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Private Rivers : Politics of Renewable Energy and the Rise of Water Struggles in Turkey

Islar, Mine LU (2013)
Abstract
Private Rivers is a study of contested processes whereby use rights to water are privatised for electricity production. It engages with the issues of renewable energy solutions and the sustainability of run-of-river hydro projects in Turkey by investigating the connection between these policies and justice for rural populations, whose livelihood depends on the rivers. Since 2001, water privatisation in Turkey has moved beyond the urban setting and is, in various forms, taking place in rural areas. A recent Turkish example of this is the leasing of the rights to the use of rivers to private companies for the purpose of producing electricity for a period of 49 years. This is interpreted as ‘privatisation of the rivers,’ constituting a loss... (More)
Private Rivers is a study of contested processes whereby use rights to water are privatised for electricity production. It engages with the issues of renewable energy solutions and the sustainability of run-of-river hydro projects in Turkey by investigating the connection between these policies and justice for rural populations, whose livelihood depends on the rivers. Since 2001, water privatisation in Turkey has moved beyond the urban setting and is, in various forms, taking place in rural areas. A recent Turkish example of this is the leasing of the rights to the use of rivers to private companies for the purpose of producing electricity for a period of 49 years. This is interpreted as ‘privatisation of the rivers,’ constituting a loss in the public use of these waters given that the rights of others (people and nature), are effectively sidelined through these private transfers. There are three main findings from this field-based and theoretically informed study.

First, the privatisation of rivers in Turkey is a result of changes in environmental governance associated with neoliberalisation. In Turkey, water governance has been influenced by privatisation since the 1980s. In line with Foucault’s governmentality perspective, I show how this neoliberal era is characterised by new alliances between the state and the climate change community, and how the involvement of transnational companies implies a more diffuse, opaque form of governance. Secondly, the privatisation of rivers relies on a politics of exclusion in a number of ways. Thus, resource rights are created, negotiated, contested and ignored at various levels in the decision-making processes. It is documented that legal frameworks are regulated in such a way that land and water owned by the state and rural communities are reallocated according to market-based profit interests. The ambiguous environmental impact assessment processes, the renewable energy laws allowing construction on reserved and protected areas and urgent expropriation decisions are all illustrations of how legal rights are negotiated in ways that exclude the rights of people and nature.In consequence, most of the hydroelectricity projects in the current Turkish legal and environmental framework have generated social conflicts and have either already led to, or have the potential to cause environmental degradation. Thirdly, I show that the struggles derived from this process constitute the first nation-wide water rights movements in Turkey. Despite the social and political diversity of the locally based struggle groups, they managed to mobilize nationally around a common goal of protecting their rivers and to share their experiences with other affected communities. These struggles invoked the issue of recognition as a crucial element of justice and have raised awareness of the importance of local participation, customary rights, and effective environmental protection mechanisms. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in English

We won’t give up Anatolia! Shouting this slogan, thousands of villagers marched towards Ankara, protesting against the projects that threaten to channel Anatolian rivers into hydro-power plants. The majority of demonstrators did not reach Ankara. The police stopped them at the city gates for disturbing the public order: hydroelectricity development is a national priority for the Turkish government.

The path chosen for promoting renewable energy in Turkey is to allow the private sector to lease the use rights of rivers for 49 years. But what happens to rural life and to the rights of people and nature when parts of a river system are privatized and diverted for hydroelectricity purposes?... (More)
Popular Abstract in English

We won’t give up Anatolia! Shouting this slogan, thousands of villagers marched towards Ankara, protesting against the projects that threaten to channel Anatolian rivers into hydro-power plants. The majority of demonstrators did not reach Ankara. The police stopped them at the city gates for disturbing the public order: hydroelectricity development is a national priority for the Turkish government.

The path chosen for promoting renewable energy in Turkey is to allow the private sector to lease the use rights of rivers for 49 years. But what happens to rural life and to the rights of people and nature when parts of a river system are privatized and diverted for hydroelectricity purposes? Who owns the water? Engaging with current debates about water privatization, environmental justice and land and water grabbing, this thesis explores the ‘flowing politics’ of renewable energy in Turkey. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Esteban Castro, Jose, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology. Newcastle University
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Renewable energy, neoliberal state, water rights, privatisation, Turkey, sustainability
pages
159 pages
publisher
Lund University
defense location
Geocentrum I, Världen
defense date
2013-05-31 13:00:00
ISBN
978-91-979832-1-1
project
LUCID - Lund University Centre of Excellence for Integration of Social and Natural Dimensions of Sustainability
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
94566e62-073a-4654-9598-7cf61d1dbf93 (old id 3735486)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:17:00
date last changed
2021-04-09 17:49:38
@phdthesis{94566e62-073a-4654-9598-7cf61d1dbf93,
  abstract     = {{Private Rivers is a study of contested processes whereby use rights to water are privatised for electricity production. It engages with the issues of renewable energy solutions and the sustainability of run-of-river hydro projects in Turkey by investigating the connection between these policies and justice for rural populations, whose livelihood depends on the rivers. Since 2001, water privatisation in Turkey has moved beyond the urban setting and is, in various forms, taking place in rural areas. A recent Turkish example of this is the leasing of the rights to the use of rivers to private companies for the purpose of producing electricity for a period of 49 years. This is interpreted as ‘privatisation of the rivers,’ constituting a loss in the public use of these waters given that the rights of others (people and nature), are effectively sidelined through these private transfers. There are three main findings from this field-based and theoretically informed study. <br/><br>
First, the privatisation of rivers in Turkey is a result of changes in environmental governance associated with neoliberalisation. In Turkey, water governance has been influenced by privatisation since the 1980s. In line with Foucault’s governmentality perspective, I show how this neoliberal era is characterised by new alliances between the state and the climate change community, and how the involvement of transnational companies implies a more diffuse, opaque form of governance. Secondly, the privatisation of rivers relies on a politics of exclusion in a number of ways. Thus, resource rights are created, negotiated, contested and ignored at various levels in the decision-making processes. It is documented that legal frameworks are regulated in such a way that land and water owned by the state and rural communities are reallocated according to market-based profit interests. The ambiguous environmental impact assessment processes, the renewable energy laws allowing construction on reserved and protected areas and urgent expropriation decisions are all illustrations of how legal rights are negotiated in ways that exclude the rights of people and nature.In consequence, most of the hydroelectricity projects in the current Turkish legal and environmental framework have generated social conflicts and have either already led to, or have the potential to cause environmental degradation. Thirdly, I show that the struggles derived from this process constitute the first nation-wide water rights movements in Turkey. Despite the social and political diversity of the locally based struggle groups, they managed to mobilize nationally around a common goal of protecting their rivers and to share their experiences with other affected communities. These struggles invoked the issue of recognition as a crucial element of justice and have raised awareness of the importance of local participation, customary rights, and effective environmental protection mechanisms.}},
  author       = {{Islar, Mine}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-979832-1-1}},
  keywords     = {{Renewable energy; neoliberal state; water rights; privatisation; Turkey; sustainability}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Private Rivers : Politics of Renewable Energy and the Rise of Water Struggles in Turkey}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5504325/3735505.pdf}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}