Scholars
Stefan Cihan Aykut
University of Hamburg
Based in
Germany
Europe
Stefan holds the Mercator Chair of Sociology, especially societal dynamics of ecological transformation since May 2023. In Hamburg, he is co-chair of the Humanities Center of Advanced Studies Futures of Sustainability and the subproject B2-Dynamics Climate Governance of the Excellence Cluster Climate, Climatic Change, and Society.
Stefan studied Social Sciences, Political Science and History at the FU Berlin, Sabanci University Istanbul and EHESS Paris. He obtained his PhD in 2012 on the topic “How to govern a new global risk? The construction of climate change as a public problem in Germany and France, at the European and global level”. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Lisis, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée and as a visiting researcher at the Institute of Sociology of TU-Berlin and the Centre Marc Bloch of HU Berlin. In 2019, he was awarded the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize for early career researchers of the German Research Foundation DFG.
The central theme of his research and teaching is to understand how modern societies engage with global ecological problems – especially climate change. He investigates how ecological crises trigger social-ecological transformations, but also sociopolitical conflicts, and how new forms of social coordination emerge, which link different societal actors, governance levels and arenas, and dimensions of authority (political, private, epistemic).
Empirically, his research places the focus on global climate governance arenas such as COPs, ecological transformation processes, and the institutionalization of global ecological boundaries in different social spheres, such as financial markets and national legal systems. Conceptually and methodologically, it is characterized by a combination of political sociology, environmental sociology, science and technology studies and ethnography.
Country(ies) of Specialty
Brazil France GermanyFocus areas of expertise
Climate policy and politics Climate law and litigation Fossil fuels Social movementsPublications
Books
Aykut, Braun, Rödder 2024: Collaborative Ethnography of Global Environmental Governance, Concepts, Methods and Practices, Cambridge University Press
Aykut 2020: Climatiser le monde, Paris: Qua
Aykut, Foyer, Morena (Ed.) 2017: Globalising the Climate. COP21 and the Climatisation of Global Debates, London: Routledge
Aykut, Dahan 2015: Gouverner le Climat ? 20 Ans de Négociations Internationales, Paris : Presses de Sciences Po, 749p.
Special issues
Aykut, Maertens 2021: The Climatization of Global Politics, International Politics, 58: 501-518
Aykut, Demortain and Benbouzid 2019: The Politics of Anticipatory Expertise: Plurality and Contestation of Futures Knowledge in Governance, Science & Technology Studies, 32(4) [with D Demortain and B Benbouzid]
Aykut, Topçu and Évrard 2017: Transitions énergétiques et changements politiques, for Revue internationale de politique comparée,
24(1-2)
Journal articles
*Zengerling, Bähring, Aykut, Wiener 2024: Climate Litigation as a Social Driver Towards Deep Decarbonisation II: Zooming in on Two Cases. Carbon & Climate Law Review, 18(1): 3-16
*Aykut, Wiener, Zengerling, Bähring 2023:
Climate Litigation as a Social Driver Towards Deep Decarbonisation I: A Framework and a General Assessment. Carbon & Climate Law Review, 17(3): 181-192
*Aykut, Schenuit, Klenke, D’Amico 2022: It’s a Performance, Not an Orchestra! Rethinking soft coordination in global climate governance. Global Environmental Politics, 22 (4): 173–196.
*Obergassel, Bauer, Hermwille. Aykut, et al. 2022: From regime-building to implementation. Harnessing the UN climate conferences to drive climate action, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 13(6),
e797.
Aykut, Dahan 2022: Boomerang géopolitique: peut-on encore relever le défi climatique global/ The Geopolitical Boomerang: Can We Still Hope to Meet the Climate Challenge, GREEN – Géopolitique, Réseau, Énergie, Environnement, Nature, Vol. 2: 31-38.
Aykut, Gaudillère 2022: Heurts et malheurs de la transition énergétique en Allemagne, entretien mené par Jean-Paul Gaudillière, Mouvements 2022/1(109) : 121-129.
* Pohlmann, Walz, Engels, Aykut, et al. 2021: It’s not enough to be right! The climate crisis, power, and the climate movement, GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society 30(4): 231-236
*Aykut 2021: Politik der Beschwörung: Kommunikation als Instrument globaler Klimapolitik. GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 30(3): 168-173
Aykut, Maertens 2021: The Climatization of Global Politics. Introduction to the Special Issue, International Politics, 58: 501–518 [with L Maertens]
*Aykut, Foyer, Morena 2021: Incantatory Governance. Global Climate Politics’ Performative Turn and its Wider Significance for Global Politics, International Politics, 58: 519-540
Aykut, Demortain, Benbouzid 2019: The Politics of Anticipatory Expertise: Plurality and Contestation of Futures Knowledge in Governance — Introduction to the Special Issue, Science & Technology Studies, 32(4):
2-12
*Aykut 2019: Reassembling energy policy. Models, scenarios and policy change in Germany and France, Science & Technology Studies, 32(4): 13-35
*Aykut, Nadaï 2019: Le calcul et le politique. Le Débat National sur la Transition Énergétique et la construction des choix énergétiques en France, Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances
Aykut, Neukirch, Zengerling, Engels, Suhari & Pohlmann 2019: Energiewende ohne gesellschaftlichen Wandel? Der blinde Fleck in der aktuellen Debatte zur „Sektorkopplung“, Energiewirtschaftliche Tagesfragen, 69(3): 20-24
*Aykut, Evrard 2017: Une transition pour que rien ne change ? Changement institutionnel et dépendance au sentier dans les ‘transitions énergétiques’ en Allemagne et en France, Revue internationale de politique comparée, 24(1-2) : 17-49
*Aykut 2017: La ‘gouvernance incantatoire’. L’accord de Paris et les nouvelles formes de gouvernance globale ». La Pensée
écologique, 1(1), URL: http://lapenseeecologique.com/la-gouvernance-incantatoire-laccord-deparis-et-les-nouvelles-formes-de-gouvernance-globale/
Aykut, Évrard and Topçu 2017: Introduction. Au-delà du consensus: l’impératif de la ‘transition énergétique’ à l’épreuve du regard comparatif, Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 24(1-2) : 7-15
*Aykut 2016 : Taking a wider view on climate governance: moving beyond the ‘iceberg’, the ‘elephant’ and the ‘forest,’ Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change , 7 (3): 318-328
*Aykut 2015 : Les « limites » du changement climatique. Finitude et abondance dans la crise écologique, Revue Cités 63, pp.193-207.