul-istanbul-bilgi-university/

The lecture is part of the free ValEUs MOOC, which includes 13 lectures, readings, presentations, and a final online exam. Participants who complete the course and pass the exam receive a digital certificate.

🎓 Register now: https://mooc.valeus.eu/register

Each month, we would like to highlight one of the lectures from our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Values in European Union Foreign Policy”. The course was developed by scholars from the ValEUs network and explores how values shape EU ... Read more

08/21/2026

How do emotions shape modern politics across Europe? 🇪🇺

From radicalism and disinformation to gender justice and democratic trust, our researchers analyze the emotional dynamics driving political behavior.

Explore the latest insights and perspectives in the Pledge Horizon project Blog Series:

👉 https://pledgeproject.eu/category/blogs/