Academic Staff

Assoc. Prof. ABDULKERİM SÖNMEZ

Personal Information

Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 1961
Marital Status: Married

Correspondence

Address: Hacettepe University Department of Sociology
06800, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey.
Telephone: +90-312-297 84 35
E-mail: ksonmez@hacettepe.edu.tr

Degrees obtained

1. B. Sc. inSocial Work, Hacettepe University, Ankara (TR), 1982
2. M. Sc. inSociology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara (TR), 1986
3. Ph. D. inSociology, University of Durham, Durham (UK), 1993

Teaching interests

Classical and postmodern sociological theory, methodology, rural transformation, sociology of agriculture

Courses taught

Undergraduate: Classical Sociological Theory, Postmodern Debates in Sociological Theory, Rural Social Structures
Postgraduate: Methodology, Rural Social Structures, Comparative Theories of Rural Transformation

Research interests

Rural transformation, political violence and agrarian structures, social mobility and social stratification, method in social sciences, traffic safety and driving tuition

Completed-continuing research projects

  • Project coordinator, The Impact of Automatic Control Systems on Traffic Safety, and Safety Perceptions, Behaviour and the Problems of Drivers in Urban Traffic, T.C. EGM. General Directorate of Security Centre for Traffic Research and Services, Ankara, 2009- in progress.
  • Project advisor, Research on Migration and Displaced Population in Turkey, Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies, 2004-2006, Ankara.
  • Project Coordinator, Driving Tuition and New Drivers-I, General Directorate of Security Centre for Traffic Research and Services, Ankara, 2002.
  • Project Coordinator, Work Conditions and Traffic Accidents. A Study on Long-distance Bus and Truck Drivers, General Directorate of Security Centre for Traffic Research and Services, Ankara, 1999.

Academic Publications
Articles, chapters in a book

  • 'The Effects of Violence and Internal Displacement on Rural-Agrarian Change in Turkey', Rural Sociology, 73 (3): 370-413 (2008). 
  • 'Patterns of Structural Change in Turkish Agriculture, Terror and the Conditions for the Return to Villages of Internally Displaced Population' (Türk Tarımında Yapısal Değişme Örüntüleri, Terör ve Yerinden Olmuş Nüfusun Yeniden Kırsal Alana Dönüş Koşulları), Kebikeç, 2007, 23:263-317.
  • 'The Transformation of Occupational Structure and Chances for Mobility in Turkey in the Context of Studies on Social-Class Mobility', Bilig, Spring 2007, 41: 175-204.
  • 'The Measurement of Social-Class Mobility and a Discussion of Some of the Methodological Issues Involved', Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters, 2006, 23 (2): 163-173.
  • 'The Question of Delineating Family and Household as Units of Analysis' ('Bir Analiz Birimi Olarak Aile ve Hanehalkının Mahiyet ve Yapısının Belirlenmesi Sorunu') in proceedings of the Third Conference on Turkish Demography, Ankara 1997 December 2-5, Ankara: Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies, June 2003, pp. 311-332.
  • 'Traffic Safety, Driving Tuition and New Drivers: Level of Driving Skills Among New Drivers and a Proposal for a New Program' ('Trafik Güvenliği, Sürücü Eğitimi ve Yeni Sürücüler: Sürücülerin Beceri Düzeyi, Beceri Eksiklikleri ve Yeni Bir Program Önerisi') in Uluslararası Polislik ve İç Güvenlik , (eds. Tülin Günşen İçli ve Fatih Karaosmanoğlu) Ankara: Nobel Yayın Dağıtım, February 2003. pp. 499-546.
  • 'The Impact of Sociodemographic Factors, Work Habits and Conditions on Traffic Safety: A Study on Bus and Lorry Drivers' (Ağır Vasıta Sürücülerinin Bazı Toplumsal Nitelikleri, Çalışma Alışkanlıkları ve Koşullarının Trafik Güvenliğine Etkisi') Turkish Journal of Police Studies, July-December 2001: 3 (3-4), pp. 219-238.
  • 'Agadom, peasantry and rural transformation in the hazelnut producing Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey' ('Doğu Karadeniz Bölgesi fındık üretim kuşağında toprak ağalığı, köylülük ve kırsal dönüşüm'), Toplum ve Bilim (88):69-104, Spring 2001
  • 'Family Solidarity and Rural Economy: A Qualitative Study on Family Solidarity Among Hazelnut Producers in the Central Black Sea Region' ('Aile Dayanışması ve Kırsal Ekonomi: Orta Karadeniz Bölgesinde Fındık Üretimiyle Bağlantılı Aile Dayanışması Üzerine Niteliksel Bir İnceleme'), Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters (2000) 17 (1), pp. 61-80.
  • 'Traditional Approach to Road Traffic Safety: Achievements, Problems and Suggestions' ('Karayolu Trafik Güvenliğinde Geleneksel Yaklaşım: Başarılar, Sorunlar ve Öneriler'), Turkish Journal of Police Studies, (2000) 2 (7-8), pp. 275-290.
  • 'The Question of Traffic Accidents and Drivers' Faults and Misconduct in Turkey' ('Türkiye'de Trafik Kazaları ve Sürücü Kusurları Sorunu'), Turkish Journal of Police Studies, (1999-2000) 2 (5-6), pp. 151-164.
  • 'The Question of Delineating Family and Household as Units of Analysis in Social Research' ('Toplumsal Araştırmalarda Analiz Birimleri Olarak Aile ve Hanehalkının Mahiyet ve Yapılarının Belirlenmesi Sorunu'), Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters,(June 1998) 15 (1), pp. 115-135.

