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Rethinking the political economy of rural struggles in Turkey: : Space, structures and altered agencies

Kavak, Sinem LU (2021) In Journal of Agrarian Change 21(2). p.242-262
Abstract
By focusing on recent water struggles in rural Turkey against run‐of‐the‐river hydropower plants (SHPs), the research delves into the societal and economic factors that enable or inhibit the emergence of strong mobilizations through a comparison of four localities of the Eastern Black Sea region. The main aim of the cross comparison is to determine whether there is a relationship between the forms of rural livelihood (and class position) and political mobilization against SHP construction. The article offers a multilayered relational framework to analyse rural mobilizations. Through a comparative spatial analysis of material and immaterial territories, I argue that the spatio‐economic transformation of the localities that unevenly... (More)
By focusing on recent water struggles in rural Turkey against run‐of‐the‐river hydropower plants (SHPs), the research delves into the societal and economic factors that enable or inhibit the emergence of strong mobilizations through a comparison of four localities of the Eastern Black Sea region. The main aim of the cross comparison is to determine whether there is a relationship between the forms of rural livelihood (and class position) and political mobilization against SHP construction. The article offers a multilayered relational framework to analyse rural mobilizations. Through a comparative spatial analysis of material and immaterial territories, I argue that the spatio‐economic transformation of the localities that unevenly transform rural settings in terms of production and consumption activities have an impact on the patterns, discourses, and agency in contemporary “rural” mobilizations. This is especially observable with regard to upward mobility and the middle‐classization processes embedded in crop system and household accumulation opportunities. The children of upwardly mobile farmers who became city‐based middle‐class actors tend to present an estheticized and carnivalesque framing in their resistance strategies through the re‐invention of traditions and culture, whereas the lower‐class peasants voice their grievances based strictly on material concerns. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
material territories, immaterial territories, middle-class activism, rural mobilization, rural space, water struggles
in
Journal of Agrarian Change
volume
21
issue
2
pages
20 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85089997913
ISSN
1471-0366
DOI
10.1111/joac.12389
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f6bbb035-84c2-421c-9f91-d81e8bdfcaf2
alternative location
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joac.12389
date added to LUP
2020-09-01 13:43:23
date last changed
2023-08-21 10:00:00
@article{f6bbb035-84c2-421c-9f91-d81e8bdfcaf2,
  abstract     = {{By focusing on recent water struggles in rural Turkey against run‐of‐the‐river hydropower plants (SHPs), the research delves into the societal and economic factors that enable or inhibit the emergence of strong mobilizations through a comparison of four localities of the Eastern Black Sea region. The main aim of the cross comparison is to determine whether there is a relationship between the forms of rural livelihood (and class position) and political mobilization against SHP construction. The article offers a multilayered relational framework to analyse rural mobilizations. Through a comparative spatial analysis of material and immaterial territories, I argue that the spatio‐economic transformation of the localities that unevenly transform rural settings in terms of production and consumption activities have an impact on the patterns, discourses, and agency in contemporary “rural” mobilizations. This is especially observable with regard to upward mobility and the middle‐classization processes embedded in crop system and household accumulation opportunities. The children of upwardly mobile farmers who became city‐based middle‐class actors tend to present an estheticized and carnivalesque framing in their resistance strategies through the re‐invention of traditions and culture, whereas the lower‐class peasants voice their grievances based strictly on material concerns.}},
  author       = {{Kavak, Sinem}},
  issn         = {{1471-0366}},
  keywords     = {{material territories; immaterial territories; middle-class activism; rural mobilization; rural space; water struggles}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{242--262}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Agrarian Change}},
  title        = {{Rethinking the political economy of rural struggles in Turkey: : Space, structures and altered agencies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joac.12389}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/joac.12389}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}