
Sinem Kavak
Researcher

Research areas: Rural livelihoods, Political economy, Political ecology, Global value chains, Agrarian justice, Social movements, Migration and Mobility, Spatial Change
Research
I am a social scientist specializing in critical political economy and critical agrarian studies, with an international and interdisciplinary background. I earned my PhD with distinction in Political Science and International Relations from the École Normale Supérieure de Paris Saclay in France. My work lies at the intersection of political economy, human geography, political ecology, and migration studies, where I focus on examining markets,rural livelihoods and mobility in the Global South, particularly in Turkey, Colombia, and Lebanon.
I explore how broader political-economic forces—such as global value chain integration, natural resource governance, commodification, and environmental sustainability agendas—reshape rural livelihoods. By analyzing these dynamics alongside rural-urban linkages, poverty, and mobility, I uncover the uneven impacts of these processes on smallholders, farmworkers, migrants and the displaced populations. . Previously I worked on resource-grabbing and grassroots mobilizations against them. I also led research projects on forced displacement with associated social and economic outcomes.
My ongoing research addresses climate-related challenges, such as extreme weather events, slow-onset changes, and corporate sustainability pressures, to better understand how communities adapt to and mitigate these impacts. I am committed to fostering a deeper understanding of rural socio-ecological systems and the pressing challenges they face in a globalized and climate-stressed world.
I am currently the principal investigator of a project funded by the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (2022–2026) titled “Unravelling climate change impacts on migrant farmworkers in agrifood production”. This project examines the cascading impacts of climate change, including the business and governance responses to it, on smallholders and rural workers in coffee and chocolate value chains in Colombia and Turkey. Using qualitative and participatory methodologies, we investigate socio-ecological vulnerabilities across local, national, and global scales to shed light on the interconnected challenges faced by rural communities.
Teaching
am involved in teaching a range of courses at Lund University and other institutions on sustainability, agrarian studies, political economy, social theory and research methods. I also supervise LUMES students on their dissertations.
Publications
Displaying of publications. Sorted by year, then title.
Seasonal migrant farm workers at the nexus of production and social reproduction in contemporary Turkey
Sinem Kavak, Zeynep Ceren Eren Benlisoy
(2025) Agriculture and Human Values
Journal articleReframing the agrarian question(s): : pluralism, politics and the promise of critical agrarian studies: Handbook of critical agrarian studies
Sinem Kavak
(2025) Journal of Peasant Studies
ReviewRefugee agency in secondary mobility decision-making : A systematic literature review
Sinem Kavak, Mo Hamza, Thomas Gammeltoft Hansen, Russell Stone
(2024) Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 6
Journal article reviewCross-class alliances and urban middle classes with peasant characteristics: : a historical-spatial approach to agency in territory-based rural mobilisations in Turkey
Sinem Kavak
(2024) Journal of Peasant Studies, 51 p.695-716
Journal articleTransforming critical agrarian studies: : Solidarity, scholar-activism and emancipatory agendas in and from the Global South
Diana Aguiar, Yasmin Ahmed, Duygu Avci, Gabriel Bastos, Bosman Batubara, et al.
(2023) Journal of Peasant Studies, 50 p.758-786
Journal article (comment)Consolidating and Contesting Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Turkey: Towards a Framework
İmren Borsuk, Pınar Dinç, Sinem Kavak, Pınar Sayan
(2022) Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey : Construction, Consolidation, and Contestation , p.11-59
Book chapterIntroduction
İmren Borsuk, Pınar Dinç, Sinem Kavak, Pınar Sayan
(2022) Authoritarian Neoliberalism and Resistance in Turkey : Construction, Consolidation, and Contestation , p.1-10
Book chapterRethinking the political economy of rural struggles in Turkey: : Space, structures and altered agencies
Sinem Kavak
(2021) Journal of Agrarian Change, 21 p.242-262
Journal articleSwinging between Legitimacy and Legality: Politics of Environmental Justice in the context of Turkey’s Privatized Hydropower Regime
Sinem Kavak
(2018)
Conference - otherSyrian refugees in seasonal agricultural work: a case of adverse incorporation in Turkey
Sinem Kavak
(2016) New Perspectives on Turkey, 54 p.33-53
Journal article