Dr. Gülşah Başkavak

Research Fellow

Tel.: +90 – 212 293 60 67-126
Email: baskavak@oiist.org

Dr. Gülşah Başkavak is a researcher in the field “Science, Technology, and Society” (STS) at the Orient-Institut Istanbul where she has been engaged in the MediCluster Project since February 2025. She is also an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Acıbadem University. Between 2019 and 2022, she worked at the Orient-Institut Istanbul as a researcher and project coordinator within the research field “Human, Medicine, and Society” where she contributed to several international projects. Her research interests are situated at the intersection of the sociology of work and professions, medical technologies, craftsmanship and craft practices, science and technology Studies (STS), medical sociology, sociology of the body, and digital health. 

She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2016 with a dissertation titled “Understanding the Craft of Surgery in the Context of Technological Change, Healthcare Transformation, and Marketization: A Study on Surgeons in Istanbul”. During her doctoral research, she was a guest graduate student at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Humboldt University of Berlin. Her doctoral research involved extensive qualitative and ethnographic fieldwork conducted over an extended period in hospitals, clinics, and operating rooms in Istanbul. She previously worked as research assistant at METU and Yildiz Technical University and took part as a researcher and project Coordinator in various national and international research projects in the fields of sociology of professions, criminology, sociology of the body, and sociology of Religion. Dr. Başkavak is currently a researcher in the project titled “Manufacturing Practices of Medical Instruments in Innovation Clusters: A Comparative Analysis of Tuttlingen, Sialkot, and Samsun” (acronym: MediCluster), conducted under the auspices of the Orient-Institut Istanbul.

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Academic Activities

Research Interests

Sociology of Work and Professions

Medical Technologies

Craftsmanship and Craft Practices

Science and Technology Studies (STS)

Sociology of Health and Medicine 

Sociology of the Body

Digital Health

Qualitative Research Methods

Lectures

06.01.2024: “Üniversite Gençleri Arasında HPV Farkındalık Çalışması-Niteliksel Bir Araştırma [HPV Awareness Study among University Youth – A Qualitative Research]”. II. Kadın Sağlığı ve Hakları Kongresi [2nd Congress on Women’s Health and Rights]. Acıbadem University, Istanbul.

01.11.2023: “Türkiye’de HPV Aşılama Politikasının Biyoetik Değerlendirmesi [Bioethical Evaluation of HPV Vaccination Policy in Türkiye]”. STS Meets Ethics – STS TURKEY & METU Applied Ethics Research Center Joint Conference 2023. October 31-November 2, 2023. METU, Ankara. (with Yeşim Ülman)

15.09.2023: “‘Free HPV Vaccination after 18?’: A Qualitative Study on Awareness of University Students about HPV Infection and Vaccination Policy in Turkey“. European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics Annual Conference (EACME) on Facing Disruption. Challenges to Bioethics, Human Rights and Democracy. University of Warsaw. September 14-16, 2023.  Warsaw, Poland. (with Yeşim Ülman)

12.09.2022: “‘Grip’ or ‘Paçavra Hastalığı’–Language Change in the Turkish Health Sector?”. 34. Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT) – 100. Jahrestag. Freie Universität Berlin. September 12-17, 2022. Berlin, Germany. (with Ruth Bartholomä)

24.11.2021: “‘Şiir gibi Ameliyat Yapmak’: Cerrahide Teknoloji, Zanaat ve Estetik [‘Poetic Surgery’: Technology, Craft and Aesthetics in Surgery]”. STS TURKEY 2021 Konferansı- STS: Bir Disiplin Olarak Kimlik İnşası [STS TURKEY 2021 Conference-The Construction of STS as a Discipline]. November 22-24, 2021. Ankara University.

