Visiting PhD student | Fall 2023

Contact : merve.erdilmen@mail.mcgill.ca 

Presentation

Merve Erdilmen is a PhD candidate in Political Science with a Gender Studies Specialization at McGill University. Her research focuses on refugee-led organizations and their approaches to gender equality in the Middle East. Her dissertation aims to understand the ways in which various actors, including international organizations, civil society, refugee-led organizations, grass roots, and municipalities, implement and practice global gender norms in Turkey. She also worked as a consultant for International Organization for Migration (IOM), protection officer at a local NGO in Turkey, and research associate at GLOBALCIT at the European University Institute, Italy, on an international project on statelessness and birthright citizenship. Merve’s research has been supported by Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQSC), Forced Migration and Refugee Studies: Networking and Knowledge Transfer (FFVT), the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN), and McGill University, among others.

Areas of expertise

• Forced migration
• Refugee-led organizations
• Gender equality
• Ethnography
• Postcolonial approaches to IR
• Turkey and Middle East

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

Bradley, M., and Erdilmen, M. (2023). “Is the International Organization for Migration legitimate? Rights-talk, Protection Commitments and the Legitimation of IOM,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 49(9): 2332-2354.

Bradley, M., Madokoro, L., Erdilmen, M., and Chanco, C. (2022). “Whither the Refugees? The Evolution of the Idea and Pursuit of Durable Solutions to Displacement, 1921-1960,” Refugee Survey Quarterly, 41(2): 159-195.

Kayran, E. and Erdilmen, M. (2020). “When Do States Give Voting Rights to Non-Citizens? The Role of Population, Policy, and Politics on the Timing of Enfranchisement Reforms in Liberal Democracies,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(13), 2855-2876.

Policy reports 

Erdilmen, M. (2023). “Mainstreaming Gender to Remedy Inequality: Refugee-Led Organizations in Turkey Show the Way,” Policy brief no. 03.23.23. Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Houston, Texas.

Erdilmen, M. (2021). “Frameworks and Good Practices of Intercultural Mediation for Migrant Integration in Europe,” International Organization for Migration (IOM): Brussels.

Erdilmen, M. and Sosthenes, W. (2020). “Opportunities and Challenges for Localization of Humanitarian Action in Tanzania,” The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) Working papers no 8.

Erdilmen, M. and Honohan, I. (2020). “Trends in Birthright Citizenship in EU 28: 2013-2020,” Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT) Policy Briefs, 2020/2. European University Institute: Florence.

Erdilmen, M. (2019). “Durable Solutions and Humanitarian Development Nexus,” The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) Working Papers 2.

Books chapters

Chabot, R. and Erdilmen, M. “Voicing and Silencing in Tandem: Feminist Activism on Abortion in Argentina and Turkey” In Silence, Voice and the In-between: Exploring a World in Flux. Edited by Aliya Khalid, Georgina Holmes, and Jane Parpart. Routledge. (in print)

Book reviews

Erdilmen, M. (2021). “Review of Justice for People on the Move: Migration in Challenging Times by Gillian Brock,” Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(3), 3545-3548.

Erdilmen, M. (2019). “Review of A Theory of Global Governance: Authority, Legitimacy, and Contestation by Michael Zürn,” International Affairs, 95(6), 1444-1445.

Erdilmen, M. (2018). “Review of Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced by Christine Mahoney,” Central and Eastern European Migration Review, 7(2), 131-132.