- E-mailmahir.yazar@uib.no
- Visitor AddressFosswinckels gate 6Lauritz Meltzers hus5007 Bergen
- Postal AddressPostboks 78025020 Bergen
Understanding why some nations, regions, cities, or communities are hit harder by the cascading impacts of climate change than others, and how governance capacity can be improved to address these effects, is a critical agenda for social scientific research and knowledge action. My research focuses on exploring the complexity of governance and institutions amidst climate change and energy transformations at multiple levels. I concentrate on governance questions surrounding energy transition and climate change, including the rise of populism, global climate policy diffusion, and environmental justice.
I have conducted case studies in diverse urban and regional contexts, both in the Global South and Global North, examining the effectiveness of different governance models and the impacts of informal institutions on decision-making processes. These studies were funded by H2020, NSF, and seed grants; and published in journals such as Global Environmental Change, Political Geography, Urban Studies, Climatic Change, and Environmental Science and Policy.
I hold a Ph.D. in Environmental Social Science from Arizona State University with Fulbright Scholarships.
Geographies of the Green Transformation (https://www.uib.no/emne/GEO324?sem=2023v)
This course in human geography addresses the concepts, theories and discourses of the green transformation. It situates green transformation-related challenges and solutions, including circular economy, green consumerism, and low-carbon energy production, within the context of a highly unequal and rapidly changing world. The course demonstrates how dynamic political, economic, and technological contexts can amplify environmental injustices yet also present opportunities for transformative responses.
Geographies of the Green Economy | University of Bergen (uib.no)
This is an interdisciplinary course on theory and research that fits under the broad umbrella of the green economy. Different methods, foci of interest, as well as epistemologies now are common in green economy research. Grounded on active student participation, this research-based course discusses how the concept of the green economy affects societal and economic activities at different scales. The majority of classes consist of discussions around assigned readings. While this is not a methods class, students and professors will discuss methodologies appropriate to green economy research. Our goal is for the range of topics and our discussions throughout the semester to help you identify the kinds of research questions, methods, and analytic strategies pursued by a variety of interdisciplinary scholars which might be useful in your own work.
Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)
19. Yazar, M. (2024). Episodic populist backlashes against urban climate actions. Urban Studies, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980241237139
18. Yazar, M., Daloglu, I., Baykal, E., Haarstad, H. (2023). Diffusion of global climate policy: national depoliticization, local repoliticization in Turkey. Global Environmental Change, (81): 102699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102699
17. Yazar, M., Haarstad, H. (2023). Populist far right discursive-institutional tactics in European regional decarbonization. Political Geography, (105): 102936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102936
16. Yazar, M., Iban, M.C., S.S., Bilgilioglu. (2023). The Green Divide and Heat Exposure via Urban Transformation Projects in Istanbul. Frontiers in Environmental Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1265332
15. Yazar, M., Baykal, E., Daloglu, I. (2023). The nested hierarchy in urban vulnerability fails to address climate injustices in Turkey. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2023.2279059
14. Yazar, M., York, A. (2023). Nature-based solutions through collective actions for spatial justice in urban green commons. Environmental Science and Policy, 145, 228-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.04.016
13. Yazar, M., Hermwille, L., & Haarstad, H. (2022). Right-wing and populist support for climate mitigation policies: Evidence from Poland and its carbon-intensive Silesia region. Regional Sustainability, 3(4), 281-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsus.2022.11.001
12. Yazar, M. (2022). Norm domestication challenges for local climate actions: A lesson from Arizona, USA. Environmental Policy and Governance. https://10.1002/eet.2038
11. Yazar, M., Haarstad, H., Drengenes, LL., York, A. (2022). Governance learning from collective actions for just climate adaptation in cities. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.932070
10. York, A., & Yazar, M. (2022). Leveraging Shadow Networks for Procedural Justice. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101190
9. Yazar, M., York, A., Larson, L.K. (2022). Adaptation, exposure, and politics. Local extreme heat and global climate change risk perceptions in the Phoenix Metropolita Region, USA. CITIES, 103763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103763
8. Daloglu-Cetinkaya, I., Yazar, M., Kilinc, S. & Guven, B. (2022). Urban climate resilience and water insecurity: future scenarios of water supply and demand in Istanbul. Urban Water Journal, 10.1080/1573062X.2022.2066548
7. Yazar, M., York, A.M. (2022). Disentangling justice as recognition through public support for local climate adaptation policies: Insights from the Southwest US. Urban Climate, Volume 41, 101079, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2021.101079.
6. Yazar, M., York, A.M. (2021). Urban Climate Governance under the Central Government Shadow: Evidence from Istanbul. Journal of Urban Affairs. 1-17 https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2021.1915151
5. Yazar, M., York, A.M., Kyriakopoulos, G. (2021). Heat Exposure and the Climate Change Beliefs in a Desert City: The case of Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Urban Climate 36:100769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100769
4. Yazar, M., Hestad, D., Mangalagiu, D., Thornton, T., Ma, Y., Saysel, A. (2020). Enabling Environment for Regime Destabilization toward Urban Transition in Megacities: Comparing Shanghai and Istanbul. Climatic Change 160(4): 727-752. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02726-1
3. Yazar, M., Hestad, D., Mangalagiu, D., Saysel, A., Ma, Y., Thornton, T. (2019). Urban Transformation towards Sustainability or Planned Green Gentrification? Insight from urban renewal processes in Gaziosmanpasa, Istanbul. Climatic Change 160(4): 637-653. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02509-3
2. Thornton, T., Mangalagiu, D., Ma, Y., Lan, J., Yazar, M., Saysel, A., Chaar, AM. (2019). Cultural models of and for urban sustainability: Assessing beliefs about Green-Win. Climatic Change 160(4): 521-537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02518-23
1. Kuokkanen, A. and Yazar, M. (2018). Cities in sustainability transitions: Comparing Helsinki and Istanbul. Sustainability 10(5):1421. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051421
Book Chapters
1. Yazar, M. (2023). Environmental injustices unfold in urban sustainability projects in Istanbul. In Sustainability at Speed: Pathways through the climate emergency. (Eds.) Håvard Haarstad et al. UCL Press, London.
I am currently working within two major projects:
Project 1: " Horizon2020 CINTRAN - Carbon Intensive Regions in Transition - Unravelling the Challenges of Structural Change." (Post-Doc), working on the politics of decarbonization, including quantitative assessments of voting patterns and policy narratives to explore the rise of populism and anti-democratic attitudes in the selected carbon-intensive regions of Estonia, Germany, Greece, and Poland.
Project 2: " LOCALNET - Local Climate Change Narratives and Networks in Turkey" (Co-PI) funded by Stiftung Wissenscharft und Politik (500,000.00 NOK) starting in February 2022.
LOCALNET | Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation (CET) | UiB