23.11.2021: “Cinsiyetlendirilmiş Hijyen: Erkeklerde Saç ve Kıl Bakım Pratikleri [Gendered Hygiene: Men’s Practices of Hair Care]”. STS TURKEY 2021 Konferansı- STS: Bir Disiplin olarak Kimlik İnşası [STS TURKEY 2021 Conference-The Construction of STS as a Discipline]. November 22-24, 2021. Ankara University. (with Melike Şahinol & Burak Taşdizen)

29.01.2020: “‘Beni Robot Ameliyat Etsin İstiyorum’: Cerrah, Teknoloji ve Hasta [‘I Want a Robot to Operate on Me’: Surgeon, Technology, and Patient]”. Konferans Dizisi: İnsan, Tıp ve Toplum: Geçmiş, Bugün ve Gelecek Buluşmaları [Conference Series: Human, Medicine, and Society – Past, Present, and Future Encounters]. Orient-Institut Istanbul.

09.11.2019: “Türkiye’de E-Sağlık ve Öz-Takip Teknolojileri [E-Health and Self-Tracking Technologies in Turkey]”. STS TURKEY 2019: Toplum için Bilim ve Teknoloji Çalışmaları Konferansı [Conference on Science and Technology Studies for Society]. September 10-12, 2019. Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Istanbul. (with Melike Şahinol)

22.05.2019: “Türkiye’de Öz-Takip Cihazlarının Pratikleri ve Sosyo-Kültürel Boyutları: İlk Araştırma Bulguları [The Practices and Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Self-Tracking Devices in Turkey: Preliminary Findings]”. Research Colloquium. Orient-Institut Istanbul.  

30.08.2017: “Marketization and Technological Change: Turkish Surgeons in A Changing Context”. 13th European Sociological Association (ESA) Conference on (Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities. August 29- September 1, 2017. Athens, Greece.

05.04.2017: “Cerrahlık Zanaatı, Teknoloji ve Piyasalaşma: İstanbul’da Cerrah Tipolojisi [Surgical Craft, Technology and Marketization: Typology of Surgeons in Istanbul]”. VI. Hasan Ünal Nalbantoğlu Sempozyumu: Teknolojiye Dair Sorular. April 5-7, 2017. Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. (with Sibel Kalaycıoğlu)

19.05.2016: “Surgeons and Marketization of Health: The Case of Turkey”. 13th European Sociological Association (ESA) Mid-Term Conference of the Research Network on Sociology of Health & Illness (RN16) on New directions in health care work and organizations. 19-21 May, 2016. Lisbon, Portugal.

20.05.2016: “A Social Scientist in the Operating Theatre”. 13th European Sociological Association (ESA) Mid-Term Conference of the Research Network on Sociology of Health & Illness (RN16) on New directions in health care work and organizations. 19-21 May, 2016. Lisbon, Portugal.

23.11.2015: “Zanaat Olarak Cerrahlık ve Teknoloji [Surgery as Craft and Technology]”. 14th National Social Sciences Conference [TSBD]. 3-5 November, 2015. Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. 

03.04.2013: “International Diffusion of Neoliberalism and Resistance: The Transformation of Healthcare System in Turkey”. 54th International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention on The Politics of International Diffusion: Regional and Global Dimensions. April 3-6, 2013. San Francisco, California, USA. (with Yetkin Başkavak)

Publications

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Başkavak, G., Şahinol, M. and Kılıçtepe, Ş. (2024). “Interplay of Global Technological Dynamics and Local Realities: Digital Healthcare Transformation in Turkey”. Trakya University Journal of Social Science, 26(1), 91-118. https://doi.org/10.26468/trakyasobed.1369225

Başkavak, G. (2023). “‘Senden Daha İyisi Olmayacak’: Cerrahlıkta Teknoloji, Beceri ve Uzmanlaşma”. Mediterranean Journal of Humanities (MJH), XIII, 43-58. http://doi.org/10.13114/MJH.2023.592

Şahinol, M.& Başkavak, G. (2021). “Contested Daily Routines, Contested Care. Children with Type 1 Diabetes in Covid-19 Times, Childhood Vulnerability Journal. 3, 23-40.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s41255-021-00017 -0

Şahinol, M. & Başkavak, G. (2021). “Sosyo-Biyo-Teknik Bakım Kompleksi: Tip 1 Diyabette Dijital Sağlık Takibi [Socio-Bio-Technical Care Complex: Digital Health Tracking In Type 1 Diabetes]”. Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi [Journal of Sociological Research] (Special Issue: Türkiye’de Çekişmeli Bedenler: Tıp Teknolojisindeki Gelişmelerle Dönüşen Beden, Sağlık ve Toplum [The Contested Bodies in Turkey: Body, Health and Society Transformed by Advances in Medical Technologies]). 24(1), 110-145. https://doi.org/10.18490/sosars.911385

