Kürşad Atalay is our new visiting scholar at EUC through York’s International Visiting Research Trainee (IVRT) program. He is a PhD candidate in Economics at Ege University and at the same time serves as a research assistant at the Department of Economics and Finance in Adnan Menderes University, Turkey. He is working with Ellie Perkins in the conduct of a comparative study between Turkey and Canada to examine how extractive practices affect communities in social and ecological contexts. Let us get to know more about his visiting scholarship at York University from January to September 2025.

Why did you decide to pursue a visiting scholarship at York University?

I was applying to the International Research Fellowship Program for PhD students in Turkey (Tubitak) and I first contacted Professor Ellie Perkins, and she agreed to be my supervisor. My PhD research is also supervised by Professor Funda Barbaros Ozay from Ege University.  

I wanted to come to York University because it provides a vibrant and internationally recognized academic environment for critical research on the issues of extractivism, environmental justice and political ecology that are central to my PhD dissertation. In addition, there are several Canadian mining companies having operations in Turkey and I was interested in studying their practices in Canada and to conduct a comparative research between Turkey and Canada. I believe that being in Canada and at York University will provide me with an invaluable knowledge and experience in field of study. I also believe that researching at York University will provide opportunities for me to engage with faculty and graduate students working on related themes, to share knowledge in a cross-cultural context, and to enrich the theoretical and empirical dimensions of my work. These opportunities will strengthen the transnational visibility of my findings and contribute to broader debates on post-extractivist futures.

Can you expound more on your PhD dissertation?

With the growing interest in rare minerals and recent advances in mining technologies, previously economically unviable reserves are becoming accessible. As a result, companies are expanding into more ecologically and socially sensitive areas to extract the remaining resources. This shift has led to a rise in social conflicts between local communities and extractive companies. These conflicts demand a critical analysis that considers the political economy of resource extraction. Within this context, this research argues that mining projects are not solely economic initiatives; they are also deeply connected to questions of political sovereignty, conceptions of nature, and community-based resistance.

In this research, I intend to analyze the social and ecological impacts of extractivist activities in Canada and Turkey through a comparative qualitative analysis. For the Turkish case, I conducted my fieldwork on a gold mine in Izmir and interviewed stakeholders involved in the social conflict. In the Canadian part, I am planning to examine and interview institutional processes such as Indigenous peoples’ land rights, environmental justice struggles, and Impact-Benefit Agreements with companies. There is a large critical literature under the title of extractivism in Canada, while in Turkey, studies in this area are limited, but I think that interest has increased with the ecological crisis becoming more visible.

Why do you prefer a critical approach in your research?

Mainstream economic concepts have a limited perspective to examine field practices and social conflicts which do not perceive nature as a commodity, so my intention is to conduct the research in a critical approach. I utilize critical approaches such as Ecological Distribution Conflicts, Eco-Marxism and Neo-Extractivism to interpret field findings. Particularly when considering the transnational dimensions of extractivist activities, there is an ongoing debate that settler colonial or imperialist practices continue in transformed forms. These discussions require a deeper examination of the political-economic foundations of mining operations and seek to make visible the environmental injustices experienced by local or Indigenous communities living in mining regions. The loss of livelihoods of people who live in rural areas and the transformation into wage laborers are among the key economic dynamics that emerge in this context.

What are the biggest challenges in your research work?

One of the major challenges of my research is the structural limitations encountered in reaching and interviewing Indigenous communities, particularly due to the nature of fieldwork in Canada. While in Turkey I had the advantages of direct access to field data and face-to-face interviews with local people, in Canada, getting in touch with Indigenous communities requires a very delicate process in terms of both time and trust.

The ethical responsibilities expected of the researcher when interviewing Indigenous communities require not only academic but also cultural and political sensitivity. Especially when working on an issue such as mining, which has historically had colonial influences, it becomes very difficult to directly access the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples. Additionally, language barriers often require engaging with terms that may be specific to internal community use or rooted in Indigenous epistemologies. This places a significant responsibility on me as a researcher—to not only understand but also represent these perspectives accurately and respectfully.

Furthermore, in ongoing mining projects, the presence of conflict can make actors (company representatives, public officials, etc.) more cautious or reluctant to engage. I have encountered these challenges in both Turkey and Canada.

What other topics are you passionate about researching in the future?

In my future research, I aim to continue focusing on extractivism and environmental justice, deepening these themes through new case studies across different geographies. I am particularly interested in regions where social conflicts have emerged or where there is a high risk of conflict, and in exploring alternative policy tools for managing these processes in more just and participatory ways. In this context, I plan to examine conflict-prevention mechanisms in controversial areas such as mining and natural resource governance, with a particular emphasis and the role of local and Indigenous communities in decision-making processes.

Another area I would like to focus on in my future research is how we might engage non-dualist concept of nature in shaping economic activities. In this regard, Indigenous perspectives on human–nature relationships offer a critical lens that greatly enriches my understanding and approach to these questions.