SHORT CV

Derya Nizam is a sociologist focused on agricultural and rural transformation in Turkey. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sociology from Bogazici University and completed her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy at The University of Sydney. Over the past two decades, her research has examined the dynamics of rural change and localism in Turkey. She has been involved in key research projects such as “Neoliberal Transformation of Agriculture,” “Agrarian Change under Globalization,” “Adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices,” and “Pastoralism and Action for Sustainability,” supported by organizations such as TUBITAK, the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the British Academy.

In addition to her research, Dr. Nizam conducts consultancy work for development agencies, particularly in the areas of geographical indications, cooperatives, and community building. Her fieldwork and interviews with farmers and rural stakeholders across Turkey are integral to her studies. She is particularly interested in alternative rural development strategies and agro-exceptional methodologies within the classical agrarian question debate. Her broader research interests include, Rural Sociology, the Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies, Sociology of Food, Geographical Indications, Sense of Place and Localism, Eco-feminism, and Cooperatives and Community Development.

She is a member of the Rural Sociological Society (US), the European Society for Rural Sociology, and the Agrifood-Research Network (Australia-New Zealand).

Her work has been acknowledged through awards such as the Ronald Wimberley Best Graduate Student Paper Award from the Rural Sociological Society in 2012 and the Visiting Scholar Scholarship from the University of Helsinki's Ruralia Institute in 2023.

Dr. Nizam has held academic positions at Bogazici University, Istanbul Bilgi University, and The University of Sydney before joining Izmir University of Economics in September 2016.