04 June 2025 Wednesday
Dr. Ayten Bengisu Cansever-Bayhan Receives Ph.D. for Dissertation on Neoliberal Governmentality and the Promise of Happiness
Ayten Bengisu Cansever-Bayhan, a Research Assistant at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Visual Communication Design at Istanbul Gelişim University, has successfully completed her doctoral studies at Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Public Relations and Publicity. She was awarded a Ph.D. after successfully defending her dissertation titled “An Analysis of the Appearances of the ‘Promise of Happiness’ in Positive Psychology within New Media in the Context of Neoliberal Governmentality.”
In her dissertation, Cansever-Bayhan explores how subjective experiences—particularly the desire for happiness—are shaped by neoliberal techniques of power and transformed into mechanisms of indirect governance. Drawing on the discourse of positive psychology, her study investigates how happiness operates not only as a state of personal well-being but also as a normative expectation that encourages individuals to present themselves as consistently happy, productive, and optimistic.
A central focus of the thesis is how individuals become subjects of subjective experiences like happiness, thereby participating in their own governance through what Michel Foucault describes as “governmentality.” Cansever-Bayhan conceptualizes this as a form of “governing without governing,” where individuals discipline themselves through internalized norms rather than external pressure or control.
New Media as a Site of Emotional Regulation
The study positions social media and other digital platforms as key sites where happiness discourses are produced, circulated, and internalized. Within these platforms, users are encouraged to present idealized versions of themselves—happy, successful, and aesthetically curated. In this sense, happiness becomes a performative and measurable value, standardized and optimized as a form of human capital.
Thesis Committee and Scholarly Recognition
The dissertation was supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilnur Taçdagüneş. The thesis defense committee included Prof. Dr. Ece Karadoğan Doruk, Prof. Dr. Gürdal Ülger, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özge Uğurlu Akbaş, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Betül Önay Doğan. The committee unanimously approved the dissertation, praising its theoretical depth, interdisciplinary scope, and relevance to current debates in media and communication studies.
An Original Contribution to Interdisciplinary Scholarship
Dr. Ayten Bengisu Cansever-Bayhan’s research offers a unique interdisciplinary contribution by bridging public relations, media studies, psychology, and governmentality theory. Her dissertation stands out as a pioneering academic work on how emotions and subjective experiences are subtly governed through new media under neoliberal frameworks.
