Becoming a Book:
Looking for the Lost Orient

SALT Galata, Auditorium

In honor of the Turkish release of Looking for the Lost Orient, political scientist Olivier Roy will be in conversation with journalist Ruşen Çakır as part of the third program in the “Becoming a Book” series.

Looking for the Lost Orient, a book-length interview with political Islam expert Olivier Roy made by Jean-Louis Schlegel, narrates Roy’s personal commitment and travels to Afghanistan before and during the Soviet-Afghan War, and also recounts his work as a high school philosophy teacher, his official duties in the post-Soviet Central Asian republics as well as his scientific recognition.

Events in the book navigate clearer understanding of the current political situations; extending on Roy’s research of political Islam including immigration, the invention of post-Soviet nations and the future of cultures, religions and secularism within globalization.

The conversation, which will be held in French with simultaneous translation to Turkish, will follow with a book signing by Roy. His publications can be found at Robinson Crusoe 389 bookstore on the ground floor at SALT Galata.


Olivier Roy is research director at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and currently teaches at the European University Institute in Florence.

Ruşen Çakır is a journalist and writer. He works on Turkish politics and has written numerous books on political Islam in Turkey.