Şahinol, M. & Başkavak, G. (2021). “Türkiye’de Çekişmeli Bedenlere Giriş [Introduction to the Contested Bodies in Turkey]”. Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi [Journal of Sociological Research] (Special Issue: Türkiye’de Çekişmeli Bedenler: Tıp Teknolojisindeki Gelişmelerle Dönüşen Beden, Sağlık ve Toplum [The Contested Bodies in Turkey: Body, Health and Society Transformed by Advances in Medical Technologies]). 24(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.18490/sosars.911124  

Guest Editorship in Peer-Reviewed Journal

Başkavak, G. (2021). “Türkiye’de Çekişmeli Bedenler: Tıp Teknolojisindeki Gelişmelerle Dönüşen Beden, Sağlık ve Toplum [Contested Bodies in Turkey: Transformation of Body, Health and Society through Techno-Medical Innovations]” Special Issue in Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi [Journal of Sociological Research]. 24(1). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/sosars/issue/61228 (with M. Şahinol)

Book

Şahinol, M., Taşdizen, B. & Başkavak, G. (2022). Hair:y_less Masculinities. A Cartography. Bonn: Şahinol, Melike (in cooperation with perspectivia.net/Max Weber Foundation). https://doi.org/10.25360/01-2022-00000 (ISBN 978-625-00-9547-8)

Book Chapters

Başkavak, G. (2023). “Zanaat ve Teknoloji Kesişiminde Cerrahinin Estetiği”, A.U. Aydınoğlu, Ş. Kılıçtepe, E. Öncüler Yayalar, E. Saka ve M. Şahinol (Eds.), STS: Bir Disiplin Olarak Kimlik İnşası içinde (pp. 114-134). NEÜ Yayınları. https://neuyayin.com/tr/acik-erisim/sts-bir-disiplin-olarak-kimlik-insasi/816 (E-ISBN: 978-625-6960-64-0) 

Şahinol, M. & Başkavak, G. (2020). “Türkiye’de Biyomedikalizasyon: Sağlığın Dijitalleşmesi ve Öz-Takip Pratikleri [Biomedicalization in Turkey: Digitalization of Health and Self-Tracking Practices]”. In A. Turanlı, M. Şahinol and A. U. Aydınoğlu (Eds.), Türkiye’de STS: Bilim ve Teknoloji Çalışmalarına Giriş [STS in Turkey: Introduction to Science and Technology Studies] (pp. 103-117). Istanbul: İTÜ Yayınları. https://polen.itu.edu.tr/handle/11527/18483 (E-ISBN: 978-975-561-516-5)

Başkavak, G. (2017). “Zanaattan Robotiğe: Tıp Teknolojisi ve Türkiye’de Kuşaklararası Cerrah Tipolojisi [From Craftsmanship to Robotics: Medical Technologies and a Generational Typology of Surgeons in Turkey]”. In Denizcan Kutlu and Çağrı Kaderoğlu Bulut (Eds.), Sınıfın Suretleri: Emek Süreçleri ve Karşı Hareketler [Representations of Class: Labor Processes and Counter Movements] (pp. 105–126). Istanbul: NotaBene. (ISBN: 6059679954)

Doğrusoy-Başkavak, G. (2005). “Bilişim Teknolojileri: Getirdikleri ve Götürdükleri [Information Technologies: Pros and Cons]. In Aşkın Keser (Ed.), Çalışma Yaşamında Dönüşümler: Örgütsel Bakış [Transformations in Working Life: Organizational Perspective] (pp. 197–210). Bursa: Ezgi Publishing. (Reprinted by Nobel Publishing in 2005). (ISBN: 9789755918013)

Research Reports

2024 – “İstanbul’da Bir Vakıf Üniversitesi Öğrencilerinin HPV Farkındalığı Üzerine Niteliksel Araştırma [A Qualitative Study on the Awareness of HPV Among University Students in Istanbul]”,  THD-2023-147, Project Supported by Higher Education Institutions, Acıbadem University (with Y. Ülman)

