Duygu Parmaksizoglu

Duygu Parmaksizoglu is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She recently conducted a year- long field study in Istanbul, where she focused on a particular urban redevelopment/ gentrification scheme that seemingly renders the urban poor not as the victims of displacement, but ostensibly as the “stakeholder”. Her research explored the dynamics of “stakeholding” within a real-estate market bubble and investigated a complex process that is heavily animated by speculation, experiences of risk and uncertainty. While doing research, Parmaksizoglu actively participated in Taksim Gezi demonstrations of June 2013 and in the aftermath, she served as one of the spokespersons of Urban Movements Istanbul Organization. As a spokesperson, she had given speeches at several community meetings on the hidden ecological, social and economic costs of urban redevelopment schemes, organized demonstrations and protests to inform the general public on the matters of right to the city.