He has published widely on modern Alevism and secularism. His research focuses on the sociology and politics of Islam in Turkey, nationalist Turkish historiography, and Sufism in the West, with special attention to the work of concepts in the study of religion and Islam. He is the author of Writing Religion: The Making of Turkish Alevi Islam (Oxford, 2013), and co-editor, with Arvind Mandair, of Secularism and Religion-Making (Oxford, 2011). "The obvious message to Palestine is that obstacles can be overcome and political climates can be changed. While no campaign can be a model because circumstances change, the South African campaign offers important lessons for its Palestinian equivalent."