A TURNING POINT IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: PROF. DR. NERMIN ABADAN UNAT
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to assess the contributions of Nermin Abadan Unat, our first female political scientist who brought concepts like public opinion, public relations, and pressure groups into our literature, established the Chair of Political Behavior at the Faculty of Political Sciences (SBF), pioneered research on migration and women's issues in Turkey, and evaluated political science through the lens of communication science.
A symbol of the modern Turkish woman, Abadan-Unat came to Turkey to benefit from Atatürk’s educational reforms. Both during her secondary and higher education, and in the years she worked as a journalist, the foreign languages she knew helped finance her life. Her experience in journalism and the Fulbright scholarship she benefited from laid the foundation for the theses she would write in the following years. This study explores the conditions shaping her work in political communication concerning public opinion, Turkish labor migration, and women’s issues, along with her theses, projects, advocated ideas, and research experiences. Her assignment to interact with Turkish workers in West Germany during the 1960s, to study the socio-economic impacts of Turkish labor migration, and her subsequent field research laid the groundwork for her contributions to migration studies. Nermin Abadan Unat conducted field research using the resources of communication science to reveal the results of Turkish emigration both domestically and abroad, and particularly to identify the factors influencing voter behavior in the 1965 elections. Thus, she integrated the Anglo-American tradition into field research in our country. She described the press as the fourth power of democracy and public opinion as the fifth power, following the constitutional branches of legislative, executive, and judicial power. As the first social scientist in Turkey to address women's issues with a legal perspective, she participated in international projects.
This article particularly highlights her years of journalism and her time at SBF. Her memoirs, archival documents, theses, academic articles, works, newspaper articles, and autobiographical interviews were analyzed using historical methods.
Keywords
SİYASAL İLETİŞİMDE BİR DÖNÜM NOKTASI: PROF. DR. NERMİN ABADAN UNAT
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to assess the contributions of Nermin Abadan Unat, our first female political scientist who brought concepts like public opinion, public relations, and pressure groups into our literature, established the Chair of Political Behavior at the Faculty of Political Sciences (SBF), pioneered research on migration and women's issues in Turkey, and evaluated political science through the lens of communication science.
A symbol of the modern Turkish woman, Abadan-Unat came to Turkey to benefit from Atatürk’s educational reforms. Both during her secondary and higher education, and in the years she worked as a journalist, the foreign languages she knew helped finance her life. Her experience in journalism and the Fulbright scholarship she benefited from laid the foundation for the theses she would write in the following years. This study explores the conditions shaping her work in political communication concerning public opinion, Turkish labor migration, and women’s issues, along with her theses, projects, advocated ideas, and research experiences. Her assignment to interact with Turkish workers in West Germany during the 1960s, to study the socio-economic impacts of Turkish labor migration, and her subsequent field research laid the groundwork for her contributions to migration studies. Nermin Abadan Unat conducted field research using the resources of communication science to reveal the results of Turkish emigration both domestically and abroad, and particularly to identify the factors influencing voter behavior in the 1965 elections. Thus, she integrated the Anglo-American tradition into field research in our country. She described the press as the fourth power of democracy and public opinion as the fifth power, following the constitutional branches of legislative, executive, and judicial power. As the first social scientist in Turkey to address women's issues with a legal perspective, she participated in international projects.
This article particularly highlights her years of journalism and her time at SBF. Her memoirs, archival documents, theses, academic articles, works, newspaper articles, and autobiographical interviews were analyzed using historical methods.
Keywords
