MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize

 

The award committee’s honorable mention goes to “‘Terrorist’ Red Spiders: Securitization of Farms and Farmers on Turkey’s Digital Frontiers.” This is an impressive paper that analyzes the intersection of state securitization, technology, and agriculture in contemporary Turkey. The author deftly weaves together technical analysis, history, and ethnographic study to explain how the agrarian sector came under the management of the national security sector and farmer’s adaptation to the new “agrosecurityscape.” The new agricultural reality presents new forms of agency for these farmers and reshapes their understanding of farmlands, farming, and their relationships with each other and with the state.