黑料网

Biography

Dr Baris studied law for his undergraduate degree at Ba艧kent University in Ankara, Turkey, and sociology for his graduate degree in Master of Arts in Inter-Asia NGO Studies (MAINS) at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul, South Korea. He studied constitutional law and political theory as a PhD student at the Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law (CISRUL) at the 黑料网. In 2019, Dr Baris was awarded the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for his research project Council democracy as a mode of autonomy: a comparative approach, enabling him to study Indigenous democratic constituions in Mexico and Kurdistan, again at CISRUL. Prior to his current position, Dr Baris was awarded teaching fellowships in the School of Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the 黑料网. Dr Baris also worked at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as a legislative consultant and practiced law in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, with a focus on human rights law. 

Research Overview

Dr Baris’ current research focuses on experiments of council democracy launched by Kurdish movements in Turkey and Syria, and two indigenous movements, the Zapatistas and the town of Cheran, in Mexico. Despite important differences, according to Dr Baris, what appears to be common to these movements is that they invoke ancestral/communal forms of sovereignty but make no claim to independence. On the contrary, they seek to reconcile their aspirations with the Turkish, Syrian and Mexican constitutions. Nevertheless, the councils and assemblies set up by these movements appear to claim ultimate authority over public affairs within territories that constitute residential communities such as villages, neighbourhoods, towns and cities. Therefore, autonomy based on councils appears to be at odds with the principles of parliamentary sovereignty.

Scholars have defined these experiments as stateless democracy and/or radical democracy. In this project, Dr Baris considers further aspects of the politics of these movements: where did these models of autonomy come from? Do they introduce novel forms of government or are they projections of ancient and ancestral forms of self-rule? What implications do these models have with regard to autonomy and sovereignty? How can we reconcile them with the constitutions of the nation-states that host these movements? What appear to be their strengths and weaknesses in practice?

Council democracy in these cases is a form of government alternative to representative democracy: citizens participate in political decision-making processes directly via convening in local councils and assemblies. Dr Baris describes these experiments as council autonomy and aims to compare them with one another as well as with the council system outlined theoretically by Hannah Arendt and her predecessors, including Rosa Luxemburg and Judah Leon Magnes. 

Grants

The Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship 

Awards

Best article award in Kurdish political studies, first prize, University of Central Florida. For following article: Hamelink, Wendy and Hanifi Baris. 2014. “Dengbêjs on borderlands: borders and the state as seen through the eyes of Kurdish singer-poets”, Kurdish Studies 2 (1): 34-60.

Publications

Book  

Baris, Hanifi. 2021. . Lanham: Bloomsbury Publishing 

Peer reviewed articles and book chapters

Baris, Hanifi. Forthcoming (post-review). “Indigenous Democracies and Decolonising Hannah Arendt's Council Democracy”, in Interdisciplinary Arendt, edited by Dr Helen Lynch and Prof Michael Brown. London: Routledge

Baris, Hanifi. 2023. “Kuzey Kürdistan’daki Kayy谋m Düzeni Ba臒lam谋nda Temsili Demokrasi ile Do臒rudan Demokrasi Aras谋ndaki Çeki艧me”. In Kürtler ve Cumhuriyet, edited by Kübra Sa臒谋r, Ça臒r谋 Kurt, Behzat Hiro臒lu, Ayhan I艧谋k, Gülay K谋l谋çaslan, pp. 497-505. Ankara: Dipnot Yay谋nlar谋

Baris, Hanifi., Sunca J. Y., and Aslan A. 2023. “A century of republican practices and Kurdish alter-politics”, in European Union – Turkey Civic Commission Report-1. Report submitted to the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on 7 December 2023.

Baris, Hanifi. 2022. “”, Kurdish Studies, 10 (2): pp. 233-277.

--- 2021. “”; in Engaging Authority: Citizenship and Political Community, edited by Trevor Stack and Rose Luminiello. London: Bloomsbury Publishing

--- 2020a. “” Atâtôt: Human Rights Journal of the State University of Goias 1 (2): 7–24.

--- 2020b. “.” E-International Relations. https://www.e-ir.info/2020/12/15/radical-democracy-and-self-governance-in-kurdistan/.

Hamelink, W. & H. Baris. 2020. “.” In Kürt Çal谋艧malar谋 Bahar Akademisi -1, edited by Güllistan Yark谋n, 51–88. 陌stanbul: 陌smail Be艧ikçi Vakf谋.

Baris, Hanifi. 2016. “”; in Conflict, Insecurity and Mobility, edited by Ibrahim Sirkeci, Jeffrey H. Cohen, Pinar Yazgan; pp. 89-101. London: Transnational Press

Hamelink, A.W. and H. Baris. 2014. “”; in Kurdish Studies Journal, 2:1, 39-71.

Hamelink, A.W. and H. Baris. 2014. “Dengbêj Li Ser Sînoran: Sînor û Dewlet Bi Nêrîna Kilambêjên Kurd.”, 艦ehmuz Kurt û Ziyaddin Y谋ld谋r谋mçakar. Wêjê û  Rexne, Vol. 3: 173–200.

Op-Eds and interviews in magazines and newspapers

Bar谋艧, Hanifi. 2025. “”, in Yeni Özgür Politika. June 2, 2025.

Bar谋艧, Hanifi. 2024. “.” Art谋 Gerçek. May 18, 2024.

London Media Defence Interview: “”, November 9, 2020.

 Conference proceedings

Hamelink, A.W. & H. Baris. 2015. “Kürt müzi臒i art谋k kula臒谋m谋zdan silinmiyor. Sasun Ermenilerinin müzikal haf谋zas谋.” Müslümanla艧t谋r谋lm谋艧 Ermeniler. 陌stanbul: Hrant Dink Vakf谋.