Pierre Hecker is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) at Philipps-University Marburg, Germany. He holds a PhD in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Leipzig and is the author of the book Turkish Metal. Music, Meaning, and Morality in a Muslim Society (Ashgate 2012; Routledge 2016). His recent publications include Islam. The Meaning of Style (Sociology of Islam 2018) and The “Arab Spring” and the End of Turkish Democracy (Palgrave, 2019). He is the head of the research group ‘“Ne mutlu ateistim diyene”. Atheism and the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Turkey’ funded by Stiftung Mercator.

Ivo Furman is Assistant Professor at Istanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of New Media and Communication. He completed his PhD in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2015. His research has been supported by numerous institutions including the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education, the Turkish Science and Technology Foundation (TUBITAK) and Stiftung Mercator. He is part of the research group ‘“Ne mutlu ateistim diyene”. Atheism and the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Turkey’ funded by Stiftung Mercator.

Kaya Akyıldız is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology at Istanbul Bahçeşehir University. He completed his PhD in the Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Program at Binghamton University. His research has been supported by numerous institutions including Stiftung Mercator and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). His recent research interests are related to political memory, Sunniness and the strategies of cultural hegemony in ‘New Turkey’.