Large-Scale Collaborative Research Projects in Theatre and Performance Studies: Resources, Politics, and Ethics in the Margins of Europe during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Staging National Abjection: Theatre and Politics in Turkey and Its Diasporas is a research project funded by the European Research Council’s Starting Grants program. Building on the initial insights of the project, the authors study collaboration as a performative process. They analyze the promises and risks involved in large-scale collaborative research projects and how they unfold in the context of Turkish academia and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors examine how they manage their responsibilities to fellow members of their research team, to other members of Turkish academia, to the minoritarian communities they work with, and to the broader public who funds their research. Finally, they discuss how they work toward collective care and empowerment while negotiating the demands of globalized neoliberal academia as well as the oppressive sociopolitical environment in Turkey and explore the limits of their scholarly and ethical endeavors.