2022 – “Cartography of Hair:yless Masculinities. A Comparison between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey”, #01UG1903-TM2C. Orient-Institut Istanbul for German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (with M. Şahinol and B. Taşdizen)

2020 – “Between Empowerment and Disempowerment: A Qualitative Analysis of (Voluntary) Digital Health (Self-)Tracking in Turkey”. #ZMV | 1 – 2517 FSB 016. Orient-Institut Istanbul for the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG). (with M. Şahinol)

2013 – “Sağlık Sektöründe Özelleşme ve Metalaşmanın Uzmanlık Üzerindeki Etkileri: İstanbul’daki Uzman Doktorlar Üzerine Bir Çalışma [Privatization and Commodification in the Health Sector and their Effects on Professionalism: A Study on Medical Profession in Istanbul]”. BAP-07-03-2009-00-03. METU. Ankara. (with S. Kalaycıoğlu)

2011 – “Türkiye’de Toplumsal Yapı ve Din [The Social Structure and Religion in Turkey]”. TÜBİTAK 108K202. Istanbul. (with B. Akşit, R. Şentürk, K. Cengiz, Ö. Küçükural, G. Yavuz, Z. Benli, S. Gülen, P. Güran, N. Taşkın, Z. Arıkan)

2008-“Kentsel Suçlar için Mekânsal Analiz Yöntemlerine Dayalı Suç Tahmini Modellerinin ve Suç Önleme Politikalarının Geliştirilmesi [Development of Urban Crime Prediction Models and Crime Reduction Policies Based on Spatial Analyses]”. State Planning Department- BAP-07-02-DPT.2003(06)K120920-21. Ankara. (with Ş. Düzgün, S. Kalaycıoğlu, Rittersberger H. İ.)

Blog Contribution

16.02.2022: Şahinol, M., Taşdizen, B., & Başkavak, G. “Perform_Factur_ing /Healthy/ Wo_Man: Iran, Turkey and Beyond: A Timely Reflection”, https://hairyless.hypotheses.org blog post, 16 February 2022. https://hairyless.hypotheses.org/?p=563

2020: Şahinol, M., Başkavak, G. “Covid-19 Sürecinde Tip 1 Diyabetli ve Sürekli Glikoz İzleme Teknolojisi Kullanan Çocuklar”/“Kinder mit Typ 1-Diabetes und kontinuierliche Glukosemessung während Covid-19”, Orient-Institut Istanbul, Newsletter, https://www.oiist.org/tr/newsletter/, Sonbahar/Herbst 2020 (pp. 18-19).

30.04.2020: Şahinol, M., Başkavak, G. “İnsan, Tıp ve Toplum alanındaki ‘E-sağlık: Türkiye’de Öz-Takip Cihazlarının Pratikleri ve Sosyo-Kültürel Boyutları’ başlıklı proje tamamlandı”. Orient-Institut Istanbul Blog. 30 April 2020. https://www.oiist.org/insan-tip-ve-toplum-alanindaki-e-saglik-tuerkiyede-oez-takip-cihazlarinin-pratikleri-ve-sosyo-kueltuerel-boyutlari-baslikli-proje-tamamlandi/  

15.05.2020: Başkavak, G. “When you start working on a topic, you feel like swimming in an ocean, and without a boat” – An interview with Gülşah Başkavak”. Orient-Institut Istanbul Blog. 15 May 2020. https://www.oiist.org/when-you-start-working-on-a-topic-you-feel-like-swimming-in-an-ocean-and-without-a-boat-an-interview-with-guelsah-baskavak/

22.10.2019: Başkavak, G. “When you start working on a topic, you feel like swimming in an ocean, and without a boat” – 5in10 with Gülşah Başkavak”, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. 22.10.2019. https://trafo.hypotheses.org/19828

Podcast

Başkavak, G. (2024). “Tıpta Yeni Teknolojiler, Yeni Beceriler [New Technologies, New Skills in Medicine]”. Podcast in Gündelik Hayatın Sosyolojisi (Sociology of Everyday Life), Açık Radyo. 09.10.2024.