Berkant Caglar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. His dissertation research is ethnographically documenting judicial experiences of LGBTI+ individuals within Turkish courtrooms. Intrigued by the unique challenges faced by queer individuals in their interactions with the state’s judiciary, his research critically examines long-standing binaries that have traditionally influenced queer studies, particularly the notions of inclusion and exclusion within the framework of liberal theories of recognition. Berkant’s dissertation is tentatively titled “Persuasion and (Un)Lawful Discipline: Queer Kin-Making, Staging Justice, and the Legalities of the Turkish State”.
In addition to this larger project, Berkant pursues an ongoing minor study that focuses on post-genocidal societies and the dynamics of biological reproductivity and heteronormativity using the enduring impact of mass violence as a starting point. Berkant is interested in teaching courses pertaining to queer studies, legal and political anthropology, social studies of medicine and reproductivity, genocide studies, mass violence & gender.