CRS Best MA Thesis Award in the Advanced Certificate Program in Religious Studies this year goes to Ahmet Ekren in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology for his thesis "Chasing Rızık: The Hustle for Health and Wealth among Aspiring Muslim ‘Mompreneurs’ in New Türkiye’s MLM Scene," supervised by Vlad Naumescu.
We congratulate Ahmet on his success.
"Situated at the intersection of the anthropology of Islam, critiques of neoliberal capitalism, and gendered moral economies, Ahmet's thesis engages multiple scholarly conversations in trying to grasp new forms of Islamic entrepreneurialism in Erdogan’s Turkey. Its primary contribution lies in the growing literature on the elective affinities between Islamic forms and economic practices, without being easily subsumed to classical paradigms like Weber’s Protestant Ethics or Comaroffs’ occult economies. It is an original, compelling work, engaging critically with the most recent debates on the intersections of Islam and capitalism, while remaining grounded in nuanced ethnographic research attuned to people’s lives and desires."
Ahmet will be joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong to pursue a PhD in Anthropology. We wish him success in all his future endeavors.