This book is the labour of love of my doctoral studies at the World Trade Institute (wti), University of Bern. The research was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (snsf), extended to the research project titled ‘Framing Environmental Degradation, Human Mobility and Human Development as a Matter of Common Concern’ under research grant no. PP00P1163700.
I remain grateful to all who have supported me and inspired me in this journey. In particular, I wholeheartedly thank my research supervisors snsf Prof. Elisa Fornalé and Dr. Nilüfer Oral. I also thank Prof. Thomas Cottier and Prof. Peter van den Bossche for their continuous support. Through their actions, they showed me what it means to be a caring and responsible scholar and they always went the extra mile to contribute to the development of my career.
My special thanks to the wti family – the healthy critique provided during annual PhD colloquia by Prof. Manfred Elsig, Prof. Joseph Francois and Prof. Michael Hahn have been key driving forces of my research. I thank the wti doctoral school, under the guidance of Prof. Doris Oberdabernig and Dr. Octavio Fernandez, for the institutional support. Many thanks to Dr. Rodrigo Polanco, Dr. Iryna Bogdanova, Dr. Zaker Ahmad, Dr. Alexander Beyleveld, Dr. Maria Vasquez Callo-Müller, Marine Roux, Valentino Desilvestro and Umid Yakubkhodjaev for their fellowship. Special thanks to Margrit Vetter, Karin Rosenberg, Sophia Thompson and Pablo Rahul Das for the wonderful administrative support.
I am especially indebted to Dr. Aydin Baris Yildirim – he not only supported me intellectually but has also become my mentor. I owe one of my best friends, Dr. Anqi Wang, a big ‘thank you’ – since the beginning of my doctoral studies, from gym sessions to hiking in the mountains, she has always been there for me. Special thanks to Prof. Ksenia Polonskaya, Prof. Basil Alexander, Prof. Ezgi Yildiz, Cagla Yazici, Najma Rehouma, Tim Zimmelmann and Prof. Walter Kälin for taking the time to grill me on my work and helping me to become a better scholar. I also thank Murat Hakan Öztürk and Prof. Eberhard Weber, who supported me enormously during my fieldwork research in Fiji.
My heartfelt thanks to my dear family and friends: Ayla Yildiz, Zihni Yildiz, Yavuz Yildiz, Luke Noorda, Mehmet Baysal, Feyzan Baysal, Ece Baysal, Naz Baysal, Ava Bona, Ivy Yildiz, Etta Yildiz, Dr. Nadine Yildiz, Dr. Ronya Özcelik, Dr. Helga Dizdari Hostettler, Dr. Merve Mutlu, Dr. Anil Aksöz, Elvin Yagan, Amalia Mkhitaryan, Barbara Dincer and Janaina Albuquerque. Your unconditional support has been invaluable. I love you all!