We were fish in the pool but now we are in a river: Çöpler Village, a Case of Displacement in Turkey
(2014) HEKM50 20141Human Ecology
- Abstract
- Several studies have shown that development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) poses risks of impoverishment to both ecological and societal sustainability. Loss of homes, productive lands, income-earning assets, resources, social structures and cultural identity are some of the risks that occur as a result of displacement. This is the first study analysing a displaced community in Turkey by applying ethnographic research methods from a human ecology perspective. Primarily, it examines the experiences of transformation from a village community that used to sustain itself within a mountainous landscape to a community making a living by widely contributing to the landscape’s exploitation. The aim is to contribute to the study of... (More)
- Several studies have shown that development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) poses risks of impoverishment to both ecological and societal sustainability. Loss of homes, productive lands, income-earning assets, resources, social structures and cultural identity are some of the risks that occur as a result of displacement. This is the first study analysing a displaced community in Turkey by applying ethnographic research methods from a human ecology perspective. Primarily, it examines the experiences of transformation from a village community that used to sustain itself within a mountainous landscape to a community making a living by widely contributing to the landscape’s exploitation. The aim is to contribute to the study of displacees by introducing a Turkish case as well as to construct a framework that underlines some displacee experiences connected to the changing landscape, which is underemphasized in DIDR literature. Departing from the question of ‘what happens to a community when it has to leave a landscape where people had been dwelling for generations’, I analyse the experiences of displacement together with the changes displacement has brought to Çöpler Village. During my ethnographic fieldwork, I identified (1) the ambivalence of cultural identity, (2) the disintegration of neighbourly relations, and (3) the boredom of women as the three main areas of concern that are experienced in relation to changes in the landscape and changes in the way the landscape is experienced by the villagers. Replacing the prevailing sources of livelihood and cultural practices with a new lifestyle has rendered the villagers vulnerable in terms of sustaining their culture. This new lifestyle and emerging job opportunities led to conflicts in self-interests, whilst increasing material wealth has altered the understanding of morality and in turn disintegrated neighbourly relations. The experience of ambivalence in cultural identity and lost neighbourly relations led the women to experience a profound boredom. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4586775
- author
- Börekci, Idil LU
- supervisor
-
- Thomas Malm LU
- organization
- course
- HEKM50 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- development induced displacement and resettlement, landscape, experiences, neighbourly relations, cultural identity, boredom, Turkey
- language
- English
- id
- 4586775
- date added to LUP
- 2015-11-06 13:33:40
- date last changed
- 2015-11-06 13:33:40
@misc{4586775,
abstract = {{Several studies have shown that development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) poses risks of impoverishment to both ecological and societal sustainability. Loss of homes, productive lands, income-earning assets, resources, social structures and cultural identity are some of the risks that occur as a result of displacement. This is the first study analysing a displaced community in Turkey by applying ethnographic research methods from a human ecology perspective. Primarily, it examines the experiences of transformation from a village community that used to sustain itself within a mountainous landscape to a community making a living by widely contributing to the landscape’s exploitation. The aim is to contribute to the study of displacees by introducing a Turkish case as well as to construct a framework that underlines some displacee experiences connected to the changing landscape, which is underemphasized in DIDR literature. Departing from the question of ‘what happens to a community when it has to leave a landscape where people had been dwelling for generations’, I analyse the experiences of displacement together with the changes displacement has brought to Çöpler Village. During my ethnographic fieldwork, I identified (1) the ambivalence of cultural identity, (2) the disintegration of neighbourly relations, and (3) the boredom of women as the three main areas of concern that are experienced in relation to changes in the landscape and changes in the way the landscape is experienced by the villagers. Replacing the prevailing sources of livelihood and cultural practices with a new lifestyle has rendered the villagers vulnerable in terms of sustaining their culture. This new lifestyle and emerging job opportunities led to conflicts in self-interests, whilst increasing material wealth has altered the understanding of morality and in turn disintegrated neighbourly relations. The experience of ambivalence in cultural identity and lost neighbourly relations led the women to experience a profound boredom.}},
author = {{Börekci, Idil}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{We were fish in the pool but now we are in a river: Çöpler Village, a Case of Displacement in Turkey}},
year = {{2014}},
}