Books

  • Translation, Türkiye'de Toplumsal Dönüşüm: Kırsal Göç, Gecekondu ve Kentleşme (translated from English, The Gecekondu: Rural migration and urbanization, Kemal H. Karpat, 1976), Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, 2003
  • Driving Tuition and New Drivers-I [Sürücü Eğitimi ve Yeni Sürücüler-I] ( with the assisstance of Fatih Vursavaş ve Hüseyin Şimşek), Ankara: T.C. EGM. Trafik Hizmetleri Başkanlığı Trafik Araştırma Merkezi Müdürlüğü, Haziran, 2002.
  • Translation, Köylüler,[translated from English, Peasants, Eric R. Wolf, Penguin Books, 1966], Ankara: İmge Kitabevi, 2000.
  • Work Conditions and Traffic Accidents, A Study on Long-distance Bus and Lorry Drivers [Ağır Vasıta Sürücüleri'nin Çalışma Koşulları ve Trafik Kazaları, Uzun Mesafe Yük ve Yolcu Taşımacılığı Yapan Sürücüler Üzerine Bir Çalışma,]T.C. Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü Trafik Hizmetleri Başkanlığı Trafik Araştırma Merkezi Müdürlüğü, Ankara: 1999.

Other publications and works

  • The Question of Delineating Family and Household as Units of Analysis' ('Bir Analiz Birimi Olarak Aile ve Hanehalkının Mahiyet ve Yapısının Belirlenmesi Sorunu') in proceedings of the Third Conference on Turkish Demography, Ankara 1997 December 2-5, Ankara: Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies, June 2003, pp. 311-332.
  • 'Driving Tuition and Self-Confidence Among New Drivers' ('Sürücü Eğitimi ve Yeni Sürücülerin Kendi Sürücü Becerileri ve Performanslarına Duydukları Özgüven') (with Fatih Vursavaş) Proceedings of the 1st International Traffic and Road Safety Congress, 8-12 May, Anakara, Ankara: Forum Fuarcılık ve Geliştirme A.Ş. Mayıs 2002, pp. 406-414.
  • Peasant Household Survival Strategies: Rural Transformation in the Heartland of Turkey's Hazelnut Production Belt, (Unpublished PhD thesis), University of Durham (UK), Durham: 1993.
  • A Sociological Analysis of Unofficial Marriages in Turkey Based on Provincial Statistics. (Unpublished masters thesis), Institute of Social Sciences, The Middle East Technical University, Ankara: 1986.