Spyros Sofos

Areas of interest

Critical theory; the intersection of societal insecurity, identity, and collective action; populism; nationalism; Greek and Turkish politics and society; European Muslim identities and politics; and Southeast European and Middle Eastern Studies.

Actively accepting MA students interested in:
Collective action; nationalism, Islamism and populism - cultural and political dimensions; Islam and the "West" - history, and Muslim communities in Europe and North America; conflict (with a particular interest in the Middle East and SE Europe); Turkish and Greek politics and culture; Critical theory

Education

• PhD, Politics/Regional and Cross Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen
• BSc (Honours), Political Science and International Studies, Panteion University of Social and Political Science
• CERT, Transforming Civil Conflicts. European Network University & Centre for Conflict Resolution, University of Bradford

Biography

Spyros has held teaching and research positions in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy—most recently at Lund University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research explores the intersection of societal insecurity, identity, and collective action and, to date, it has focused on Turkish politics and society, nationalism and populism in Europe and the Middle East, European Muslim identities and politics, and the theory of populism. His latest book, "Turkish Politics and ‘The People’: Mass Mobilisation and Populism" (Edinburgh University Press 2022), explores the emergence of populism in contemporary Turkey from a genealogical perspective. His other publications include "Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks" (Palgrave 2013, co-authored with Roza Tsagarousianou), "Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey" (Hurst and Oxford University Press 2008, co-authored with Umut Özkirimli), and "Nation and Identity in Contemporary Europe" (Routledge 1996, co-edited with Brian Jenkins). Spyros initiated #RethinkingPopulism, originally in partnership with openDemocracy, and is its lead editor.